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

Cursor Movement

Editing

Scrolling

History & Search

Navigation

Suggestions & Completions

Text Input

App Controls

Background Shell Controls

Extension Controls

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.

Vi mode shortcuts

When vim mode is enabled with /vim or general.vimMode: true, Gemini CLI supports NORMAL and INSERT modes.

Mode switching

Navigation in NORMAL mode

Counts are supported for navigation commands. For example, 5j moves down five lines and 3w moves forward three words.

Editing in NORMAL mode

Counts are also supported for editing commands. For example, 3dd deletes three lines and 2cw changes two words.

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.