Complete Zsh (Z Shell) Cheatsheet

Quick Reference

Zsh is a powerful shell with advanced features like improved tab completion, globbing, and theming.

Navigation 3 Completion 5 Globbing 6 Aliases & Functions 4 History 5 Prompt Customization 4 Oh-My-Zsh 3 Keyboard Shortcuts 12

cd -

Toggle between current and previous directory

$ cd /var/www
$ cd /etc/nginx
$ cd - # Returns to /var/www
$ cd - # Returns to /etc/nginx

cdpath=(. ~/projects)

Set base directories for cd command

cdpath=(. ~/projects ~/work)
cd project1 # Changes to ~/projects/project1

setopt autocd

Change to directory by typing its name without cd

setopt autocd
/etc # Changes to /etc directory
~ # Changes to home directory

2 Completion

autoload -Uz compinit && compinit

Initialize completion system

# Add to .zshrc to enable completion
autoload -Uz compinit
compinit

zstyle ':completion:*' menu select

Enable menu selection for completions

# Add to .zshrc for interactive selection
zstyle ':completion:*' menu select

Tab completion

Zsh's powerful tab completion features

ssh # Press tab to show hosts from ~/.ssh/config
kill # Press tab to show running processes
git checkout # Press tab to show branches

setopt correct

Enable command correction

setopt correct
sl # Zsh suggests: correct 'sl' to 'ls' [nyae]?

setopt complete_in_word

Complete in the middle of words

setopt complete_in_word
/usr/local/bin/chro # Completes to /usr/local/bin/chromedriver

3 Globbing (File Patterns)

ls **/*.txt

Recursive globbing - match files in all subdirectories

ls **/*.js # All .js files recursively
rm **/*.bak # Delete all .bak files recursively

ls *.txt~important.txt

Pattern negation - match all .txt files except important.txt

cp *.pdf~old.pdf backup/ # Copy all PDFs except old.pdf

ls (foo|bar)*.js

OR patterns - match files starting with foo or bar

ls *(test|spec).js # Files ending with test.js or spec.js

ls file<1-10>.txt

Numeric ranges - match file1.txt through file10.txt

mv photo<1-5>.jpg album/ # Move photo1.jpg to photo5.jpg

setopt extended_glob

Enable extended globbing patterns

setopt extended_glob
ls ^*.txt # All files except .txt
ls *.js(#qN) # Null glob - don't error if no matches

ls *(.m-1)

Glob qualifiers - filter by file attributes

ls *(.) # Regular files only
ls *(/) # Directories only
ls *(.m0) # Files modified today
ls **/*(.Lk+100) # Files >100KB recursively

4 Aliases & Functions

alias

Create command shortcuts

alias ll='ls -lh'
alias gs='git status'
alias -g G='| grep' # Global alias
alias -s txt=code # Open .txt files with VS Code

Suffix aliases

Open files based on extension

alias -s js=code
alias -s {pdf,epub}=zathura
script.js # Opens in VS Code
document.pdf # Opens in Zathura

Global aliases

Aliases that can expand

alias -g L='| less'
alias -g G='| grep'
alias -g N='&> /dev/null'
cat large.log L # Pipes to less
ps aux G zsh # Pipes to grep

Functions

Create reusable shell functions

# Simple function
function mkcd() {
mkdir -p "$1" && cd "$1"
}

# Git function with arguments
function gac() {
git add . && git commit -m "$1"
}

5 History

history

View and manage command history

history # Show all commands
history 20 # Show last 20 commands
!100 # Execute command #100
!! # Repeat last command

HISTFILE and HISTSIZE

Configure history file location and size

# Add to .zshrc
HISTFILE=~/.zsh_history
HISTSIZE=10000
SAVEHIST=10000
setopt appendhistory
setopt share_history # Share history across sessions

history-substring-search

Search history with substring matching

# Enable in .zshrc (requires plugin)
bindkey '^[[A' history-substring-search-up
bindkey '^[[B' history-substring-search-down

# Usage: Type part of command and press up/down

Ctrl+R

Reverse search through history

# Press Ctrl+R and start typing
(reverse-i-search)`git': git commit -m "update"
# Press Ctrl+R again to cycle through matches

setopt hist_ignore_all_dups

Control how duplicates are stored in history

setopt hist_ignore_all_dups # Ignore duplicates
setopt hist_save_no_dups # Don't save duplicates
setopt hist_reduce_blanks # Remove extra blanks
setopt hist_verify # Show command before executing

6 Prompt Customization

PROMPT variable

Customize your shell prompt

# Simple prompt
PROMPT='%n@%m %~ %# '

# With colors and git info
PROMPT='%F{blue}%n%f@%F{green}%m%f %F{yellow}%~%f %# '

Prompt escape sequences

Special codes for prompt customization

%n # Username
%m # Hostname
%~ # Current directory
%F{color} # Change text color
%? # Exit code of last command
%D{format} # Date/time

RPROMPT

Right-side prompt

# Show time on right
RPROMPT='%D{%L:%M %p}'

# Show git branch on right
autoload -Uz vcs_info
precmd() { vcs_info }
RPROMPT='${vcs_info_msg_0_}'

Theme customization

Predefined prompt themes

# List available themes
prompt -l

# Preview a theme
prompt -p fade

# Set a theme
prompt fade

7 Oh-My-Zsh

Installation

Popular Zsh configuration framework

# Install Oh-My-Zsh
sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.github.com/ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh/master/tools/install.sh)"

# Or with wget
sh -c "$(wget -O- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh/master/tools/install.sh)"

Plugins

Extend functionality with plugins

# Edit ~/.zshrc
plugins=(
  git
  docker
  zsh-autosuggestions
  zsh-syntax-highlighting
)

Themes

Change the look of your prompt

# Edit ~/.zshrc
ZSH_THEME="agnoster"

# Popular themes:
robbyrussell # Default
agnoster # Powerline-style
af-magic # Minimal
spaceship # Feature-rich

8 Keyboard Shortcuts

Editing shortcuts

Common line editing shortcuts

Ctrl + A # Move to beginning of line
Ctrl + E # Move to end of line
Ctrl + U # Delete to beginning of line
Ctrl + K # Delete to end of line
Ctrl + W # Delete previous word
Ctrl + Y # Paste (yank) deleted text

Navigation shortcuts

Moving around the command line

Alt + B # Move back one word
Alt + F # Move forward one word
Ctrl + XX # Toggle between start and current position
Ctrl + L # Clear screen (same as clear)

Process control

Managing running processes

Ctrl + C # Terminate current command
Ctrl + Z # Suspend current command
Ctrl + D # Exit shell (if line is empty)
Ctrl + R # Reverse history search
Ctrl + G # Abort current operation

Complete Zsh Cheatsheet