ghostty +list-fonts
ghostty +list-themes
ghostty +show-config
ghostty +list-actions
EDIT: DON'T WRITE YOUR OWN KEYBINDS, use Ghostty Config by zerebos and export the UI driven config into XDG_CONFIG_HOME/ghostty/config and enjoy yourself!
Ghostty supports flexible, custom keybindings through the
keybind configuration option.
The configuration reference has detailed reference documentation
for the option, but this page will give a high-level overview
of how to specify keybindings in Ghostty.
The basic syntax of a keybinding configuration is:
keybind = trigger=actionThe trigger part of a keybinding specifies the keypress events
that will trigger the action. The trigger can be a single key,
a single key with modifiers, or a sequence of keys.
A trigger has zero or more modifiers combined with one key.
For example, a, ctrl+a, ctrl+shift+a, ctrl+alt+a are
all valid triggers.
The set of possible keys is currently only available for reference by viewing the source code. This list is derived from Chromium's keycodes and is closely associated with keys that have associated USB HID codes.
If a key is not in the list, you can also specify a Unicode codepoint. If your key can decode into a single Unicode codepoint, Ghostty will consider it a valid trigger and the trigger will activate when a keypress event occurs which generates that codepoint. This is particularly useful on non-US keyboard layouts.
For example, on a German keyboard you could bind "ö" with the configuration below. This would trigger when the "ö" key is pressed (";" on a US physical keyboard) because that key generates "ö" in Unicode.
keybind = ctrl+ö=actionValid modifiers are:
shiftctrl(alias:control)alt(alias:opt,option)super(alias:cmd,command)
A trigger can also be prefixed with some special values to change the behavior of the keybind. These are listed below.
Keybind triggers are not unique per prefix combination. For example,
ctrl+a and global:ctrl+a are not two separate keybinds. The keybind
set later will overwrite the keybind set earlier. In this case, the
global: keybind will be used.
Multiple prefixes can be specified. For example,
global:unconsumed:ctrl+a=reload_config will make the keybind global
in addition to not consuming the input to reload the config.
Make the keybind apply to all terminal surfaces. By default,
keybinds only apply to the focused terminal surface. If this is true,
then the keybind will be sent to all terminal surfaces. This only
applies to actions that are surface-specific. For actions that
are already global (i.e. quit), this prefix has no effect.
Make the keybind global. By default, keybinds only work
within Ghostty and under the right conditions (application focused,
sometimes terminal focused, etc.). If you want a keybind to work
globally across your system (i.e. even when Ghostty is not focused),
specify this prefix. This prefix implies all:. Note: this does not
work in all environments; see the additional notes below for more
information.
This feature is only supported on macOS. On macOS, this feature
requires accessibility permissions to be granted to Ghostty.
When a global: keybind is specified and Ghostty is launched or reloaded,
Ghostty will attempt to request these permissions. If the permissions are
not granted, the keybind will not work. On macOS, you can find these
permissions in System Preferences -> Privacy & Security -> Accessibility.
Do not consume the input. By default, a keybind
will consume the input, meaning that the associated encoding (if
any) will not be sent to the running program in the terminal. If
you wish to send the encoded value to the program, specify the
unconsumed: prefix before the entire keybind. For example:
unconsumed:ctrl+a=reload_config.
global: and all:-prefixed
keybinds will always consume the input regardless of this setting.
Since they are not associated with a specific terminal surface,
they're never encoded.
Action is what happens when the trigger is activated. It is
in the format of action or action:parameter if the action
requires a parameter.
Here are some common actions that can be used in keybinds. Please view the full list of actions for a complete list. Ghostty supports dozens of actions.
| Action | Description |
|---|---|
ignore |
Do nothing, ignore the key input. This can be used to black hole certain inputs to have no effect and no encoding. |
unbind |
Remove the binding. This makes it so the previous action is removed, and the key will be sent through to the child command if it is printable. |
text:text |
Send a string. Uses Zig string literal syntax. i.e. text:\x15 sends Ctrl-U. By using a prefix of \x1b[ you can send control sequences but the convenience actions csi: and esc: are recommended instead. |
csi:text |
Send a CSI sequence. i.e. csi:A sends "cursor up". |
esc:text |
Send an escape sequence. i.e. esc:d deletes to the end of the word to the right. |
Default keyboard shortcuts for Ghostty terminal emulator. Platform-specific differences are noted where applicable.
