Key/Command
Description
Tab
Auto-complete files and folder names
Ctrl + A
Go to the beginning of the line you are currently typing on
Ctrl + E
Go to the end of the line you are currently typing on
Ctrl + U
Clear the line before the cursor
Ctrl + K
Clear the line after the cursor
Ctrl + W
Delete the word before the cursor
Ctrl + T
Swap the last two characters before the cursor
Esc + T
Swap the last two words before the cursor
Ctrl + R
Lets you search through previously used commands
Ctrl + L or Command + K
Clears the Screen
Ctrl + C
Kill whatever you are running
Ctrl + D
Exit the current shell
cd
Home directory
cd [folder]
Change directory
cd ~
Home directory, e.g. ‘cd ~/folder/’
cd /
Root of drive
ls
Short listing
ls -l
Long listing
ls -a
Listing incl. hidden files
ls -lh
Long listing with Human readable file sizes
ls -R
Entire content of folder recursively
sudo [command]
Run command with the security privileges of the superuser (Super User DO)
open [file]
Opens a file
open .
Opens the directory
top
Displays active processes. Press q to quit
nano [file]
Opens the Terminal it’s editor
pico [file]
Opens the Terminal it’s editor
q
Exit
clear
Clear screen
history n
Shows the stuff typed – add a number to limit the last n items
ctrl-r
Interactively search through previously typed commands
![value]
Execute the last command typed that starts with ‘value’
!!
Execute the last command typed
touch [file]
Create new file
pwd
Full path to working directory
..
Parent/enclosing directory, e.g.
ls -l ..
Long listing of parent directory
cd ../../
Move 2 levels up
.
Current folder
cat
Concatenate to screen
rm [file]
Remove a file, e.g. rm [file] [file]
rm -i [file]
Remove with confirmation
rm -r [dir]
Remove a directory and contents
rm -f [file]
Force removal without confirmation
rm -i [file]
Will display prompt before
cp [file] [newfile]
Copy file to file
cp [file] [dir]
Copy file to directory
mv [file] [new filename]
Move/Rename, e.g. mv -v [file] [dir]
mkdir [dir]
Create new directory
mkdir -p [dir]/[dir]
Create nested directories
rmdir [dir]
Remove directory ( only operates on empty directories )
rm -R [dir]
Remove directory and contents
PIPES – Allows to combine multiple commands that generate output
more
Output content delivered in screensize chunks
> [file]
Push output to file, keep in mind it will get overwritten
>> [file]
Append output to existing file
<
Tell command to read content from a fi
[command] -h
Offers help
[command] —help
Offers help
[command] help
Offers help
reset
Resets the terminal display
man [command]
Show the help for ‘command’
whatis [command]
Gives a one-line description of ‘command’
// view hidden files
ls -la
// create file
touch file.ext
// exit for vim ESC ,:x – salveaza si face exit