🖥️ Linux Keyboard Shortcuts Cheat Sheet

📌 Boost your productivity with these essential shortcuts!

⌨️ General Shortcuts

🔠 Shortcut	🔹 Description
Ctrl + C 🛑	Cancel/terminate the running process
Ctrl + D 🚪	Logout or send EOF (End Of File)
Ctrl + L 🧹	Clear the terminal screen
Ctrl + S 🛑	Pause terminal output (freeze scrolling)
Ctrl + Q ▶️	Resume terminal output
Ctrl + Z 💤	Suspend (background) current process
Ctrl + A ⬅️	Move cursor to the beginning of the line
Ctrl + E ➡️	Move cursor to the end of the line
Ctrl + U ✂️	Delete text from cursor to line start
Ctrl + K ✂️	Delete text from cursor to line end
Ctrl + W ✂️	Delete the word before the cursor
Ctrl + Y 📋	Paste (yank) the last deleted text
Ctrl + R 🔍	Reverse search command history
Ctrl + G ❌	Exit history search mode

🔠 Shortcut	🔹 Description
Alt + F ➡️	Move forward one word
Alt + B ⬅️	Move backward one word
Alt + D ✂️	Delete the word after the cursor
Alt + Backspace ✂️	Delete the word before the cursor
Shift + Page Up ⬆️	Scroll up in the terminal
Shift + Page Down ⬇️	Scroll down in the terminal

🔠 Shortcut	🔹 Description
Ctrl + Shift + T 📑	Open a new terminal tab
Ctrl + Shift + W ❌	Close the current terminal tab
Ctrl + Shift + N 🆕	Open a new terminal window
Alt + Tab 🔄	Switch between applications
Alt + Shift + Tab 🔄	Switch between apps (reverse order)
Super + Left ◀️	Snap window to the left
Super + Right ▶️	Snap window to the right
Super + Up 🔼	Maximize the window
Super + Down 🔽	Minimize (or restore) the window

🔹 Note: The “Super” key is usually the Windows or Command key.

🔠 Shortcut	🔹 Description
Ctrl + N 🆕	Open a new file manager window
Ctrl + T 📑	Open a new tab in the file manager
Ctrl + W ❌	Close the current tab or window
Ctrl + Shift + N 📂	Create a new folder
F2 ✏️	Rename the selected file/folder
Delete 🗑️	Move file/folder to Trash
Shift + Delete ⚠️	Permanently delete the file/folder
Ctrl + X ✂️	Cut the selected file/folder
Ctrl + C 📋	Copy the selected file/folder
Ctrl + V 📥	Paste the file/folder
Ctrl + A ✅	Select all files/folders
Ctrl + Shift + T 🔄	Reopen the last closed tab (if supported)

🔹 Note: Shortcuts may vary in different file managers like GNOME Files, Dolphin, Thunar.

🔠 Shortcut	🔹 Description
Ctrl + T 📑	Open a new tab
Ctrl + W ❌	Close the current tab
Ctrl + Shift + T 🔄	Reopen the last closed tab
Ctrl + Tab ⏩	Switch to the next tab
Ctrl + Shift + Tab ⏪	Switch to the previous tab
Alt + F4 ❌	Close the active application

You can create custom shortcuts for commands using aliases:

alias ll='ls -lah'   # Detailed file list
alias gs='git status'  # Git status shortcut
alias c='clear'  # Clear terminal

To make these permanent, add them to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc and run:

source ~/.bashrc  # (or source ~/.zshrc)

To create a shortcut (symbolic link) to a file or directory:

ln -s /path/to/original /path/to/shortcut

Example:

ln -s /var/www/html ~/myweb

This creates myweb as a shortcut to /var/www/html.