Gemini CLI Keyboard Shortcuts
Complete Gemini CLI keyboard shortcuts and commands reference — 25 shortcuts across 3 categories. Quick reference cheat sheet for Windows & Mac.
Session & App Controls (9)
| Shortcut | Action | Description |
|---|
| Ctrl + C | Cancel / quit | Cancel the current request, or quit the CLI when the input is empty. |
| Ctrl + D | Exit CLI | Exit Gemini CLI when the input buffer is empty. |
| Ctrl + L | Clear screen | Clear the terminal screen and redraw the UI. |
| Ctrl + T | Toggle TODO list | Show or hide the full TODO list the agent is working through. |
| Ctrl + Y | Toggle YOLO mode | Toggle auto-approval (YOLO) mode for tool calls. |
| Shift + Tab | Cycle approval modes | Cycle through approval modes: default, auto-edit, and plan (read-only). |
| Ctrl + G | Open external editor | Open the current prompt or plan in an external editor. |
| F12 | Debug console | Toggle the debug console for detailed error information. |
| Esc Esc | Clear / rewind | Clear the input prompt, or browse and rewind previous interactions when empty. |
Input & History (8)
| Shortcut | Action | Description |
|---|
| Enter | Submit prompt | Submit the current prompt to the model. |
| Ctrl + Enter | New line | Insert a newline without submitting (Alt+Enter and Ctrl+J also work). |
| Tab | Queue message | Queue the current prompt to run after the current task finishes. |
| Ctrl + R | Reverse history search | Start reverse search through prompt history, like a shell. |
| Ctrl + P / Ctrl + N | History previous / next | Show the previous or next entry in prompt history. |
| ! | Shell mode | On an empty prompt, enter or exit shell mode to run commands directly. |
| ? | Shortcuts panel | On an empty prompt, toggle the built-in keyboard shortcuts panel. |
| Ctrl + O | Expand paste / output | Expand or collapse paste placeholders and long content blocks. |
Slash Commands (8)
| Shortcut | Action | Description |
|---|
| /help | List commands | Show help and list all available slash commands (alias /?). |
| /chat | Manage sessions | Browse, save, and resume past sessions and conversations. |
| /rewind | Rewind conversation | Rewind the conversation history to a previous turn. |
| /restore | Restore files | Restore files to their state before the last tool call. |
| /model | Switch model | View or change the current model. |
| /settings | Open settings | Open the settings editor from inside the REPL. |
| /vim | Vim mode | Enable vim NORMAL/INSERT editing modes in the input. |
| /auth | Switch auth | Switch to a different auth provider or account. |
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