In bash, how does one clear the current input?

Question

Suppose in bash you start writing a command like:

$ rm -rf /foo/bar/really/long/path/here

and then realize you don't want to execute this after all. Is there a way to clear the input with one or two keystrokes?

What I have been doing lately is prepending echo and enclosing the input in quotes (Ctrl+A, echo ", Ctrl+E, ") then hitting enter. Is there a faster way?

Answer 1

Have you tried the down arrow key?

Answer 2

Press Ctrl-C to abort what you're typing.

Answer 3

Try Control-U. That clears the input line.

Answer 4

Found a short reference at http://www.ice2o.com/bash_quick_ref.html while searching.

ctrl-e (if not at the end of the line) plus ctrl-u will do it.

Answer 5

there are two options to do this -

ctrl+C - this clears the whole line, no matter where the cursor is.

ctrl+u - this clear the line from the position of the cursor until the beginning.

-- can anyone ps try this. http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1056440/undelete-the-deleted-command-in-bash

Answer 6

Consider that using C-u (or C-e and then C-u) will store what you clear in a buffer so that you can then paste it later using C-y.

Answer 7

To delete the current line, try:

ctrl-x ctrl-u

As an alternative you may use:

esc-d

which requires in ~/.inputrc:

"\ed": kill-whole-line

see: http://codesnippets.joyent.com/posts/show/1690