ELINKSKEYS(5)

📦
version 0.20.0 · 12 versions
, in debian bookworm, epel 10, epel 9, fedora 43, fedora 44, opensuse-leap 16.0, ubuntu jammy

🎀 NAME 🎀

elinkskeys — keybindings for ELinks. That's the name, bestie.

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

Info on how to configure keybinding, plus an overview of the default keybindings. Yes, both.

💅 DESCRIPTION 💅

Key binding for elinks should be placed in the file ~/.elinks/elinks.conf. Heads up: any info about their format/structure may not be up-to-date. If you discover that, please feed us with a patch 🫶.

Key binding statements look like this:

bind <keymap> <keystroke> = <action>

where:

  • <keymap> — is main, edit, or menu. The main keymap is used for general browsing. The edit keymap is used for editing text fields. The menu keymap is used for navigating menus.
  • <keystroke> — is a case sensitive key, which you can prefix with Ctrl-, Alt-, or both. Ctrl- must be followed by an uppercase key. See below for a list of valid keys.
  • <action> — is what the key should do. The actions available are dependent on the keymap, and are listed separately below.

All words/strings may all be quoted "like so". Backslashes are escape characters, even if not between quotes. Lines beginning with a hash character (#) are comments.

Keys can be unbound just by binding them to the special none action. It may be of use if you accidentally type a key often. Iconic little escape hatch, honestly.

🔥 EXAMPLE BINDINGS 🔥

Some sample keybindings:

bind "main" "v" = "view-image"
bind "main" "l" = "jump-to-link"
bind "main" "L" = "link-menu"
bind "main" "F10" = "file-menu"
bind "main" "F9" = "menu"
bind "main" "Escape" = "menu"
bind "edit" "Ctrl-R" = "auto-complete-unambiguous"
bind "edit" "Ctrl-W" = "auto-complete"
bind "edit" "Ctrl-K" = "kill-to-eol"
bind "menu" "Ctrl-B" = "page-up"
bind "menu" "PageUp" = "page-up"
bind "menu" "Ctrl-F" = "page-down"
bind "menu" "PageDown" = "page-down"
# ELinks with Lua support
bind "main" "," = "lua-console"

🦋 KEYS 🦋

Valid keys are: alphanumeric characters, punctuation, Enter, Backspace, Tab, Escape, Left, Right, Up, Down, Insert, Delete, Home, End, PageUp, PageDown, F1 to F12.

Some keys will need to be quoted or escaped. For example, space can be written as " " (quote space quote), and the quote itself as \" (backslash quote). Backslash can be written as \\ (double backslash). Escape-coded and cute.

🎮 KEYMAP ACTIONS 🎮

Okay bestie, this is the motherlode — every single action you can glue to a key. The names go in backticks exactly how ELinks wants them, so copy-paste them into your elinks.conf and don't you dare typo them. 💅

