How do I clear/delete the current line in terminal?

Question

If I'm using terminal and typing in a line of text for a command, is there a hotkey or any way to clear/delete that line?

For example, if my current line/command is something really long like:

> git log --graph --all --blah..uh oh i want to cancel and clear this line <cursor is here now>

Is there a hotkey or command to go from the above to:

?

Usually I will press the ↓ key, and if my current line is a brand new one on the history, that will clear it. But if I'm going through my command history via the ↑ key and start editing or using those commands, ↓ will only change the prompt to the next newest command in history, so it doesn't work here unless I press ↓ multiple times.

[Shortcuts to Move Faster in Bash Command Line](http://teohm.com/blog/2012/01/04/shortcuts-to-move-faster-in-bash-command-line/) This page is more illustrative and explains better I think — Gab是好人, Aug 18 '15 at 08:22
FYI [How can I clear the current line of the Windows command prompt?](http://superuser.com/q/397189/116475) — Franck Dernoncourt, Feb 21 '17 at 22:36
Possible duplicate of [In bash, how does one clear the current input?](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1056394/in-bash-how-does-one-clear-the-current-input) — Cas, May 14 '17 at 17:48
You will find a solution to your problem here [https://askubuntu.com/questions/470966/shortcut-to-clear-command-line-terminal](https://askubuntu.com/questions/470966/shortcut-to-clear-command-line-terminal) — , Jun 21 '21 at 12:41
Someone should put together a quick table of important shortcuts for the top 20 shells (bash, zsh, etc etc etc) and the top 3 OSs (*nix, macOS, and windows). That would be a great resource. — stevec, Oct 06 '22 at 11:10

score 2143 · Accepted Answer · edited Feb 04 '18 at 09:41

2143

You can use Ctrl+U to clear up to the beginning.

You can use Ctrl+W to delete just a word.

You can also use Ctrl+C to cancel.

If you want to keep the history, you can use Alt+Shift+# to make it a comment.

_{Bash Emacs Editing Mode Cheat Sheet}

edited Feb 04 '18 at 09:41

Norman Lin

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answered Mar 13 '12 at 07:23

kev

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The line deleted by Ctrl-U is recallable with Ctrl-Y, too. – keks Dec 04 '12 at 10:59
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Wut? So cool thanks keks & kev, ⌃+U is delete all before Cursor, ⌃+K is delete all after Cursor, ⌃+A is to go to the beginning of the line. So technically ⌃+C is the best solution for the Question – Binarian Apr 27 '13 at 20:42
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Alt-Shift-# does not work? thought the others do. Alt-Shift-# prints a > character on the terminal – tgkprog May 29 '13 at 09:56
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`U`/`A` and `Y` is more like a cut-paste. Try doing `Ctrl`+`Y` multiple times. – keyser Oct 01 '14 at 10:22
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@LưuVĩnhPhúc `ESC` is it's own modifier key in bash. It's used for things like cancelling history navigation (`CTRL`+`r`), or swapping the last two words behind the cursor (`ESC`+`t`). – noobish Oct 15 '14 at 17:46
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+1 for giving not just one option, but tree great tips. Ctrl+C should've been obvious, but I will most likely use Alt+Shift+# in near future and beyond. – andersoyvind Jan 29 '16 at 11:03
i thought u meant ctrl-c was undo of ctrl-u--- does that exist? – user391339 Apr 25 '16 at 15:27
Any way to do this on a keyboard without a # key? i.e. one you have to press SHIFT + 3 to access #? – SwimBikeRun Mar 14 '17 at 00:41
CTRL-U is a bad answer because if you currently have data you already want to paste it is replaced with the text you want delete from the command line. It does delete the line, but I would rather not have it copy the text. – JesseBoyd Oct 18 '17 at 12:29
If I delete by `Ctrl+U` and then redo it with `Ctrl+Y`, I can do it again and I get double... – WesternGun Feb 16 '18 at 08:28
`fn + shift + left/right arrow` will take you to start/end of line – Abhishek saharn Nov 18 '19 at 07:03
I seem to remember that this was the key combo we used on the BBC micro to do the same :) – SomaMan Apr 03 '20 at 10:02
I am not sure why, but `control` plus `w` clears the whole line for me. I use `tcsh` with ssh. – zyy May 19 '20 at 03:50
This is one of the greatest answers of all SO. `Ctrl + U` also works on Windows! – Dmitriy Popov Jan 09 '21 at 01:29
By reading https://superuser.com/a/298461 and https://unix.stackexchange.com/a/30991 I found you can put `Escape: kill-whole-line` in your `.inputrc` file, which allows you to use `Esc` to erase the entire line. Unlike `Ctrl+U`, it doesn't matter whether your cursor is at the end of the line, the beginning, or somewhere end the middle. I'm very happy with this! (I would leave an answer, but this question is closed.) – Garret Wilson Apr 05 '23 at 14:52

