Skip to content

Bash Command Cheat Sheet

Keyboard shortcuts for terminal:

  • use Tab key to tab-complete command, file, and directory names

  • use Up or Down keys to go to previous/current terminal commands

  • Ctrl+Z to stop commands in progress

Tip

Keyboard presses with the Ctrl key are shown with a + to indicate that you press Ctrl and the other key together.

Bash Description
pwd path to current directory
cd change directory
ls list. ls -lht will list directory contents in human-readable (-h) file sizes and with time stamp (-t)
history shows history of all commands you've entered. Note: the default command is history 1 on zsh.
less <file name> view file contents, scroll with up/down keys. exit view by typing Q
| a pipe that connects commands
history \| less view history
nano -ET4 <file name> opens up the text editor nano, tab key = 4 spaces
grep search files using regular expressions to pattern match. grep rule Snakefile will output all the lines in the file called Snakefile with the word 'rule' in them
rm <file name> removes files forever, be careful!
clear clear terminal window screen
PS1='$ ' change prompt symbol, e.g., to make it shorter. Note that if you are using a bash terminal, the prompt will end in an $. If you are using a zsh terminal, the prompt will end in an % by default.
Text editing with nano description
Ctrl+K cut text
Ctrl+U paste text
Ctrl+_, enter line number, Enter go to specific line number
Ctrl+E go to end of line
Ctrl+V scroll down page
Ctrl+O , edit file name if needed, Enter saving changes (Write Out)
Ctrl+X exit nano

# in text files = comments; these lines of text are not interpreted as code


Last update: April 2, 2021