What are the essential bash keyboard shortcuts for cursor movement?

Bash lets you edit the command line without arrow keys: Ctrl+A/Ctrl+E jump to line start/end, Alt+B/Alt+F hop word by word, and Ctrl+U/Ctrl+K wipe to the start/end.

These come from the Emacs editing mode that bash uses by default, which is why they feel arbitrary until you learn the logic: Ctrl moves/deletes by character, Alt does the same by word. Once that clicks, fixing a typo near the front of a long command becomes one keystroke instead of twenty taps of the ← key.

And the matching deletion keys (covered next) follow the same character-vs-word pattern.

Deletion shortcuts:

Mnemonic:

• A = stArt (beginning)
• E = End
• U = Unix-kill (clear to start)
• K = Kill (clear to end)
• W = Word