Today I Learned

GNU Screen Key Conflict with Bash

In Bash/zsh/etc, CTRL+A moves the cursor to the beginning of the lines, which significantly speeds up the workflow. However, as GNU screen is considered, CTRL+A is the prefix of all commands, such as CTRL+A + D to detach a screen. Inside screen, CTRL+A won’t move the cursor around.

The solution is to replace all CTRL in the knowledge about bash/zsh/etc with CTRL+A. As an example, suppose we need to move the cursor to the beginning, we press CTRL+A first, then release, followed by A. The release of CTRL+A is critical otherwise we would excute some GNU screen command.