Bash emacs Readline Reference Guide

 

Enabling emacs Mode

To enable emacs mode in Bash, add the following line to your .bashrc file:

set -o emacs

Then, reload your .bashrc file:

source ~/.bashrc

Basic Navigation

• Ctrl-a: Move to the beginning of the line.
• Ctrl-e: Move to the end of the line.
• Ctrl-b: Move backward one character.
• Ctrl-f: Move forward one character.
• Meta-b: Move backward one word.
• Meta-f: Move forward one word.

Editing

• Ctrl-d: Delete the character under the cursor.
• Ctrl-k: Delete from the cursor to the end of the line.
• Ctrl-u: Delete from the cursor to the beginning of the line.
• Ctrl-w: Delete the word before the cursor.
• Meta-d: Delete the word after the cursor.
• Ctrl-y: Yank (paste) the last killed text.
• Ctrl-_ or Ctrl-x Ctrl-u: Undo the last change.

Inserting Text

• Ctrl-t: Transpose the character before the cursor with the character under the cursor.
• Meta-t: Transpose the word before the cursor with the word under the cursor.

Searching

• Ctrl-r: Search backward incrementally.
• Ctrl-s: Search forward incrementally.

Miscellaneous

• Ctrl-l: Clear the screen and redisplay the current line at the top.
• Ctrl-x Ctrl-e: Open the current command in the default editor (usually emacs).

Key Modifiers

• Ctrl (Control): Often abbreviated as C-.
• Meta (usually Alt or Esc): Often abbreviated as M-.