Bash: Productivity Shortcuts

Working within a command line environment, like a Bash session, can be far more productive that using a graphical user interface. Here’s a collection of shortcuts.

Moving Around The Command Line

Shortcut	Function
`Ctrl` + `a`	position the cursor at the start of the line
`Ctrl` + `e`	position the cursor at the end of the line
`Ctrl` + `xx`	alternate the cursor position between start of line and current position
`Alt` + `b`	move the cursor backwards a word
`Alt` + `f`	move the cursor forewards a word
`Ctrl` + `w`	cut backwards a word
`Ctrl` + `u`	cut backwards from the cursor to start of line
`Ctrl` + `k`	cut forwards from the cursor to end of line
`Ctrl` + `y`	paste the contents of the paste buffer
`Esc` + `.`	paste the last typed argument
`Esc` + `n` + `Esc` + `.`	paste the nth argument from the previous command
`Ctrl` + `_`	undo
`Ctrl` + `l`	clear the screen
`Ctrl` + `c`	cancel the current running command
`Ctrl` + `d`	disconnect (exit) the current session

Using Command Line History

Shortcut	Function
`history`	view command history, with line numbers
`!n`	retrieve the command at line number n, like `!7`
`!-n`	retrieve the nth last command, like `!-2`
`!string`	retrieve the command that starts with string, like `!curl`
`sudo !!`	re-execute the last command, but with sudo
`^string^newstring^`	re-execute the last command, replacing string with newstring
`Ctrl` + `r`	begin search history mode, type a few characters, repeat press `Ctrl` + `r` for next match
`Ctrl` + `g`	escape search history mode

Using Arguments From Command Line History

Shortcut	Function
`command !$`	execute command and use the last argument of the previous command
`command !*`	execute command and use all arguments of the previous command
`command !:n`	execute command and use the nth argument of the previous command
`command !m:$`	execute command and use the last argument of the command at line number m
`command !m:*`	execute command and use the all arguments of of the command at line number m
`command !m:n`	execute command and use the nth argument of the command at line number m
`command !-m:n`	execute command and use the nth argument of the the mth last command

Managing Command Line History

Prevent a command from being written to history… precede the command with a space, like this:

1 cat ~/.bashrc

Reliably delete all history, clear the history buffer and prevent history from being re-written on exit:

1cat /dev/null > ~/.bash_history && history -c && exit

Navigating Directories

Shortcut	Function
`cd`	go to home directory (same as `cd ~`)
`cd -`	go to previous working directory
`pushd /foo` `pushd /bar`	push the current directory to the directory stack, then `cd` to the `/foo` directory push the current directory to the directory stack, then `cd` to the `/bar` directory
`popd`	remove the top directory from the directory stack, then `cd` to it