| Action | Windows/Linux | macOS |
|---|---|---|
| New window | Ctrl+Shift+N | Cmd+N |
| Close window | Alt+F4 | Cmd+Shift+W |
| Close all windows | - | Cmd+Shift+Option+W |
| Toggle fullscreen | Ctrl+Enter | Cmd+Enter or Cmd+Ctrl+F |
| Quit application | Ctrl+Shift+Q | Cmd+Q |
| Action | Windows/Linux | macOS |
|---|---|---|
| New tab | Ctrl+Shift+T | Cmd+T |
| Close tab/surface | Ctrl+Shift+W | Cmd+W |
| Previous tab | Ctrl+Shift+Tab, Ctrl+Shift+Left, Ctrl+Page Up | Cmd+Shift+[ |
| Next tab | Ctrl+Tab, Ctrl+Shift+Right, Ctrl+Page Down | Cmd+Shift+] |
| Go to tab 1-8 | Alt+[1-8] | Cmd+[1-8] |
| Go to last tab | Alt+9 | Cmd+9 |
| Move tab | - | - |
| Action | Windows/Linux | macOS |
|---|---|---|
| New split (right) | Ctrl+Shift+O | Cmd+D |
| New split (down) | Ctrl+Shift+E | Cmd+Shift+D |
| Focus previous split | Ctrl+Super+[ | Cmd+[ |
| Focus next split | Ctrl+Super+] | Cmd+] |
| Focus split up | Ctrl+Alt+Up | Cmd+Option+Up |
| Focus split down | Ctrl+Alt+Down | Cmd+Option+Down |
| Focus split left | Ctrl+Alt+Left | Cmd+Option+Left |
| Focus split right | Ctrl+Alt+Right | Cmd+Option+Right |
| Toggle split zoom | Ctrl+Shift+Enter | Cmd+Shift+Enter |
| Resize split up | Ctrl+Super+Shift+Up | Cmd+Ctrl+Up |
| Resize split down | Ctrl+Super+Shift+Down | Cmd+Ctrl+Down |
| Resize split left | Ctrl+Super+Shift+Left | Cmd+Ctrl+Left |
| Resize split right | Ctrl+Super+Shift+Right | Cmd+Ctrl+Right |
| Equalize splits | Ctrl+Super+Shift+= | Cmd+Ctrl+= |
| Action | Windows/Linux | macOS |
|---|---|---|
| Copy | Ctrl+Shift+C | Cmd+C |
| Paste | Ctrl+Shift+V | Cmd+V |
| Paste from selection | Shift+Insert | - |
| Action | Windows/Linux | macOS |
|---|---|---|
| Scroll to top | Shift+Home | Cmd+Home |
| Scroll to bottom | Shift+End | Cmd+End |
| Scroll page up | Shift+Page Up | Cmd+Page Up |
| Scroll page down | Shift+Page Down | Cmd+Page Down |
| Jump to previous prompt | Ctrl+Shift+Page Up | Cmd+Up |
| Jump to next prompt | Ctrl+Shift+Page Down | Cmd+Down |
| Clear screen | - | Cmd+K |
| Action | Windows/Linux | macOS |
|---|---|---|
| Increase font size | Ctrl++/Ctrl+= | Cmd++/Cmd+= |
| Decrease font size | Ctrl+- | Cmd+- |
| Reset font size | Ctrl+0 | Cmd+0 |
| Action | Windows/Linux | macOS |
|---|---|---|
| Open config | Ctrl+, | Cmd+, |
| Reload config | Ctrl+Shift+, | Cmd+Shift+, |
| Action | Windows/Linux | macOS |
|---|---|---|
| Toggle inspector | Ctrl+Shift+I | Cmd+Option+I |
| Action | Windows/Linux | macOS |
|---|---|---|
| Write scrollback to file (paste) | Ctrl+Shift+J | Cmd+Shift+J |
| Write scrollback to file (open) | Ctrl+Shift+Alt+J | Cmd+Shift+Option+J |
Note: These are the default keybindings. All keybindings can be customized through the configuration file using the keybind option.