List of Linux, Tmux, Vim Commands and Chrome OS Shortcuts

Linux is a free and open-source operating system. It’s been around since 1991, but it continues to be an important alternative choice away from Windows and Mac.

We’ve put together this collection of cheat sheets that you can follow to help you navigate the operating system and its programs effectively and get the most out of them. This bundle contains:

• Linux commands
• Chrome OS shortcuts
• Vim commands
• Tmux commands

Read this article to help you get even more from Linux! You will be required to complete a short form, but it’s well worth it!

Table of contents

Linux commands
Chrome OS shortcuts
Vim commands
Tmux commands

Linux commands

Clear the terminal screen.	clear
Display recently used commands. You can also view these commands via the Up and Down keys.	history
Repeat a recently used command. You can use !n repeat the n-th command in history or !-n to repeat what happened n commands ago.	!
Display the manual for a terminal program.	man
Display a brief description of a terminal program. A simpler alternative to the man command.	whatis
Create a shortcut to a command or, when combined with the cd command, directory.	alias
Exit or close the terminal.	exit

Change directory. Used to navigate between folders.	cd
Display current directory.	pwd
Change current directory.	cd
Display a list of files in the current directory.	ls
Makes a copy of a file. Defaults to the current directory unless you specify a specific one.	cp
Move a file from one directory to another.	mv
Remove a file or set of files.	rm
Display when a file was last accessed, modified, or changed.	stat
Change the date accessed or date modified time of a given file to right now.	touch
Delete a file or files.	rmdir
Create a directory. Defaults to the current directory, but you can also specify one.	mkdir
Delete a directory. Defaults to the current directory, but you can also specify one. The target directory must be completely empty.	rmdir
Change the name of a file or set of files.	rename
Search a specific directory (or your entire PC) to find files that match designated criteria.	find
Search for files or directories. Faster than the find command, but has fewer options.	locate
Search a specific file or set of files to see if a string of text exists and where.	grep
Attach a separate filesystem (such as an external hard drive or USB stick) to your system’s main filesystem.	mount
Detach a separate filesystem from your system’s main filesystem.	umount
Display the contents of a text file. Also works with multiple files.	cat
Modify the read, write, and execute permissions of a file.	chmod
Change the user or group that owns a file.	chown

Switch user. Unless you designate a specific user, this command will attempt to sign in as the root user (which you can think of as the system administrator)	su
Displays the current user name.	whoami
Display current user and group.	id
Create or update a user’s password.	passwd

Displays core system information such as kernel version, hardware, and operating system.	uname
Enter before a command to perform the command as a system administrator. Users must have administrator privileges for this to work.	sudo
Programs for installing software and updates. Which one to use depends on your Linux-based operating system. Each requires administrator rights and additional instructions, such as sudo apt install program-name.	apt/dnf/pacman
Display the status of all current jobs. A job is a representation of a running process or group of processes.	jobs
Send a job to the background.	bg
Send a job to the foreground.	fg
End a process according to its process ID (which you can get using the ps command).	kill
End all processes whose names match your query.	killall
Display a list of running processes. Defaults to processes started by the current user.	ps
Displays a list of running processes, sorted by how much CPU each uses. Unlike ps, the command updates in real-time.	top
Displays time since last boot.	uptime
Finds the executable file for a program.	whereis
Displays how much disk space is used and free on your system.	df
Displays how much RAM is used and free on your system.	free

Displays your IP address, network interfaces, bandwidth usage, and more.	ip
Send or receive data from another computer on a network. Often used to test whether a network connection is established and the speed of that connection.	ping
Lookup a domain’s DNS address.	dig
Download a file	wget
Secure Shell. Connect and login to s remote network location.	ssh

Display a line of text. Often used in programs and scripts to relay information to users.	echo
Displays possible factors of a decimal number.	factor
Solve math equations.	expr
Lookup a word in the dictionary.	look