✨ MAIN ACTIONS ✨

These are the big-league, page-level moves. Main character energy only. 👑

  • abort-connection — Slams the brakes on the connection. Bye. 💀
  • add-bookmark — Adds a shiny new bookmark.
  • add-bookmark-link — Bookmarks the link you're currently on.
  • add-bookmark-tabs — Bookmarks, like, every open tab at once. Tabs on tabs. 🗂️
  • auth-manager — Opens the authentication manager.
  • backspace-prefix — Deletes the last digit you typed into the current prefix. Oops, undo. ⌫
  • bookmark-manager — Opens the bookmark manager.
  • cache-manager — Opens the cache manager.
  • cache-minimize — Frees up cache entries that nobody's using. Spring cleaning, but for memory. 🧹
  • cookie-manager — Opens the cookie manager. 🍪 (the file kind, not snack kind, sadly)
  • cookies-load — Reloads the cookies file.
  • copy-clipboard — Copies the text to your clipboard. 📋
  • document-info — Shows you all the deets about the page you're on.
  • download-manager — Opens the download manager.
  • exmode — Drops you into ex-mode, aka the command line. Old school, iconic. ⌨️
  • file-menu — Opens the File menu.
  • find-next — Jumps to the next match of whatever search text you've got going.
  • find-next-back — Jumps to the previous match instead. Backwards but make it fashion. 🔙
  • forget-credentials — Yeets your authentication credentials into the void. 🙈
  • formhist-manager — Opens the form history manager.
  • frame-external-command — Hands the URI of the current frame over to an external command.
  • frame-maximize — Maximizes the current frame. Glow-up. ✨
  • frame-next — Moves to the next frame.
  • frame-prev — Moves to the previous frame.
  • goto-url — Opens the "Go to URL" dialog box.
  • goto-url-current — Opens the "Go to URL" dialog box with the current URL already sitting in it. Convenient.
  • goto-url-current-link — Opens the "Go to URL" dialog box pre-filled with the current link's URL.
  • goto-url-home — Takes you home. 🏠 (the homepage, specifically)
  • header-info — Shows the protocol headers for the page you're on.
  • history-manager — Opens the history manager.
  • history-move-back — Goes back to the previous document in your history. 🦋
  • history-move-forward — Goes forward in your history.
  • jump-to-link — Jumps to a link.
  • keybinding-manager — Opens the keybinding manager. Where the magic gets wired up. 🎀
  • kill-backgrounded-connections — Kills every backgrounded connection. No survivors. ⚔️
  • link-download — Downloads the current link.
  • link-download-image — Downloads the current image.
  • link-download-resume — Tries to pick up where the download of the current link left off. 🔄
  • link-external-command — Passes the current link's URI to an external command.
  • link-follow — Follows the current link. Go go go. 🚀
  • link-follow-reload — Follows the current link and forces the target to reload.
  • link-info — Shows you the info on the current link.
  • link-menu — Opens the link context menu.
  • link-form-menu — Opens the menu for form fields.
  • lua-console — Opens a Lua console. Fancy. 🧙‍♀️
  • mark-goto — Jumps to a mark you specified.
  • mark-set — Sets a mark. 📍
  • menu — Activates the menu.
  • move-current-top — Scrolls down so the current line ends up chillin' at the top of the screen.
  • move-cursor-down — Cursor goes down. ⬇️
  • move-cursor-left — Cursor goes left. ⬅️
  • move-cursor-line-start — Cursor hops to the start of the line.
  • move-cursor-right — Cursor goes right. ➡️
  • move-cursor-up — Cursor goes up. ⬆️
  • move-document-end — Zips to the end of the document.
  • move-document-start — Zips to the start of the document.
  • move-half-page-down — Scrolls down half a page.
  • move-half-page-up — Scrolls up half a page.
  • move-link-down — Hops down one link.
  • move-link-down-line — Goes to the next line that actually has a link on it.
  • move-link-left — Hops one link to the left.
  • move-link-left-line — Goes one link left, or to the previous link if there's nothing to the left.
  • move-link-next — Moves to the next link.
  • move-link-prev — Moves to the previous link.
  • move-link-right — Hops one link right.
  • move-link-right-line — Goes one link right, or to the next link if there's nothing to the right.
  • move-link-up — Hops up one link.
  • move-link-up-line — Goes to the previous line that has a link on it.
  • move-page-down — Scrolls down a whole page.
  • move-page-up — Scrolls up a whole page.
  • open-link-in-new-tab — Opens the current link in a brand-new tab. 🎉
  • open-link-in-new-tab-in-background — Opens the current link in a new tab, but quietly, in the background.
  • open-link-in-new-window — Opens the current link in a new window.
  • open-new-tab — Opens a new tab.
  • open-new-tab-in-background — Opens a new tab in the background, no drama.
  • open-new-window — Opens a new window.
  • open-os-shell — Opens an OS shell. Escaping the browser entirely, respect. 🐚
  • options-manager — Opens the options manager.
  • quit — Opens the "are you sure you wanna quit" dialog box. 😭
  • really-quit — Quits with zero confirmation. No thoughts, just exit. 💀
  • redraw — Redraws the terminal.
  • reload — Reloads the current page.
  • rerender — Re-renders the current page.
  • reset-form — Puts all the form items back to their original values.
  • resource-info — Shows info about the resources currently in use.
  • save-as — Saves the current document in source form.
  • save-formatted — Saves the current document in formatted form.
  • save-options — Saves your options. Don't lose the progress. 💾
  • save-url-as — Saves the URL as.
  • scroll-down — Scrolls down.
  • scroll-left — Scrolls left.
  • scroll-right — Scrolls right.
  • scroll-up — Scrolls up.
  • search — Searches for a text pattern. 🔍
  • search-back — Searches backwards for a text pattern.
  • search-typeahead — Searches link text by typing ahead.
  • search-typeahead-link — Searches link text by typing ahead. (yes, same vibe as the one above)
  • search-typeahead-text — Searches document text by typing ahead.
  • search-typeahead-text-back — Searches document text backwards by typing ahead.
  • show-term-options — Shows the terminal options dialog.
  • submit-form — Submits the form. Send it. 📨
  • submit-form-reload — Submits the form and reloads.
  • tab-close — Closes the tab.
  • tab-close-all-but-current — Closes every tab except the one you're on. Ruthless. 💅
  • tab-external-command — Passes the current tab's URI to an external command.
  • tab-menu — Opens the tab menu.
  • tab-move-left — Shuffles the current tab one spot to the left.
  • tab-move-right — Shuffles the current tab one spot to the right.
  • tab-next — Next tab.
  • tab-prev — Previous tab.
  • terminal-resize — Opens the terminal resize dialog.
  • toggle-css — Toggles whether the page renders with CSS or not. ✨ (vs 🗿)
  • toggle-display-images — Toggles whether links to images get displayed.
  • toggle-display-tables — Toggles table rendering.
  • toggle-document-colors — Toggles the use of document-specific colors.
  • toggle-html-plain — Toggles between rendering the page as HTML and as plain text.
  • toggle-mouse — Toggles mouse handling. 🖱️
  • toggle-numbered-links — Toggles whether link numbers are displayed.
  • toggle-plain-compress-empty-lines — Toggles the plain renderer's compression of empty lines.
  • toggle-wrap-text — Toggles text wrapping.
  • view-image — Views the current image. 🖼️