J4cK · Answer 2 · 2020-03-02T18:17:43.647

768

Just to summarise all the answers:

Clean up the line: You can use Ctrl+U to clear up to the beginning.
Clean up the line: Ctrl+E Ctrl+U to wipe the current line in the terminal
Clean up the line: Ctrl+A Ctrl+K to wipe the current line in the terminal
Cancel the current command/line: Ctrl+C.
Recall the deleted command: Ctrl+Y (then Alt+Y)
Go to beginning of the line: Ctrl+A
Go to end of the line: Ctrl+E
Remove the forward words for example, if you are middle of the command: Ctrl+K
Remove characters on the left, until the beginning of the word: Ctrl+W
To clear your entire command prompt: Ctrl + L
Toggle between the start of line and current cursor position: Ctrl + XX

edited Mar 02 '20 at 18:17

answered May 22 '13 at 08:48

J4cK

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note ctrl-k deletes everything between the cursor and the end of the line. – Peter Berg Jan 09 '15 at 16:33
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Remove next word: `Alt + D` – cnlevy May 09 '16 at 11:53
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`Alt` + `D` does not work thats why I have not include it :( – J4cK Jun 28 '16 at 22:15
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`CTRL + L` clears the screen but keeps what has been typed in the current command line. – Aziraphale Jul 01 '16 at 08:01
CTRL + XX is toggle between ~any~ two last positions of the cursor. Try it, type something, hit combo. You'll be at the start of the line, type something now at the start of the line, hit combo again. A few times. The toggle isn't with the start of the line. – Capstone Mar 24 '17 at 06:42
Where can I find the full list of shortkey? – alhelal Jun 10 '17 at 06:21
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`Ctrl + Alt + >` moves to the end of the input history which is perfect when you want to cancel searching the history. – astasiak Jan 25 '18 at 16:58
Is there a way to change these somehow? I can't find anyone referencing that desire.... – mjs Sep 09 '18 at 13:14
@momomo: These key bindings are controlled by your shell (in cooperation with your terminal emulator, which decides what escape sequences to send for a given keypress). In bash, you can use `bind` or your `~/.inputrc`; in `zsh` or `tcsh`, use `bindkey`. Google " key bindings" for a bunch of info. – Andrew Janke Mar 09 '19 at 21:05
I don't think I've seen an `XX` key on any keyboard I've ever used. What is it shorthand for? – Mark Ransom Jan 11 '22 at 15:05

score 254 · Answer 3 · edited Feb 01 '17 at 17:23

254

I have the complete shortcuts list:

