Keyboard shortcuts can greatly improve productivity, especially for complex but frequent tasks. Here are the CTRL shortcuts I use often in the shell. After learning them, I felt silly about how I used to do things. Why didn't I learn them sooner?

CRTL + A

In most text and file operations, CTRL+A means select all, but in the shell it moves the cursor to the beginning of the line. That's much faster than holding down Backspace.

CRTL + E

Similar to CTRL + A, but it moves the cursor to the end of the line. Think of E as END, which makes it easier to remember.

Some people ask why not use the HOME and END keys. Simple: not every keyboard has them, but every keyboard has this shortcut

CTRL + I

This shortcut is usually equivalent to the clear command. It's faster than clear and doesn't show up in your command history.

CTRL + W

Deletes everything before the cursor. Especially useful when reusing old commands

CTRL + U

Deletes everything on the current line. Often used to clear a password and start over

CTRL + D

Usually means a program has no more output; in the shell, it usually closes the shell