Gemini CLI keyboard shortcuts

Gemini CLI ships with a set of default keyboard shortcuts for editing input, navigating history, and controlling the UI. Use this reference to learn the available combinations.

Basic Controls

Command	Action	Keys
basic.confirm	Confirm the current selection or choice.	Enter
basic.cancel	Dismiss dialogs or cancel the current focus.	Esc Ctrl+[
basic.quit	Cancel the current request or quit the CLI when input is empty.	Ctrl+C
basic.exit	Exit the CLI when the input buffer is empty.	Ctrl+D

Cursor Movement

Command	Action	Keys
cursor.home	Move the cursor to the start of the line.	Ctrl+A Home
cursor.end	Move the cursor to the end of the line.	Ctrl+E End
cursor.up	Move the cursor up one line.	Up
cursor.down	Move the cursor down one line.	Down
cursor.left	Move the cursor one character to the left.	Left
cursor.right	Move the cursor one character to the right.	Right Ctrl+F
cursor.wordLeft	Move the cursor one word to the left.	Ctrl+Left Alt+Left Alt+B
cursor.wordRight	Move the cursor one word to the right.	Ctrl+Right Alt+Right Alt+F

Editing

Command	Action	Keys
edit.deleteRightAll	Delete from the cursor to the end of the line.	Ctrl+K
edit.deleteLeftAll	Delete from the cursor to the start of the line.	Ctrl+U
edit.clear	Clear all text in the input field.	Ctrl+C
edit.deleteWordLeft	Delete the previous word.	Ctrl+Backspace Alt+Backspace Ctrl+W
edit.deleteWordRight	Delete the next word.	Ctrl+Delete Alt+Delete Alt+D
edit.deleteLeft	Delete the character to the left.	Backspace Ctrl+H
edit.deleteRight	Delete the character to the right.	Delete Ctrl+D
edit.undo	Undo the most recent text edit.	Cmd/Win+Z Alt+Z
edit.redo	Redo the most recent undone text edit.	Ctrl+Shift+Z Shift+Cmd/Win+Z Alt+Shift+Z

Scrolling

Command	Action	Keys
scroll.up	Scroll content up.	Shift+Up
scroll.down	Scroll content down.	Shift+Down
scroll.home	Scroll to the top.	Ctrl+Home Shift+Home
scroll.end	Scroll to the bottom.	Ctrl+End Shift+End
scroll.pageUp	Scroll up by one page.	Page Up
scroll.pageDown	Scroll down by one page.	Page Down

History & Search

Command	Action	Keys
history.previous	Show the previous entry in history.	Ctrl+P
history.next	Show the next entry in history.	Ctrl+N
history.search.start	Start reverse search through history.	Ctrl+R
history.search.submit	Submit the selected reverse-search match.	Enter
history.search.accept	Accept a suggestion while reverse searching.	Tab

Navigation

Command	Action	Keys
nav.up	Move selection up in lists.	Up
nav.down	Move selection down in lists.	Down
nav.dialog.up	Move up within dialog options.	Up K
nav.dialog.down	Move down within dialog options.	Down J
nav.dialog.next	Move to the next item or question in a dialog.	Tab
nav.dialog.previous	Move to the previous item or question in a dialog.	Shift+Tab

Suggestions & Completions

Command	Action	Keys
suggest.accept	Accept the inline suggestion.	Tab Enter
suggest.focusPrevious	Move to the previous completion option.	Up Ctrl+P
suggest.focusNext	Move to the next completion option.	Down Ctrl+N
suggest.expand	Expand an inline suggestion.	Right
suggest.collapse	Collapse an inline suggestion.	Left

Text Input

Command	Action	Keys
input.submit	Submit the current prompt.	Enter
input.newline	Insert a newline without submitting.	Ctrl+Enter Cmd/Win+Enter Alt+Enter Shift+Enter Ctrl+J
input.openExternalEditor	Open the current prompt or the plan in an external editor.	Ctrl+X
input.paste	Paste from the clipboard.	Ctrl+V Cmd/Win+V Alt+V

App Controls

Command	Action	Keys
app.showErrorDetails	Toggle detailed error information.	F12
app.showFullTodos	Toggle the full TODO list.	Ctrl+T
app.showIdeContextDetail	Show IDE context details.	Ctrl+G
app.toggleMarkdown	Toggle Markdown rendering.	Alt+M
app.toggleCopyMode	Toggle copy mode when in alternate buffer mode.	Ctrl+S
app.toggleYolo	Toggle YOLO (auto-approval) mode for tool calls.	Ctrl+Y
app.cycleApprovalMode	Cycle through approval modes: default (prompt), auto_edit (auto-approve edits), and plan (read-only). Plan mode is skipped when the agent is busy.	Shift+Tab
app.showMoreLines	Expand and collapse blocks of content when not in alternate buffer mode.	Ctrl+O
app.expandPaste	Expand or collapse a paste placeholder when cursor is over placeholder.	Ctrl+O
app.focusShellInput	Move focus from Gemini to the active shell.	Tab
app.unfocusShellInput	Move focus from the shell back to Gemini.	Shift+Tab
app.clearScreen	Clear the terminal screen and redraw the UI.	Ctrl+L
app.restart	Restart the application.	R Shift+R
app.suspend	Suspend the CLI and move it to the background.	Ctrl+Z
app.showShellUnfocusWarning	Show warning when trying to move focus away from shell input.	Tab