Chrome OS shortcuts

Open Print dialog	Ctrl + P
Save the current webpage	Ctrl + S
Refresh the page	Ctrl + R
Refresh the page without loading cache	Ctrl + Shift + R
Open a file	Ctrl + O
View history	Ctrl + H
Open Downloads	Ctrl + J
Bookmark current page	Ctrl + D
Bookmark all open tabs	Ctrl + Shift + D
Toggle bookmarks bar	Ctrl + Shift + B
Open Chrome’s menu	Alt + E
Open Task Manager	Search + Esc
View page source	Ctrl + U
Open the Developer Tools panel	Ctrl + Shift + I

Show notifications	Shift + Alt + N
Open Help	Ctrl + Forward Slash (/)
Show Chrome OS shortcuts reference window	Ctrl + Alt + Forward Slash (/)
Lock screen	Search + L
Sign out of Google account	Ctrl + Shift + Q (twice)
Increase screen resolution	Ctrl + Shift + Plus (+)
Decrease screen resolution	Ctrl + Shift + Minus (-)
Reset screen resolution	Ctrl + Shift + Zero (0)
Increase/decrease keyboard backlight (if applicable)	Alt + Brightness Up/Down
Take a screenshot of the entire screen	Ctrl + Window Switcher
Take a screenshot of the selected region	Ctrl + Shift + Window Switcher
Toggle external monitor modes (if applicable)	Ctrl + Full Screen

Toggle Caps Lock	Alt + Search
Delete next character. Equivalent to Delete key on Windows	Alt + Backspace
Delete previous word	Ctrl + Backspace
Delete next word	Ctrl + Alt + Backspace
Select all	Ctrl + A
Select all text in the address bar	Ctrl + L
Move the cursor to the next/previous word	Ctrl + Right/Left
Select next/previous word	Ctrl + Shift + Right/Left
Select all text to the end/beginning of the current line	Shift + Search + Right/Left
Jump to the end/beginning of a text field/document	Ctrl + Search + Right/Left
Copy	Ctrl + C
Cut	Ctrl + X
Paste	Ctrl + V
Paste without formatting	Ctrl + Shift + V
Undo	Ctrl + Z
Redo	Ctrl + Y

Zoom in	Ctrl + Plus (+)
Zoom out	Ctrl + Minus (-)
Reset zoom to 100%	Ctrl + 0 (Zero)
Search the current page	Ctrl + F
Go back one page	Alt + Left
Go forward one page	Alt + Right
Scroll up page. Equivalent to Page Up key in Windows	Alt + Up
Scroll down page. Equivalent to Page Down key in Windows	Alt + Down
Jump to top of page. Equivalent to Home key in Windows	Ctrl + Alt + Up
Jump to bottom of page. Equivalent to End key in Windows	Ctrl + Alt + Down

Open new window	Ctrl + N
Open new incognito window	Ctrl + Shift + N
Open new tab	Ctrl + T
Close current tab	Ctrl + W
Close current window	Ctrl + Shift + W
Reopen last closed tab	Ctrl + Shift + T
Switch to tab 1-8	Ctrl + 1 – 8
Switch to last tab	Ctrl + 9
Move to next tab	Ctrl + Tab
Move to prior tab	Ctrl + Shift + Tab
Open link in a new tab	Ctrl + Click
Open link in a new tab and switch to it immediately	Ctrl + shift + Click
Open link in a new window	Shift + Click

Open shelf apps 1-8	Alt + 1-8
Open last app on the shelf	Alt + 9
Switch to last-opened app; keep pressing to cycle throughs apps	Alt + Tab
Switch to least recently opened app; keep pressing to cycle through apps	Alt + Shift + Tab
Pin current app to the left side of the screen	Alt + [
Pin current app to the right side of the screen	Alt + ]
Maximize current window	Alt + Equals (=)
Minimize current window	Alt + Minus (-)
Move window between screens (when using multiple monitors)	Search + Alt + M

Equivalent to a right-click	Alt + Click
Equivalent to a middle-click	Click with three fingers
Scroll up or down on the page	Swipe up or down with two fingers
Go forward/back one page	Swipe right/left with two fingers
Equivalent to the Window Switcher key	Swipe down with three fingers
Move between open Chrome tabs	Swipe right/left with three fingers

