⌘ + backtick (true of all mac apps and works with desktops/mission control)
Splitting
Split Window Vertically (same profile)
⌘ + D
Split Window Horizontally (same profile)
⌘ + Shift + D (mnemonic: shift is a wide horizontal key)
Moving
Move a pane with the mouse
⌘ + Alt + Shift and then drag the pane from anywhere
Fullscreen
Fullscreen
⌘+ Enter
Maximize a pane
⌘ + Shift + Enter (use with fullscreen to temp fullscreen a pane!)
Resize Pane
Ctrl + ⌘ + Arrow (given you haven't mapped this to something else)
Less Often Used By Me
Go to Split Pane by Order of Use
⌘ + ] , ⌘ + [
Split Window Horizontally (new profile)
Option + ⌘ + H
Split Window Vertically (new profile)
Option + ⌘ + V
Previous Tab
⌘+ Left Arrow (I usually move by tab number)
Next Tab
⌘+ Right Arrow
Go to Window
⌘ + Option + Number
My Favorite Shell Key Combos
These might be helpful to getting you faster with the shell but really this
isn't iTerm2 specific. I'm assuming you are using bash or zsh on Mac.
There are many tips but I use these quite a bit. There is also more than one way
to do it sometimes so adopt what you like best.
Hopefully some of these change your life. :)
Function
Shortcut
Use
Delete to start of line (favorite)
Ctrl + U
Use this to start over typing without hitting Ctrl-C
Delete to end of line (favorite)
Ctrl + K
Use this with command history to repeat commands and changing one thing at the end!
Repeat last command
Up Arrow
Cycle and browse your history with up and down. Ctrl-R is faster if you know the string you are looking for.
Move back and forth on a line
Arrow Keys
This takes you off the home row but it's easy to remember
Move back and forth on a line by words
⌥ + Arrow Keys
Fast way to jump to a word to correct a typo or "run again" with minor changes
Delete previous word (in shell)
Ctrl + W
It's faster to delete by words. Especially when your last command was wrong by a single typo or something.
Clear screen
Ctrl + L
This is telling the shell to do it. When this doesn't work ⌘ + K will tell iTerm to do it which works when you aren't in a shell. Use this instead of typing clear over and over.
Moving Faster
A lot of shell shortcuts work in iterm and it's good to learn these because arrow keys, home/end
keys and Mac equivalents don't always work. For example ⌘ + Left Arrow is usually the same as Home
(go to beginning of current line) but that doesn't work in the shell. Home works in many apps but it
takes you away from the home row.
Function
Shortcut
Move to the start of line
Ctrl + A or Home
Move to the end of line
Ctrl + E or End
Move forward a word
Option + F
Move backward a word
Option + B
Set Mark
⌘ + M
Jump to Mark
⌘ + J
Moving by word on a line (this is a shell thing but passes through fine)
Ctrl + Left/Right Arrow
Cursor Jump with Mouse (shell and vim - might depend on config)
Option + Left Click
Copy and Paste with iTerm without using the mouse
I don't use this feature too much.
Function
Shortcut
Enter Copy Mode
Shift + ⌘ + C
Enter Character Selection Mode in Copy Mode
Ctrl + V
Move cursor in Copy Mode
HJKL vim motions or arrow keys
Copy text in Copy Mode
Ctrl + K
Copy actions goes into the normal system clipboard which you can paste like normal.
Search the Command History
Function
Shortcut
Search as you type
Ctrl + R and type the search term; Repeat Ctrl + R to loop through result
Search the last remembered search term
Ctrl + R twice
End the search at current history entry
Ctrl + Y
Cancel the search and restore original line
Ctrl + G
Misc
Function
Shortcut
Clear the screen/pane (when Ctrl + L won't work)
⌘ + K (I use this all the time)
Broadcast command to all panes in window (nice when needed!)
