Vim Ctrl-C Esc Alternative

The cluster focuses on using Ctrl-C as a substitute for the Esc key to exit insert mode in Vim, along with related terminal shortcuts like Ctrl-Q to unfreeze after Ctrl-S and alternatives for exiting commands or programs.

📉 Falling 0.3x DevOps & Infrastructure
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#3490
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Keywords

TL lonesysadmin.net ESC IDE TIL TUI TERM SIGINT HN DR ctrl esc vim terminal quit alt tmux exit grab utf

Sample Comments

tuco86 May 23, 2017 View on HN

Wasn't Ctrl-C used for something in vim ;)

MAGZine May 26, 2020 View on HN

Doesn't ctrl/cmd-c remind you of the exit sequence?

314 Jan 12, 2018 View on HN

Ctrl-c does the same and it is easier to press.

baq Mar 21, 2023 View on HN

TL;DR - Esc+C works (yes you read that right, Esc+C)

sullyj3 May 13, 2022 View on HN

I often use Ctrl-C to abandon a command I'm typing and get a new prompt.

indigodaddy Jan 28, 2021 View on HN

So ctrl-c and up arrow wouldn’t work?

sanbor Oct 5, 2017 View on HN

Try Ctrl-C which is equivalent to ESC in vim.

Xiol Dec 3, 2025 View on HN

People use something other than CTRL-D to exit their terminal?

nemasu Jul 3, 2014 View on HN

One to add: Unfreezing terminal after pressing Ctrl+S by accident. Press Ctrl-Q.

wawhal Jun 29, 2018 View on HN

You can use `Ctrl + C` instead of `ESC`I figured this out today. And I submitted this Ask HN to find out more such things.