Ctrl+a Move cursor to start of line
Ctrl+e Move cursor to end of line
Ctrl+b Move back one character
Alt+b Move back one word
Ctrl+f Move forward one character
Alt+f Move forward one word
Ctrl+d Delete current character
Ctrl+w Cut the last word
Ctrl+k Cut everything after the cursor
Alt+d Cut word after the cursor
Alt+w Cut word before the cursor
Ctrl+y Paste the last deleted command
Ctrl+_ Undo
Ctrl+u Cut everything before the cursor
Ctrl+xx Toggle between first and current position
Ctrl+l Clear the terminal
Ctrl+c Cancel the command
Ctrl+r Search command in history - type the search term
Ctrl+j End the search at current history entry
Ctrl+g Cancel the search and restore original line
Ctrl+n Next command from the History
Ctrl+p previous command from the History

edited Feb 01 '17 at 17:23

Justin

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answered Mar 19 '16 at 06:28

tharunkumar

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Sorry, But I have provided all the useful shortcut keys, In which 7,8,9,10,11,14,16,17 are the clear/delete short cut keys which we can use as per requirement. – tharunkumar Mar 24 '16 at 04:44
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It should be mentioned that `CTRL` + `L` (16.) preserves the content of the current command line. – Aziraphale Jul 01 '16 at 08:04
on windows it seems you need to use Ctrl+Shift+A to go to the start of line – Gandalf458 Aug 24 '17 at 13:38
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It is missing `Ctrl`+`h`: delete the character before the cursor – peflorencio Apr 17 '18 at 10:28

8c6b5df0d16ade6c · Answer 4 · 2021-06-15T17:23:12.067

Another nice complete list:

TERMINAL Shortcuts Lists:

Left            Move back one character
Right           Move forward one character
Ctrl+b          Move back one character
Ctrl+f          Move forward one character

Alt+Left        Move back one word
Alt+Right       Move forward one word
Alt+b           Move back one word
Alt+f           Move forward one word

Cmd+Left        Move cursor to start of line
Cmd+Right       Move cursor to end of line
Ctrl+a          Move cursor to start of line
Ctrl+e          Move cursor to end of line

Ctrl+d          Delete character after cursor
Backspace       Delete character before cursor

Alt+Backspace   Delete word before cursor
Ctrl+w          Delete word before cursor
Alt+w           Delete word before the cursor
Alt+d           Delete word after the cursor

Cmd+Backspace   Delete everything before the cursor
Ctrl+u          Delete everything before the cursor
Ctrl+k          Delete everything after the cursor

Ctrl+l          Clear the terminal

Ctrl+c          Cancel the command
Ctrl+y          Paste the last deleted command
Ctrl+_          Undo

Ctrl+r          Search command in history - type the search term
Ctrl+j          End the search at current history entry and run command
Ctrl+g          Cancel the search and restore original line

Up              previous command from the History
Down            Next command from the History
Ctrl+n          Next command from the History
Ctrl+p          previous command from the History

Ctrl+xx         Toggle between first and current position

score 28 · Answer 5 · edited Oct 02 '13 at 21:28

28

Ctrl+A, Ctrl+K to wipe the current line in the terminal. You can then recall it with Ctrl+Y if you need.

edited Oct 02 '13 at 21:28

Oliver Salzburg

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answered Mar 13 '12 at 07:23

Spyros Mandekis

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score 17 · Answer 6 · answered Mar 13 '12 at 16:45

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or if your using vi mode, hit Esc followed by cc

to get back what you just erased, Esc and then p :)

answered Mar 13 '12 at 16:45

bluTaz

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You can enable vi mode by `echo 'set editing-mode vi' >> ~/.inputrc`. Also works in places like python interpreter prompts and some SQL clients – dwurf Oct 13 '14 at 00:12

score 14 · Answer 7 · edited Oct 02 '13 at 21:25

14

I'm not sure if you love it but I use Ctrl+A (to go beginning the line) and Ctrl+K (to delete the line) I was familiar with these commands from emacs, and figured out them accidently.

edited Oct 02 '13 at 21:25

Oliver Salzburg

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answered Mar 13 '12 at 07:22