Highlight bookmarks bar; use arrows to navigate	Shift + Alt + B
Highlight the icons in the address bar row	Shift + Alt + T
Highlight the status area at the bottom-right	Shift + Alt + S
Highlight the first shelf icon	Shift + Alt + L
Move to previous keyboard-accessible area on screen	Ctrl + Back
Move to next keyboard-accessible area on screen	Ctrl + Forward
Opens right-click menu for highlighted element	Shift + Search + Volume Up
Toggle high contrast mode	Search + Ctrl + H
Magnify the entire screen	Search + Ctrl + M
Magnify part of the screen	Search + Ctrl + D
Toggle ChromeVox, the built-in screen reader	Ctrl + Alt + Z

Add “www.” and “.com” to text in the address bar and open page	Ctrl + Enter
Show hidden files in Files app	Ctrl + Period (.)
Use F keys (F1 through F12)	Search + 1-Equals (=)
Switch to next user (if applicable)	Ctrl + Alt + Period (.)
Switch to previous user (if applicable)	Ctrl + Alt + Comma (,)
Cycle between keyboard languages (if applicable)	Ctrl + Shift + Space
Open Files app	Alt + Shift + M

Vim commands

Move cursor left	h
Move cursor down	j
Move cursor up	k
Move cursor right	l
Move cursor to the start of the next word	w OR W
Move cursor to the start of the previous word	b OR B
Move forward to the end of a word	e OR E
Move to the start of the line	0
Move to the first non-blank character of the line	^
Move to the end of the line	$
Go to the last line of the document	G
Go to the line number n	nG OR :n
To the position before the latest jump, where the last m command was given	“
Move to next occurrence of character x	fx
Move to one character before the character x	tx
Move to next paragraph	}
Move to previous paragraph	{
Move to home (top) of screen	H
Move to last line of screen	L
Move to middle of screen	M
Move to 3rd instance of character x forward from cursor on current line	3, f, x
Move to 3rd instance of character x back from cursor on current line	3, F, x

Replace a single character	r
Cut (delete) a line	dd
Yank (copy) a line	yy
Yank (copy) two lines	2yy
Join line below to the current one	J
Change (replace) entire line	cc OR S
Change (replace) to the end of the word	cw
Change (replace) to the end of the line	c$
Delete character and substitute text	s
Transpose two letters (letter and paste)	xp
Undo	u
Redo	Ctrl r
Repeat last command	.

Search for word under cursor	*
Search for pattern	/pattern
Search backward for pattern	?pattern
Repeat search in same direction	n
Repeat search in opposite direction	N
Replace all instances of old with new	“%s/old/new/g
Replace all instances of old with new, with confirmations	:%s/old/new/gc

Move screen up by half page	Ctrl u
Move screen up by one page	Ctrl b
Move screen down by half page	Ctrl d
Move screen down by one page	Ctrl f
Center screen on cursor	zz
Align top of screen with cursor	zt
Align bottom of screen with cursor	zb

Enter insert mode	i
Insert at the beginning of the line	l
Insert (append) after the cursor	a
Insert (append) at the end of the line	A
Append (open) a new line below the current line	o
Append (open) a new line above the current line	O
Insert (append) at the end of the word	ea
Exit insert mode	Esc

Toggle case (Case => cASE)	–
Uppercase	gU
Lowercase	gu
Uppercase current line (also gUgU)	gUU
Lowercase current line (also gugu)	guu

Start visual mode, mark lines, then do a command (like y-yank)	v
Start linewise visual mode	V
Move to other end of marked area	vo
Start visual block mode	Ctrl v
Move to other corner of block	vO
Mark a word	vaw
Mark a block with ()	vab
Mark a block with {}	vaB
Mark inner block with ()	vib
Mark inner block with {}	viB
Exit visual mode	Esc

Shift text right	>
Shift text left	<
Auto-indent current line	==
Shift current line left by shiftwidth	<<
Shift current line right by shiftwidth	>>
Yank (copy) marked text	y
Delete marked text	d
Switch case	–

