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Shortcuts

Everyone learns Esc. These are the rest — all checked against Claude Code itself, not copied off a blog.

The three to learn first

If you remember nothing else.

  • Esc Esc
    Stop Claude mid-action The moment Claude starts doing something you did not intend.
  • Esc thenEsc Esc thenEsc
    Clear the input box Your half-written prompt has turned into a mess and you want a clean line.
  • Shift +Tab Shift +Tab
    Cycle permission mode Starting an exploration (plan) or letting an agreed plan run (accept edits). On older Windows setups without VT mode, this is Meta+M instead.

Writing the prompt

Composing, searching, pasting.

  • Ctrl +J Ctrl +J
    Start a new line without sending Any prompt longer than one sentence.
  • Ctrl +R Ctrl +R
    Search your prompt history "What did I type last week that worked?" Inside the search, Ctrl+S cycles the scope: this session → this project → everywhere.
  • Ctrl +S Ctrl +S
    Park the half-written prompt You are three sentences into a prompt and need to go check something.
  • Ctrl +G Ctrl +G
    Edit the prompt in your real editor Writing anything long or carefully structured.
  • Ctrl +V Alt +V
    Paste an image Anything visual. Annotate the screenshot first and it works even better. Ctrl+V, not Cmd+V — macOS keeps Cmd+V for its own paste. Windows and WSL use Alt+V. On WSL both Ctrl+V and Alt+V work.
  • Option +T Alt +T
    Toggle thinking for the next turn One hard question in the middle of otherwise simple work.
  • Ctrl +_ Ctrl +_
    Undo in the input box You deleted half a prompt by accident.

Seeing what happened

What Claude did and what it plans to do.

  • Ctrl +O Ctrl +O
    Toggle the full transcript You want to know what it actually did, not the summary.
  • Ctrl +T Ctrl +T
    Toggle the task checklist Any multi-step task, before it gets far.

Running the session

Long jobs, models, the terminal.

  • Ctrl +B Ctrl +B
    Send the running job to the background A long build, test run, or search you do not want to sit and watch.
  • Option +P Alt +P
    Switch model Between tasks — rarely a good idea mid-task.
  • Option +O Alt +O
    Toggle fast mode Straightforward work where you would rather have speed than depth.
  • Ctrl +Z Ctrl +Z
    Step out to the shell without quitting You need the terminal for one command and do not want to lose the session. Terminal-level shortcut (Unix SIGTSTP), not a Claude Code binding. Windows has no direct equivalent.

The keys are the same on both systems — only the modifier's name changes (macOS calls Alt Option). Run /keybindings in any session to see exactly what is bound on your machine.

Esc to stop Claude mid-action (the control key)

← Tips Control keys

Esc to stop Claude mid-action (the control key)

When Claude is going down the wrong path, press Esc to halt it immediately. This single key prevents most "Claude just deleted everything" horror stories.

beginner

The single most important key in is .

When Claude is about to do something you don’t want — modify the wrong file, run a destructive command, head down a wrong path — press Esc and it stops right now. You don’t have to wait for it to finish; you don’t have to control-C the .

Use it freely:

  • It looked confused mid-edit? Esc.
  • It’s running a long task you’ve changed your mind about? Esc.
  • Your phone rang? Esc.

After you stop, you can correct (“no, what I meant was…”) and continue. The is intact.

(press it twice) clears the input box — the one you want when your half-written has turned into a mess and you’d rather start the sentence again.

Stopping and undoing are different jobs, though. Esc halts what Claude is about to do; it doesn’t reverse what’s already done. When Claude has gone several steps wrong and you want to go back rather than forward, the command is /rewind — see the rewind-dont-repair tip.

Next tip →

End a session with a handoff, not a summary

A summary is written for a human and is nearly useless to the next . A handoff is written for Claude — it points at files, names what was already tried and failed, and says where to start. Ask for a handoff instead and the next morning starts warm.

Open it → Back to all tips