Muhammet Can

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score 13 · Answer 8 · edited Oct 02 '13 at 21:30

13

An alternative to Ctrl+A, Ctrl+K is Ctrl+E, Ctrl+U.

edited Oct 02 '13 at 21:30

Oliver Salzburg

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answered Mar 13 '12 at 07:34

Andrey Starodubtsev

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score 11 · Answer 9 · edited Jul 16 '21 at 19:57

11

Ctrl+W will clear the word to the left.

edited Jul 16 '21 at 19:57

Josh Correia

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answered Jun 14 '13 at 16:53

bendangelo

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Cyrus · Answer 10 · 2014-06-26T07:08:57.497

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Ctrl+u: move up to the beginning of your line to a ring buffer
Ctrl+k: move up to the end of your line to a ring buffer
Ctrl+w: move characters and (multiple) words left from your cursor to a ring buffer
Ctrl+y: insert last entry from your ring buffer and then you can use Alt+y to rotate through your ring buffer. Press multiple times to continue to "previous" entry in ring buffer.

edited Jun 26 '14 at 07:08

answered Jun 25 '14 at 22:01

Cyrus

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score 4 · Answer 11 · edited Mar 28 '14 at 15:39

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CTRL+R and start typing to search for previous commands in history. Will show full lines.
CTRL+R again to cycle.

edited Mar 28 '14 at 15:39

Sk8erPeter

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answered Feb 11 '14 at 10:11

Daniel

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Benjamin W. · Answer 12 · 2017-01-13T15:59:52.980

To delete the whole line no matter where the cursor is, you can use the kill-whole-line command, but it is unbound by default. It can be bound to, for example, Ctrl+Alt+K by inserting

"\e\C-k": kill-whole-line

into your Readline init file (conventionally ~/.inputrc).

Various remarks:

To avoid accidentally re-assigning a key sequence that is already in use for something else, you can check all your bindings with bind -P. Check for the suggested binding with
```
bind -P | grep '\\e\\C-k'
```
The Readline init file name is is taken from the shell variable INPUTRC. If it is unset, the default is ~/.inputrc, or (if that doesn't exist) /etc/inputrc. Notice that if you have ~/.inputrc, /etc/inputrc will be ignored.
To reload your Readline init file, you can use Ctrl+X Ctrl+R.
Links to relevant manual sections:

Jose1755 · Answer 13 · 2018-11-02T22:44:26.273

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In order to clean the whole line (2 different ways):

Home , Ctrl+K
End , Ctrl+U

edited Nov 02 '18 at 22:44

answered Oct 26 '18 at 09:48

Jose1755

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score 2 · Answer 14 · answered Dec 05 '16 at 03:00

2

Add to the list:

In Emacs mode, hit Esc, followed by R, will delete the whole line.

I don't know why, just happens to find it. Maybe it's not used for delete line but happens to have the same effect. If someone knows, please tell me, thanks :)

Works in Bash, but won't work in Fish.

answered Dec 05 '16 at 03:00

PickBoy

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It's the `revert-line` readline command: "Undo all changes made to this line". It's bound, by default, to `M-r` (Meta-R), which can be both Alt-R or Esc R. This means it's not actually deleting the line, only when it was empty to begin with; if you scroll back in your command history and change a command, then issue `revert-line`, it will change back to the command it was originally and not delete the line. – Benjamin W. Mar 09 '17 at 00:27

score 2 · Answer 15 · answered Dec 16 '21 at 11:00

2

Ctrl+Alt+Backspace for deleting the backward words from the end of the line

Ctrl+Delete for deleting the forward words from the beginning of the line

answered Dec 16 '21 at 11:00

High Performance Rangsiman

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score 0 · Answer 16 · answered Jan 07 '20 at 16:50

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Alt+# comments out the current line. It will be available in history if needed.

answered Jan 07 '20 at 16:50

matt salmon

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How do I clear/delete the current line in terminal?

16 Answers16

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