⌘ + Alt + I (again to toggle)
Find Cursor
⌘ + /or use a theme or cursor shape that is easy to see
On my last laptop I used to be able to press Ctrl + s to do a forward search in the case that I pressed Ctrl + r one too many times and need to search forward once or twice. Is there a config that I need to change to restore this functionality?
For navigating marks. If shell integration is enabled all commands are marked automatically, and you can quickly go to previous commands and their output.
For Moving forward/backward by words, Use Option + F/B. It might need you to reset your keys, Preferences => Choose the profile => Keys Tab => Set Left Option Key and Right Option key to Esc+
On my last laptop I used to be able to press Ctrl + s to do a forward search in the case that I pressed Ctrl + r one too many times and need to search forward once or twice. Is there a config that I need to change to restore this functionality?
I had the same issue. I found your comment here by Googling for the solution. So, I want to make sure it is here for others. Since iTerm uses TMUX and TMUX ignores "flow control" commands, Ctrl + s is ignored. The solution is to call stty -ixon in your shell session. If you put it in your .bash_profile it will fix it for all login shells.
@rickgaurav Thank you! This has been bothering me for months and that worked!
For Moving forward/backward by words, Use Option + F/B. It might need you to reset your keys, Preferences => Choose the profile => Keys Tab => Set Left Option Key and Right Option key to Esc+
For navigating marks. If shell integration is enabled all commands are marked automatically, and you can quickly go to previous commands and their output. ✅
I am new to iTerm and I am so used to move between words using the option and the arrow, it's not working here and also the ctrl + arrows is not working as well
I am new to iTerm and I am so used to move between words using the option and the arrow, it's not working here and also the ctrl + arrows is not working as well
@AlaaHamoudah
Thanks, the correct modifier key is ⌥ (option). I edited this gist. Check Preferences > Profiles > Keys that your left option key is set to Esc+.
Edit: Preferences > Profiles > Keys
See screenshot below. Thank you @SlowerLoris
Thanks for ur response, but still not clear for me. Here are my keys, the left option is not set to anything, and there is no Esc+ in the dropdown list.
Also, I am used on the right option to work with the arrows as the normal shell, not the left one. Is this doable here?
@yuchdev Ctrl-D is a common unix convention. It's not related to iterm but you are not wrong. 😄 It's a shortcut for EOF which is the same thing as typing exit but it's also useful for cat and other shell tricks. ⌘+W is a closer accompanying shortcut for ⌘+D because it closes a window, if it is a pane, it will close that pane.
Loving iTerm2 in general.
I'd like to be able to skip words in the terminal with Option + Left Arrow/Right Arrow, but it's currently only working with Option +F/B. I set the left option key to Esc+ already.
How can I configure such that the arrow keys work? Thanks.
Loving iTerm2 in general.
I'd like to be able to skip words in the terminal with Option + Left Arrow/Right Arrow, but it's currently only working with Option +F/B. I set the left option key to Esc+ already.
How can I configure such that the arrow keys work? Thanks.
@PropeReferio Ctrl+Arrow keys might work for you. It seems to work on Mac locally and a remote ssh Linux shell. I think that's just a terminal thing and not anything iTerm is messing with. I know Putty/Windows seems to handle this ok. So Ctrl+Arrow keys will jump by words on a current line of a shell. Useful for editing history or some really long command. 🌻
Does anyone else have ls executed on right Option + L? Where is that being set?
yep... same problem here.
I don't know. That's really surprising. Left option doesn't do this. It's not even running ls, it's doing the equivalent somehow. It does not do this in the stock Terminal.app and removing a bunch of key modifiers doesn't do anything (you can test in a new profile). If you really are curious, I'd signup for gitlab and post an issue here: https://gitlab.com/gnachman/iterm2/
@mariuserlenbruch@squarism
It may have sounded wrong, but I didn't actually mean it is a problem. I love the the feature and would like to remap it :D
But since I have no idea where to set it, I can't do it.
This comment has been minimized.
Thank you. As a new iTerm user this is very helpful.