Linux: Terminal Control Sequence Keys

By Xah Lee. Date: . Last updated: .

Terminal Control Sequence Keys

Many keyboard shortcut in Linux terminal are actually ancient terminal control sequences.

terminal control sequences
keymeaningASCII ID • name • caret notation
Ctrl+dexit terminal4 • End Of Transmission • ^D
Ctrl+hbackward delete8 • Backspace • ^H
Ctrl+lclear screen12 • Form Feed • ^L
Ctrl+ccancel/interrupt3 • End of Text • ^C
Ctrl+zsuspend26 • Substitute • ^Z

Also, in classic terminal emulator such as xterm or Virtual Terminal , pressing Ctrl+s freezes the terminal. 〔see Linux: Ctrl+s Freeze vim

For detail, see info stty.

List All Control Sequences

You can type stty -a to list all control sequences.

Sample output:

◆ stty -a
speed 38400 baud; rows 0; columns 0; line = 0;
intr = ^C; quit = ^\; erase = <undef>; kill = <undef>; eof = ^D; eol = <undef>; eol2 = <undef>;
swtch = <undef>; start = ^Q; stop = ^S; susp = ^Z; rprnt = ^R; werase = ^W; lnext = ^V; flush = ^O;
min = 1; time = 0;
-parenb -parodd cs8 -hupcl -cstopb cread -clocal -crtscts
-ignbrk -brkint -ignpar -parmrk -inpck -istrip -inlcr -igncr icrnl ixon -ixoff -iuclc -ixany -imaxbel
-iutf8
opost -olcuc -ocrnl -onlcr -onocr -onlret -ofill -ofdel nl0 cr0 tab0 bs0 vt0 ff0
isig icanon iexten -echo echoe echok -echonl -noflsh -xcase -tostop -echoprt echoctl echoke

Linux, Bash and Terminal