Create a fold from the cursor down # lines	zf#j
String creates a fold from the cursor to string	zf/
Move the cursor to the next fold	zj
Move the cursor to the previous fold	zk
Toggle a fold under cursor	za
Open a fold at the cursor	zo
Open all folds at the cursor	zO
Close a fold under cursor	zc
Increase the foldlevel by one	zm
Close all open folds	zM
Decrease the foldlevel by one	zr
Decrease the foldlevel to zero – all folds will be open	zR
Delete the fold at the cursor	zd
Delete all folds	zE
Move to start of open fold	[z
Move to end of open fold	]z

Move to tab number #	#gt
Move the current split window into its own tab	Ctrl w, t
Move current tab to the #th position (indexed from 0)	:tabmove #
Open a file in a new tab	:tabnew filename / :tabn filename
Close the current tab and all its windows	:tabclose / :tabc
Close all tabs except the current one	:tabonly / :tabo
Move to the next tab	gt/ :tabnext / :tabn
Move to the previous tab	gT/ :tabprev / :tabp

Edit a file in a new buffer	:e filename
Open a blank file for editing	:ene
Go to the next buffer	:bnext / :bn
Go to the previous buffer	:bprev / :pb
Delete a buffer (close a file)	:bd
Open a file in a new buffer and split window	:sp filename
Open a file in a new buffer and vertically split window	:vs filename
Split window	Ctrl w, s
Switch windows	Ctrl w, w
Quit a window	Ctrl w, q
Split window vertically	Ctrl w, v
Move cursor to window left	Ctrl w, h
Move cursor to window right	Ctrl w, l
Move cursor to window above	Ctrl w, k
Move cursor to window below	Ctrl w, j
Rotate windows clockwise	Ctrl w, r
Move current window to a new tab	Ctrl w, T
Close all windows except current window	:on
Maximize width of active window	Ctrl w, |
Minimize width of active window	Ctrl w, 1, |
Maximize height of active window	Ctrl w, _
Minimize height of active window	Ctrl w, 1, _
Equalize the size of windows	Ctrl w, =

Write (save) the file, but don’t exit	:w
Write (save) and quit	:wq
Write (save) current file if modified and quit	:x OR ZZ
Quit (fails if there are unsaved changes)	:q
Quit and discard unsaved changes	:q!
Quit all buffers and windows	:qa
Quit without checking for changes	ZQ

Tmux commands

Default prefix key	Ctrl + b
Show time (ESC returns to the terminal)	t
Enter a command (Example: “:new-session”)	:
List all commands that tmux supports	list-commands

An open command prompt (or pseudo-terminal). Panes may appear side by side or vertically stacked inside a window	Pane
Your view of open panes	Window
A set of open windows	Session
The background process that displays your session	Client
A single server manages all open session (Servers and clients are separate processes that each communicates through a socket in /tmp)	Server

Split screen or pane in half vertically, creating a new pane on the right	%
Split screen or pane in half horizontally, creating a new pane at the bottom	“
Switch to the adjacent pane	<arrow key>
Switch to the next pane	o
Show pane numbers (when numbers appear, press number to switch to that pane)	q
Move current pane to the left	{
Move current pane to the right	}
Close the current pane	x
Resize pane in steps of one cell	Ctrl + <arrow key>
Resize pane in steps of five cells	Alt + <arrow key>
Arrange panes in the even-horizontal preset layout	Alt + 1
Arrange panes in the even-vertical preset layout	Alt + 2
Arrange panes in the main-horizontal preset layout	Alt + 3
Arrange panes in the main-vertical preset layout	Alt + 4
Arrange panes in the tiled preset layout	Alt + 5

Create a new window	c
Detach pane into a new window	!
Switch to the previous window (in order of creation)	n
Switch to the next window (in order of creation)	p
Switch to the window used most recently	l
List all windows and their corresponding numbers	w
Switch to the corresponding window	<window number>
Rename current window	,
Display info about the current window	i
Search for text in open windows (ESC exits the search)	f

Create a new session	new-session
Rename current session	$
List open sessions	list-session
Create a new client and attach it to the specified session (-t target-session)	attach-session
Detach clients attached to the current session	detach-client-session
Destroy the current or specified session	kill-session