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

Answer 1

A nice shortcut is pressing Esc#. It will prepend a # character (thus making the line a comment) and then press enter. If you then decide that you still the need the command, you still have it in your history :)

Answer 2

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

Answer 3

1. Press Ctrl-U to delete everything before the cursor. The deleted command will be stored into a buffer. Press Ctrl-Y to paste the deleted command.

   (Optional: Press End or Ctrl-E to jump to the end of the input first.)

2. Alternatively, press Ctrl-C to abort what you're typing.

Answer 4

Consider that using Ctrl-U (or Ctrl-E and then Ctrl-U) will store what you clear in a buffer so that you can then paste it later using Ctrl-Y.

Answer 5

If you are using Bash in vi mode (set it with set -o vi), then press Esc to switch to the normal mode of vi, and type dd to delete the current line!