iTerm2 Cheatsheet

Table of Contents

iTerm2 is a terminal emulator for macOS that does amazing things.

NOTE: The following cheats were taken from Chris Dillon’s gist.

What is iTerm2?

iTerm2 is a replacement for Terminal and the successor to iTerm. It works on Macs with macOS 10.14 or newer. iTerm2 brings the terminal into the modern age with features you never knew you always wanted.

Tabs and Windows

Function	Shortcut
New Tab	`⌘` + `T`
Close Tab or Window	`⌘` + `W` (same as many mac apps)
Go to Tab	`⌘` + `Number Key` (ie: `⌘2` is 2nd tab)
Go to Split Pane by Direction	`⌘` + `Option` + `Arrow Key`
Cycle iTerm Windows	`⌘` + `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.

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