# Command Line Shortcuts


Let's look at some handy shell shortcuts to speed up your workflow. To keep this lesson short, I'm only going to cover a handful here, and we'll get into more complex ones in future videos.

First, you've probably already noticed that pressing the `up` arrow on your keyboard brings up the previous command you typed. Pressing it repeatedly moves back through your previous commands. Pressing `down` reverses the direction.

You can press `CTRL+A` to jump to the beginning of the line, so you can add something to the front of the command.

```command
mkdir -p /tmp/this/is/a/long/structure
  ^
```

Pressing `Esc + F` will jump forward one word:

```command
mkdir -p /tmp/this/is/a/long/structure
      ^
```

and pressing `Esc + b` will jump back one word.

```command
mkdir -p /tmp/this/is/a/long/structure
  ^
```

On some terminals you can use the `Alt` key instead of `Esc`, but this is a configuration option you'll need to explore.

You can press `CTRL + e` to jump to the end of the line.

```command
mkdir -p /tmp/this/is/a/long/structure
                                       ^
```

If you decide you don't want to execute this command, you can use `CTRL-E` to move to the end of the line and clear it with `CTRL-U`.

```command

```

`CTRL + u` deletes every character before the cursor.

You can also press good old reliable `CTRL + c` to break out of the line, just like you'd use it to

```command
ping google.com
```

You'll see this output:

```output
PING google.com (216.58.192.206): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 216.58.192.206: icmp_seq=0 ttl=114 time=42.153 ms
64 bytes from 216.58.192.206: icmp_seq=1 ttl=114 time=32.247 ms
64 bytes from 216.58.192.206: icmp_seq=2 ttl=114 time=37.486 ms
^C
--- google.com ping statistics ---
3 packets transmitted, 3 packets received, 0.0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 32.247/37.295/42.153/4.046 ms
```

Pressing `CTR + L` clears the screen, even in the middle of typing a command.  I use this one a lot.

When you type `history` you see the commands you typed. You also see numbers next to each command.

```command
history
```

```output
1   cd /var/www
2   cd /usr/bin
3   tree /usr/bin
4   du -h /usr/bin
5   history
6
7   mkdir -p /tmp/this/is/a/long/structure
8   ping google.com
9   history
```

You can use these numbers to execute a previous command. Type the exclamation point, followed by the number, and the command runs again.

```command
!10
```

```output
mkdir -p /tmp/this/is/a/long/structure
```

Sometimes you just want to run the last command again. Typing out two exclamation points executes the last command again:

```command
!!
```

```output
mkdir -p /tmp/this/is/a/long/structure
```

Finally, pressing `Ctrl + r` lets you perform a reverse search, which is sometimes a lot faster than cycling through your history with the `up` arrow. Type part of the command and the command completes.

That's all for this time. See how you can put these shortcuts to use in your own projects.