Shell keybindings comparison :: Shell Architecture :: OpenShellOrg Docs

Shell keybindings comparison

Living reference. Expand as we verify defaults on bash 5.x, zsh, fish, Nushell, PowerShell 7, and cmd. Pair with Shell landscape for shell taxonomy.

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Column Meaning

Common

Same or near-same default across POSIX-ish and modern shells

Exception

Shell-specific default that breaks the common pattern

OSO reserved

Open Shell assigns when default is unused — display layers

Corporate-only or terminal-emulator-specific bindings (tmux prefix, IDE capture) are out of scope unless they collide with shell defaults.

Editing and line input

Action bash zsh fish Nushell pwsh OSO note

Beginning of line

Ctrl+A

Ctrl+A

Ctrl+A

Ctrl+A / Home

Home

Common

End of line

Ctrl+E

Ctrl+E

Ctrl+E

Ctrl+E / End

End

Common

Delete char forward

Ctrl+D (EOF at EOL)

Ctrl+D

Ctrl+D

Delete

Delete

Exception: EOF semantics

Kill to EOL

Ctrl+K

Ctrl+K

Ctrl+K

varies

—

Mostly common

Clear screen

Ctrl+L

Ctrl+L

Ctrl+L

Ctrl+L

Clear-Host

Common

Search history

Ctrl+R

Ctrl+R

Ctrl+R

Ctrl+R

F8/PSReadLine

Common-ish

Insert line above (multiline)

Ctrl+Enter (terminal)

—

—

no-op (today)

—

OSO reclaims in structured mode

Process control

Action bash zsh fish Nushell pwsh

Interrupt

Ctrl+C

Ctrl+C

Ctrl+C

Ctrl+C

Ctrl+C

Suspend

Ctrl+Z

Ctrl+Z

—

—

—

EOF / exit

Ctrl+D

Ctrl+D

Ctrl+D

Ctrl+D

Ctrl+D/exit
Key Typical shell default

PgUp / PgDn

Passed to terminal scrollback — not used by bash/zsh/fish/nu for editing

Ctrl+PgUp / Ctrl+PgDn

Usually unbound at shell level

Ctrl+1 … Ctrl+9, Ctrl+0

Usually unbound at shell level (terminal may change tabs)

Ctrl+/

Often unbound; PSReadLine may bind undo in some configs

Ctrl+ + backtick

Usually unbound at shell level

Open Shell reservations: OSO default chords.

Mode and session (OSO Open Shell)

Chord Open Shell action

Ctrl+PgUp / Ctrl+PgDn

Cycle UNIX vs structured syntax mode

Ctrl+1

Mode selector (dropdown / click)

Ctrl+2–Ctrl+0

Reserved always-on toggles

Ctrl+ + backtick

Return cwd to session home

Ctrl+/

Command palette / chord help

PgUp/PgDn (paste overlay)

Scroll paste preview

Terminal vs shell

Many Ctrl+number chords are captured by Windows Terminal (tab switch) or iTerm2 before they reach the shell. Open Shell + shell-host documents host-level passthrough or rebinding — see shell-host.

Contributing

Verify bindings against shipped defaults; cite version in PR. Track gaps in issues.