Background Shell Controls

Command	Action	Keys
background.escape	Dismiss background shell list.	Esc
background.select	Confirm selection in background shell list.	Enter
background.toggle	Toggle current background shell visibility.	Ctrl+B
background.toggleList	Toggle background shell list.	Ctrl+L
background.kill	Kill the active background shell.	Ctrl+K
background.unfocus	Move focus from background shell to Gemini.	Shift+Tab
background.unfocusList	Move focus from background shell list to Gemini.	Tab
background.unfocusWarning	Show warning when trying to move focus away from background shell.	Tab

Customizing Keybindings

You can add alternative keybindings or remove default keybindings by creating a keybindings.json file in your home gemini directory (typically ~/.gemini/keybindings.json).

Configuration Format

The configuration uses a JSON array of objects, similar to VS Code's keybinding schema. Each object must specify a command from the reference tables above and a key combination.

[
  {
    "command": "edit.clear",
    "key": "cmd+l"
  },
  {
    // prefix "-" to unbind a key
    "command": "-app.toggleYolo",
    "key": "ctrl+y"
  },
  {
    "command": "input.submit",
    "key": "ctrl+y"
  },
  {
    // multiple modifiers
    "command": "cursor.right",
    "key": "shift+alt+a"
  },
  {
    // Some mac keyboards send "Å" instead of "shift+option+a"
    "command": "cursor.right",
    "key": "Å"
  },
  {
    // some base keys have special multi-char names
    "command": "cursor.right",
    "key": "shift+pageup"
  }
]

• Unbinding To remove an existing or default keybinding, prefix a minus sign (-) to the command name.
• No Auto-unbinding The same key can be bound to multiple commands in different contexts at the same time. Therefore, creating a binding does not automatically unbind the key from other commands.
• Explicit Modifiers: Key matching is explicit. For example, a binding for ctrl+f will only trigger on exactly ctrl+f, not ctrl+shift+f or alt+ctrl+f.
• Literal Characters: Terminals often translate complex key combinations (especially on macOS with the Option key) into special characters, losing modifier and keystroke information along the way. For example,shift+5 might be sent as %. In these cases, you must bind to the literal character % as bindings to shift+5 will never fire. To see precisely what is being sent, enable Debug Keystroke Logging and hit f12 to open the debug log console.
• Key Modifiers: The supported key modifiers are:
  • ctrl
  • shift,
  • alt (synonyms: opt, option)
  • cmd (synonym: meta)
• Base Key: The base key can be any single unicode code point or any of the following special keys:
  • Navigation: up, down, left, right, home, end, pageup, pagedown
  • Actions: enter, escape, tab, space, backspace, delete, clear, insert, printscreen
  • Toggles: capslock, numlock, scrolllock, pausebreak
  • Function Keys: f1 through f35
  • Numpad: numpad0 through numpad9, numpad_add, numpad_subtract, numpad_multiply, numpad_divide, numpad_decimal, numpad_separator

Additional context-specific shortcuts

• Option+B/F/M (macOS only): Are interpreted as Cmd+B/F/M even if your terminal isn't configured to send Meta with Option.
• ! on an empty prompt: Enter or exit shell mode.
• ? on an empty prompt: Toggle the shortcuts panel above the input. Press Esc, Backspace, any printable key, or a registered app hotkey to close it. The panel also auto-hides while the agent is running/streaming or when action-required dialogs are shown. Press ? again to close the panel and insert a ? into the prompt.
• Tab + Tab (while typing in the prompt): Toggle between minimal and full UI details when no completion/search interaction is active. The selected mode is remembered for future sessions. Full UI remains the default on first run, and single Tab keeps its existing completion/focus behavior.
• Shift + Tab (while typing in the prompt): Cycle approval modes: default, auto-edit, and plan (skipped when agent is busy).
• \ (at end of a line) + Enter: Insert a newline without leaving single-line mode.
• Esc pressed twice quickly: Clear the input prompt if it is not empty, otherwise browse and rewind previous interactions.
• Up Arrow / Down Arrow: When the cursor is at the top or bottom of a single-line input, navigate backward or forward through prompt history.
• Number keys (1-9, multi-digit) inside selection dialogs: Jump directly to the numbered radio option and confirm when the full number is entered.
• Ctrl + O: Expand or collapse paste placeholders ([Pasted Text: X lines]) inline when the cursor is over the placeholder.
• Ctrl + X (while a plan is presented): Open the plan in an external editor to collaboratively edit or comment on the implementation strategy.
• Double-click on a paste placeholder (alternate buffer mode only): Expand to view full content inline. Double-click again to collapse.

Limitations

• On Windows Terminal:
  • shift+enter is only supported in version 1.25 and higher.
  • shift+tab is not supported on Node 20 and earlier versions of Node 22.
• On macOS's Terminal:
  • shift+enter is not supported.