Move by word in bash

Question

In bash, you can move to the beginning of the line with CTRL+A, and the end with CTRL+E. How can I move forward and backward by word?

Answer 1

With emacs bindings:

Meta-B moves back a word and Meta-F moves forward a word.

Ctrl-B moved back a character and Ctrl-F moves forward a character.

So B vs F is backwards vs forward and Meta vs Ctrl is word vs character.

The exact mapping of Meta may vary between keyboards. Try holding down Alt while pressing the other key; if that doesn't work, press and release Esc and then press the other key.

Answer 2

use alt+b for backward and alt+f for forward movement by a word.

Answer 3

Put in ~/.inputrc:

# Ctrl+Left/Right to move by whole words.
"\e[1;5C": forward-word
"\e[1;5D": backward-word
# Same with Shift pressed.
"\e[1;6C": forward-word
"\e[1;6D": backward-word