✏️ EDIT ACTIONS ✏️

For when you're actually typing in a box — search bars, form fields, that kind of thing. Cursor girlies, this one's for you. 🎀

  • auto-complete — Tries to auto-complete whatever you're typing.
  • auto-complete-file — Tries to auto-complete a local file path.
  • auto-complete-unambiguous — Tries to auto-complete your input in a way that's unambiguous. No maybes. 🎯
  • backspace — Deletes the character in front of the cursor.
  • beginning-of-buffer — Jumps to the first line of the buffer.
  • cancel — Cancels the current state. Never mind! 🙅‍♀️
  • copy-clipboard — Copies the text to your clipboard.
  • cut-clipboard — Cuts the text to your clipboard. ✂️
  • delete — Deletes the character under the cursor.
  • down — Moves the cursor downwards.
  • end — Goes to the end of the page/line.
  • end-of-buffer — Jumps to the last line of the buffer.
  • enter — Follows the current link. ⏎
  • home — Goes to the start of the page/line.
  • kill-to-bol — Deletes everything back to the beginning of the line.
  • kill-to-eol — Deletes everything to the end of the line.
  • kill-word-back — Deletes backwards to the start of the word.
  • left — Moves the cursor left.
  • move-backward-word — Puts the cursor before the current word.
  • move-forward-word — Puts the cursor after the current word.
  • next-item — Moves to the next item.
  • open-external — Opens in an external editor. 📝
  • paste-clipboard — Pastes the text from your clipboard.
  • previous-item — Moves to the previous item.
  • redraw — Redraws the terminal.
  • right — Moves the cursor right.
  • search-toggle-regex — Toggles regex matching for type-ahead searching. Fancy search mode: on. 🧠
  • up — Moves the cursor upwards.

Menus get their own little action set, because of course they do. Navigate 'em like a pro. 🍓

  • cancel — Cancels the current state.
  • delete — Deletes the character under the cursor.
  • down — Moves the cursor downwards.
  • end — Goes to the end of the page/line.
  • enter — Follows the current link.
  • expand — Expands the item. 🌸
  • home — Goes to the start of the page/line.
  • left — Moves the cursor left.
  • mark-item — Marks the item.
  • next-item — Moves to the next item.
  • page-down — Moves downwards by a page.
  • page-up — Moves upwards by a page.
  • previous-item — Moves to the previous item.
  • redraw — Redraws the terminal.
  • right — Moves the cursor right.
  • search — Searches for a text pattern.
  • select — Selects the currently highlighted item. ✅
  • unexpand — Collapses the item. 🫧
  • up — Moves the cursor upwards.

