What keyboard shortcuts control the foreground process?

Ctrl+C interrupts (SIGINT), Ctrl+Z suspends (SIGTSTP), Ctrl+\ quits with a core dump (SIGQUIT), and Ctrl+D sends end-of-input (EOF, not a signal).

These keys are the terminal's shortcut for sending signals to the foreground job — the terminal driver translates the keystroke into the corresponding signal. The one to keep straight is Ctrl+D: it's not a signal at all, just an end-of-file marker on the input stream.

After Ctrl+Z:

$ jobs           # See suspended jobs
[1]+  Stopped    vim file.txt

$ bg %1          # Continue in background
$ fg %1          # Bring back to foreground
$ kill %1        # Kill the job

Common mistake:

• Ctrl+Z doesn't kill - process is still running (paused)
• Use Ctrl+C to actually terminate
• Or bg to continue in background

Tip: Accidentally started a long command? Use Ctrl+Z then bg to push it to background!