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refo/iTerm2 navigate between words using option and horizontal arrow keys.md

Last active February 18, 2021 13:34
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iTerm2 navigate between words using option and horizontal arrow keys
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iTerm2 navigate between words using option and horizontal arrow keys.md

Determine bound keys for your terminal emulator

Determine the sequence for one-word backward navigation

bindkey -L | grep backward-word

example output

bindkey "^[B" backward-word
bindkey "^[[1;5D" backward-word
bindkey "^[b" backward-word

Determine the sequence for one-word forward navigation

bindkey -L | grep forward-word

example output

bindkey "^[F" forward-word
bindkey "^[[1;5C" forward-word
bindkey "^[f" forward-word

Which key sequences to use

According to bindkey output, we can pick and choose any of the sequences. ^[ means escape. So decided to use esc + b and esc + f for backward and forward navigation respectivly.

iTerm2 profile config

Open Keys preferences tab. Preferences > Profile > [Selected profile] > Keys

Scroll through Key Mappings to find shortcut you want to modify or add a new one.

I modified the mappings for ⌥ ← and ⌥ → by double clicking and setting the following options:

Keyboard Shortcut : ⌥ ←

Action : Send escape sequence
Esc+   : b

Keyboard Shortcut : ⌥ →

Action : Send escape sequence
Esc+   : b

That's all to be able to use option + left and right to navigate between words on iTerm2 terminal emulator.

Thanks to Filip Danić posting detailed information on the subject.

Original blogpost

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