The table below describes how the character-device drivers interpret various keys and keychords (groups of keys that you press simultaneously). The drivers handle these keys as soon as you type them.
or:
| If you want to: | Press: |
|---|---|
| Move the cursor to the left | ← (left arrow) |
| Move the cursor to the right | → (right arrow) |
| Move the cursor to the start of a line | Home |
| Move the cursor to the end of a line | End |
| Delete the character left of the cursor | Backspace |
| Delete the character at the cursor | Del |
| Delete all characters on a line | Ctrl–U |
| Toggle between insert and typeover modes (if an application supports them) | Ins |
| Submit a line of input or start a new line | Enter |
| Recall a command (see below) | ↑ or ↓ (up or down arrow) |
| Suspend the displaying of output | Ctrl–S |
| Resume the displaying of output | Ctrl–Q |
| Attempt to kill a process | Ctrl–C or Ctrl–Break |
| Indicate end of input (EOF) | Ctrl–D |
| Clear the terminal | Ctrl–L |
When you use the up or down arrow, the character-device driver passes a “back” or “forward” command to the shell, which recalls the actual command.