Gemini CLI Keyboard Shortcuts

Gemini CLI ships with a set of default keyboard shortcuts for editing input, navigating history, and controlling the UI. Use this reference to learn the available combinations.

Basic Controls

Action	Keys
Confirm the current selection or choice.	Enter
Dismiss dialogs or cancel the current focus.	Esc

Cursor Movement

Action	Keys
Move the cursor to the start of the line.	Ctrl + A Home
Move the cursor to the end of the line.	Ctrl + E End

Editing

Action	Keys
Delete from the cursor to the end of the line.	Ctrl + K
Delete from the cursor to the start of the line.	Ctrl + U
Clear all text in the input field.	Ctrl + C
Delete the previous word.	Ctrl + Backspace Cmd + Backspace

Screen Control

Action	Keys
Clear the terminal screen and redraw the UI.	Ctrl + L

Scrolling

Action	Keys
Scroll content up.	Shift + Up Arrow
Scroll content down.	Shift + Down Arrow
Scroll to the top.	Home
Scroll to the bottom.	End
Scroll up by one page.	Page Up
Scroll down by one page.	Page Down

History & Search

Action	Keys
Show the previous entry in history.	Ctrl + P (no Shift)
Show the next entry in history.	Ctrl + N (no Shift)
Start reverse search through history.	Ctrl + R
Insert the selected reverse-search match.	Enter (no Ctrl)
Accept a suggestion while reverse searching.	Tab

Navigation

Action	Keys
Move selection up in lists.	Up Arrow (no Shift)
Move selection down in lists.	Down Arrow (no Shift)
Move up within dialog options.	Up Arrow (no Shift) K (no Shift)
Move down within dialog options.	Down Arrow (no Shift) J (no Shift)

Suggestions & Completions

Action	Keys
Accept the inline suggestion.	Tab Enter (no Ctrl)
Move to the previous completion option.	Up Arrow (no Shift) Ctrl + P (no Shift)
Move to the next completion option.	Down Arrow (no Shift) Ctrl + N (no Shift)
Expand an inline suggestion.	Right Arrow
Collapse an inline suggestion.	Left Arrow

Text Input

Action	Keys
Submit the current prompt.	Enter (no Ctrl, no Shift, no Cmd, not Paste)
Insert a newline without submitting.	Ctrl + Enter Cmd + Enter Paste + Enter Shift + Enter Ctrl + J

External Tools

Action	Keys
Open the current prompt in an external editor.	Ctrl + X
Paste from the clipboard.	Ctrl + V

App Controls

Action	Keys
Toggle detailed error information.	F12
Toggle the full TODO list.	Ctrl + T
Toggle IDE context details.	Ctrl + G
Toggle Markdown rendering.	Cmd + M
Toggle copy mode when the terminal is using the alternate buffer.	Ctrl + S
Expand a height-constrained response to show additional lines.	Ctrl + S
Toggle focus between the shell and Gemini input.	Ctrl + F

Session Control

Action	Keys
Cancel the current request or quit the CLI.	Ctrl + C
Exit the CLI when the input buffer is empty.	Ctrl + D

Additional Context-Specific Shortcuts

• Ctrl+Y: Toggle YOLO (auto-approval) mode for tool calls.
• Shift+Tab: Toggle Auto Edit (auto-accept edits) mode.
• Option+M (macOS): Entering µ with Option+M also toggles Markdown rendering, matching Cmd+M.
• ! on an empty prompt: Enter or exit shell mode.
• \ (at end of a line) + Enter: Insert a newline without leaving single-line mode.
• Ctrl+Delete / Meta+Delete: Delete the word to the right of the cursor.
• Ctrl+B or Left Arrow: Move the cursor one character to the left while editing text.
• Ctrl+F or Right Arrow: Move the cursor one character to the right; with an embedded shell attached, Ctrl+F still toggles focus.
• Ctrl+D or Delete: Remove the character immediately to the right of the cursor.
• Ctrl+H or Backspace: Remove the character immediately to the left of the cursor.
• Ctrl+Left Arrow / Meta+Left Arrow / Meta+B: Move one word to the left.
• Ctrl+Right Arrow / Meta+Right Arrow / Meta+F: Move one word to the right.
• Ctrl+W: Delete the word to the left of the cursor (in addition to Ctrl+Backspace / Cmd+Backspace).
• Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Shift+Z: Undo or redo the most recent text edit.
• Meta+Enter: Open the current input in an external editor (alias for Ctrl+X).
• Esc pressed twice quickly: Clear the current input buffer.
• Up Arrow / Down Arrow: When the cursor is at the top or bottom of a single-line input, navigate backward or forward through prompt history.
• Number keys (1-9, multi-digit) inside selection dialogs: Jump directly to the numbered radio option and confirm when the full number is entered.