🎀 DEFAULT BINDINGS 🎀

okay bestie, here's the whole starter pack ✨ The default bindings are shown below, and — important — any bindings in ~/.elinks/elinks.conf will override these, so if something feels different than this list, check your config first, no cap 💅

🫶 MAIN KEYS 🫶

the everyday keys, the main characters of your browsing session 👑

  • Space — move downwards by a page (move-page-down)
  • "#" — search link text by typing ahead (search-typeahead)
  • "%" — toggle usage of document specific colors (toggle-document-colors)
  • "*" — toggle displaying of links to images (toggle-display-images)
  • "," — open a Lua console (lua-console)
  • "." — toggle displaying of links numbers (toggle-numbered-links)
  • "/" — search for a text pattern (search)
  • ":" — enter ex-mode (command line) (exmode)
  • "<" — previous tab (tab-prev)
  • Alt-"<" — move the current tab to the left (tab-move-left)
  • "=" — show information about the current page (document-info)
  • ">" — next tab (tab-next)
  • Alt-">" — move the current tab to the right (tab-move-right)
  • "?" — search backwards for a text pattern (search-back)
  • "A" — add a new bookmark using current link (add-bookmark-link)
  • Ctrl-"A" — move to the start of the document (move-document-start)
  • Ctrl-"B" — move upwards by a page (move-page-up)
  • "C" — open cache manager (cache-manager)
  • "D" — open download manager (download-manager)
  • "E" — open "Go to URL" dialog box containing the current link URL (goto-url-current-link)
  • Ctrl-"E" — move to the end of the document (move-document-end)
  • "F" — open form history manager (formhist-manager)
  • Ctrl-"F" — move downwards by a page (move-page-down)
  • "G" — open "Go to URL" dialog box containing the current URL (goto-url-current)
  • "H" — go to the homepage (goto-url-home)
  • "K" — open cookie manager (cookie-manager)
  • Ctrl-"K" — reload cookies file (cookies-load)
  • "L" — open the link context menu (link-menu)
  • Ctrl-"L" — redraw the terminal (redraw)
  • "N" — find the previous occurrence of the current search text (find-next-back)
  • Ctrl-"N" — scroll down (scroll-down)
  • Ctrl-"P" — scroll up (scroll-up)
  • "Q" — quit without confirmation (really-quit)
  • Ctrl-"R" — reload the current page (reload)
  • "T" — open the current link in a new tab in the background (open-link-in-new-tab-in-background)
  • "W" — toggle wrapping of text (toggle-wrap-text)
  • "[" — scroll left (scroll-left)
  • "´" — go at a specified mark (mark-goto)
  • "\" — toggle rendering page as HTML / plain text (toggle-html-plain)
  • "]" — scroll right (scroll-right)
  • "a" — add a new bookmark (add-bookmark)
  • "b" — move upwards by a page (move-page-up)
  • "c" — close tab (tab-close)
  • "d" — download the current link (link-download)
  • "e" — open the tab menu (tab-menu)
  • "f" — maximize the current frame (frame-maximize)
  • "g" — open "Go to URL" dialog box (goto-url)
  • "h" — open history manager (history-manager)
  • "k" — open keybinding manager (keybinding-manager)
  • "l" — jump to link (jump-to-link)
  • "m" — set a mark (mark-set)
  • "n" — find the next occurrence of the current search text (find-next)
  • "o" — open options manager (options-manager)
  • "q" — open a quit confirmation dialog box (quit)
  • "r" — attempt to resume download of the current link (link-download-resume)
  • "s" — open bookmark manager (bookmark-manager)
  • "t" — open a new tab (open-new-tab)
  • "u" — go forward in history (history-move-forward)
  • "v" — view the current image (view-image)
  • "x" — follow the current link, forcing reload of the target (link-follow-reload)
  • "z" — abort connection (abort-connection)
  • "{" — scroll left (scroll-left)
  • "|" — show information about the current page protocol headers (header-info)
  • "}" — scroll right (scroll-right)
  • Backspace — backspace the last entered digit of the current prefix (backspace-prefix)
  • Delete — scroll down (scroll-down)
  • Down — move to the next link (move-link-next)
  • End — move to the end of the document (move-document-end)
  • Enter — follow the current link (link-follow)
  • Ctrl-Enter — follow the current link, forcing reload of the target (link-follow-reload)
  • Escape — activate the menu (menu)
  • F10 — open the File menu (file-menu)
  • F9 — activate the menu (menu)
  • Home — move to the start of the document (move-document-start)
  • Insert — scroll up (scroll-up)
  • Ctrl-Insert — copy text to clipboard (copy-clipboard)
  • Left — return to the previous document in history (history-move-back)
  • PageDown — move downwards by a page (move-page-down)
  • PageUp — move upwards by a page (move-page-up)
  • Right — follow the current link (link-follow)
  • Ctrl-Right — follow the current link, forcing reload of the target (link-follow-reload)
  • Tab — move to the next frame (frame-next)
  • Alt-Tab — move to the previous frame (frame-prev)
  • Shift-Tab — move to the previous frame (frame-prev)
  • Up — move to the previous link (move-link-prev)

