Keyboard Shortcuts

A complete reference for every keyboard shortcut available in Claude Code. Organized by context: terminal/CLI shortcuts, VS Code extension shortcuts, and general text editing.

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Before You Start: Platform Notes

Many shortcuts differ between Mac and Windows/Linux. This guide uses:

• Mac: Cmd for the Command key, Option for the Option/Alt key
• Windows/Linux: Ctrl for the Control key, Alt for the Alt key

macOS users: Several shortcuts use the Option key as Meta. These require a one-time terminal configuration:

• iTerm2: Settings → Profiles → Keys → set Left/Right Option key to "Esc+"
• Terminal.app: Settings → Profiles → Keyboard → check "Use Option as Meta Key"
• VS Code integrated terminal: Settings → Profiles → Keys → set Option key to "Esc+"

Once configured, Option+B, Option+F, etc. will work as expected.

Press ? inside a Claude Code session to see shortcuts available in your specific environment.

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Terminal / CLI Shortcuts

Session Control

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl+C	Cancel the current operation or input
Ctrl+D	Exit Claude Code (sends end-of-file signal)
Ctrl+L	Clear the terminal screen (conversation history is preserved)
Ctrl+R	Search through command history (type to filter, Ctrl+R again to cycle older matches)
Esc + Esc	Rewind or summarize (restore code/conversation to a previous point, or summarize from a message)

Navigation and Output

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl+O	Toggle verbose output (shows detailed tool usage and execution steps)
Ctrl+G	Open current prompt (or plan) in your default text editor
Ctrl+T	Toggle task list visibility in the terminal status area
Up arrow	Navigate to previous command in history
Down arrow	Navigate to next command in history
Left / Right arrows	Cycle through tabs in permission dialogs and menus

Permission Mode Switching

Shortcut	Action
Shift+Tab	Cycle through permission modes (default → auto-accept → plan mode → default)

Background Tasks

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl+B	Background the currently running command (tmux users: press twice)
Ctrl+X Ctrl+K	Kill all background agents (chord sequence: press Ctrl+X, then Ctrl+K)

Model and Thinking

Shortcut	Action
Cmd+P (Mac) / Meta+P (Win/Linux)	Switch model without clearing your prompt
Cmd+T (Mac) / Meta+T (Win/Linux)	Toggle extended thinking on/off (run /terminal-setup first)

Paste

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl+V	Paste image from clipboard
Cmd+V (iTerm2)	Paste image from clipboard (iTerm2 only)
Alt+V (Windows)	Paste image from clipboard

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Text Editing Shortcuts (Within the Prompt)

These shortcuts work while you are typing in the prompt box — before you send your message.

Line Editing

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl+K	Delete from cursor to end of line (deleted text is saved for pasting)
Ctrl+U	Delete the entire current line (deleted text is saved for pasting)
Ctrl+Y	Paste the most recently deleted text
Alt+Y (after Ctrl+Y)	Cycle through paste history (Mac: requires Option as Meta)

Word Navigation

Shortcut	Action
Alt+B (Mac: requires Option as Meta)	Move cursor back one word
Alt+F (Mac: requires Option as Meta)	Move cursor forward one word

Multiline Input

Method	How
Quick escape (all terminals)	Type \ then press Enter
macOS default	Option+Enter
iTerm2, WezTerm, Ghostty, Kitty	Shift+Enter (works out of the box)
VS Code, Alacritty, Zed, Warp	Shift+Enter (run /terminal-setup to enable)
Control sequence	Ctrl+J (line feed)

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Quick Commands (Prompt Prefixes)

Type these at the start of your prompt to trigger special behavior:

Prefix	Action
/	Open command menu — shows all available slash commands
!	Run a shell command directly without asking Claude (output is added to conversation)
@	Trigger file path autocomplete — reference a file in your prompt

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Slash Commands (Built-in)

Type / in Claude Code to see all available commands. These are the most commonly used:

Command	What it does
/help	Show available commands and shortcuts
/clear	Clear conversation history and start fresh (previous session is saved and resumable)
/compact	Compress conversation history to free up context space
/memory	View all loaded CLAUDE.md and auto-memory files; toggle auto-memory
/permissions	View and manage permission rules (allowlist and denylist)
/resume	Open a conversation picker to resume a previous session
/rename	Give the current session a descriptive name
/init	Generate a CLAUDE.md file for the current project
/config	Open the settings interface
/theme	Change the color theme
/vim	Enable vim-style editing mode
/add-dir	Add an additional directory for Claude to access in the current session
/agents	List available subagents and create new ones
/mcp	Manage MCP server connections
/btw	Ask a quick side question without adding it to conversation history
/effort	Set the reasoning effort level: /effort low, /effort medium, /effort high
/model	Switch to a different Claude model
/fast	Toggle fast mode (lower latency, less thorough reasoning)

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VS Code Extension Shortcuts

These shortcuts work inside the VS Code Claude Code extension panel.

Opening Claude

Shortcut	Action
Click spark icon (editor top-right)	Open Claude panel (requires a file to be open)
Click spark icon (Activity Bar)	Open sessions list
Cmd+Shift+P / Ctrl+Shift+P → "Claude Code"	Open via Command Palette
Click "✱ Claude Code" in Status Bar	Open Claude (always available, even without a file open)

Navigation

Shortcut	Action
Cmd+Esc / Ctrl+Esc	Toggle focus between editor and Claude
Cmd+Shift+Esc / Ctrl+Shift+Esc	Open new Claude conversation in editor tab
Cmd+N / Ctrl+N	Start new conversation (when Claude is focused)

Working with Files

Shortcut	Action
Option+K / Alt+K	Insert @-mention reference for current file and selection into prompt
Shift + drag file into prompt	Add file as attachment
Cmd+click / Ctrl+click on image reference	Open image in default viewer

Sending Messages

Setting	Default	Alternative
Send message	Enter	Enable useCtrlEnterToSend setting to use Ctrl+Enter instead
New line in prompt	Shift+Enter

Checkpoints (VS Code Only)

Action	How
Reveal rewind button	Hover over any message
Fork conversation from this point	Click rewind → "Fork conversation from here"
Revert file changes to this point	Click rewind → "Rewind code to here"
Fork and revert	Click rewind → "Fork conversation and rewind code"

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Vim Mode Shortcuts

Enable vim mode with /vim or in /config. These shortcuts are available in NORMAL mode.

Mode Switching

Key	Action
Esc	Enter NORMAL mode
i	Insert before cursor
I	Insert at beginning of line
a	Insert after cursor
A	Insert at end of line
o	Open new line below
O	Open new line above

NORMAL Mode Navigation

Key	Action
h / j / k / l	Left / down / up / right
w	Next word
b	Previous word
e	End of word
0	Beginning of line
$	End of line
gg	Beginning of input
G	End of input
f{char}	Jump to next occurrence of character

NORMAL Mode Editing

Key	Action
x	Delete character
dd	Delete line
cc	Change line
yy	Copy (yank) line
p	Paste after cursor
P	Paste before cursor
.	Repeat last change
>>	Indent line
<<	Dedent line

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Session Picker Shortcuts

When the session picker is open (from claude --resume or /resume):

Key	Action
↑ / ↓	Navigate between sessions
→ / ←	Expand or collapse grouped sessions
Enter	Resume highlighted session
P	Preview session content
R	Rename highlighted session
/	Search/filter sessions
A	Toggle between current directory and all projects
B	Filter to sessions from current git branch
Esc	Exit picker or cancel search

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CLI Flags That Function Like Shortcuts

These command-line flags change Claude Code's behavior when starting a session:

Flag	Effect
claude -c	Continue the most recent conversation
claude -r	Open session picker (or claude -r name to resume by name)
claude -n name	Start session with a custom name
claude --permission-mode plan	Start in plan mode
claude --permission-mode acceptEdits	Start in auto-accept mode
claude -v	Print Claude Code version number
claude update	Update Claude Code to the latest version

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Press ? in any Claude Code session to see shortcuts specific to your current terminal and platform configuration.