How to clear the screen

Overview

Clearing removes visible output so the terminal is easier to read. It does not undo commands, delete data, or change your working directory.

Commands and shortcuts

Run clear, or press Ctrl+L in Bash and many other shells.

clear

What remains

Shell variables, background jobs, and the current directory remain unchanged. Many terminal applications also keep earlier output in scrollback.

• reset can repair a terminal whose display has become garbled
• history still shows previous commands after clearing

Tips

Save important output before clearing by redirecting it to a file or using tee. Re-run a harmless information command if you need its output again.