✨ EDIT KEYS ✨

this is your text-input era, bestie — every key you need the moment a cursor shows up 📝

  • Alt-"<" — go to the first line of the buffer (beginning-of-buffer)
  • Alt-">" — go to the last line of the buffer (end-of-buffer)
  • Ctrl-"A" — go to the start of the page/line (home)
  • Alt-"b" — move cursor before current word (move-backward-word)
  • Ctrl-"D" — delete character under cursor (delete)
  • Ctrl-"E" — go to the end of the page/line (end)
  • Alt-"f" — move cursor after current word (move-forward-word)
  • Ctrl-"H" — delete character in front of the cursor (backspace)
  • Ctrl-"K" — delete to end of line (kill-to-eol)
  • Ctrl-"L" — redraw the terminal (redraw)
  • Alt-"r" — toggle regex matching (type-ahead searching) (search-toggle-regex)
  • Ctrl-"F" — attempt to auto-complete a local file (auto-complete-file)
  • Ctrl-"R" — attempt to unambiguously auto-complete the input (auto-complete-unambiguous)
  • Ctrl-"T" — open in external editor (open-external)
  • Ctrl-"U" — delete to beginning of line (kill-to-bol)
  • Ctrl-"V" — paste text from the clipboard (paste-clipboard)
  • Ctrl-"W" — attempt to auto-complete the input (auto-complete)
  • Ctrl-"X" — cut text to clipboard (cut-clipboard)
  • Alt-Backspace — delete backwards to start of word (kill-word-back)
  • Backspace — delete character in front of the cursor (backspace)
  • Delete — delete character under cursor (delete)
  • Down — move cursor downwards (down)
  • End — go to the end of the page/line (end)
  • Enter — follow the current link (enter)
  • Escape — cancel current state (cancel)
  • F4 — open in external editor (open-external)
  • Home — go to the start of the page/line (home)
  • Ctrl-Insert — copy text to clipboard (copy-clipboard)
  • Left — move the cursor left (left)
  • Right — move the cursor right (right)
  • Tab — move to the next item (next-item)
  • Alt-Tab — move to the previous item (previous-item)
  • Shift-Tab — move to the previous item (previous-item)
  • Up — move cursor upwards (up)

menus are literally their own little world, so here's the map 🗺️✨

  • Space — select current highlighted item (select)
  • "*" — mark item (mark-item)
  • "+" — expand item (expand)
  • "-" — collapse item (unexpand)
  • "/" — search for a text pattern (search)
  • "=" — expand item (expand)
  • Ctrl-"A" — go to the start of the page/line (home)
  • Ctrl-"B" — move upwards by a page (page-up)
  • Ctrl-"E" — go to the end of the page/line (end)
  • Ctrl-"F" — move downwards by a page (page-down)
  • Ctrl-"L" — redraw the terminal (redraw)
  • Ctrl-"N" — move cursor downwards (down)
  • Ctrl-"P" — move cursor upwards (up)
  • Alt-"V" — move upwards by a page (page-up)
  • Ctrl-"V" — move downwards by a page (page-down)
  • "[" — expand item (expand)
  • "]" — collapse item (unexpand)
  • "_" — collapse item (unexpand)
  • Delete — delete character under cursor (delete)
  • Down — move cursor downwards (down)
  • End — go to the end of the page/line (end)
  • Enter — follow the current link (enter)
  • Escape — cancel current state (cancel)
  • Home — go to the start of the page/line (home)
  • Insert — mark item (mark-item)
  • Left — move the cursor left (left)
  • PageDown — move downwards by a page (page-down)
  • PageUp — move upwards by a page (page-up)
  • Right — move the cursor right (right)
  • Tab — move to the next item (next-item)
  • Alt-Tab — move to the previous item (previous-item)
  • Shift-Tab — move to the previous item (previous-item)
  • Up — move cursor upwards (up)

👑 AUTHOR 👑

This manual page was finally written by Peter Wang (one and a half years after writing the binding code, no less 😭 iconic procrastination fr fr), using excerpts by David Mediavilla. You can thank Petr Baudis for the subtle requests for documentation 💅 Updated by Zas. Moved to asciidoc format and cleaned up by Jonas Fonseca. absolute legends, every one of them 🫶✨

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

and that's the whole page, bestie — you're officially a keybinding scholar 🎓✨ this was ELinks 0.13.GIT, dated 03/29/2009 — yes she's vintage, yes she still slays 💖🦋 go forth and press keys 🌸

📦 where this page comes from