How do I clear the screen in Terminal (no CLS)

Question

Created Aug ’20

Replies 5

Boosts 2

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Participants 7

I'm just beginning, and I want to learn how to clear the terminal window screen. I thought the command was CLS, but this isn't a known command, so the result is
zsh: command not found: cls

Also, it's not mentioned in the Command Line Primer

Surely it's possible to access this, but how?

Boost

Answer 1

jpickwell-work OP

Aug ’20

cls is for Windows Command Prompt. For *nix-based systems like macOS, use the command clear.

If you're using the built-in Terminal app:

Edit > Clear Scrollback ⌥⌘K (Alt+Cmd+K)
Edit > Clear Screen ⌃⌘L (Ctrl+Cmd+L)

If you're using iTerm:

Edit > Clear Buffer ⌘K (Cmd+K)
Edit > Clear Scrollback Buffer ⇧⌘K (Shift+Cmd+K)

Personally, I prefer the menu options over the clear command because the command doesn't clear the scrollback buffer (since it has no knowledge of the scrollback buffer).

5

Answer 2

jerelo OP

Aug ’20

Thanks jpickwell, I appreciate you taking the time to help, and your answer is clear and informative.

0

Answer 3

harshhes OP

Jan ’22

in my mac terminal i can't clear the screen with command clear. any suggestions would be utterly welcomed.

0

Answer 4

sdimitrov OP

Feb ’23

The default Terminal app on Mac shows these options in its menu.

In short, use CMD+K.

Open Edit and see:

Screenshot 2023-02-11 at 09.56.31.png

As of Feb 2023.

0

Answer 5

endecotp OP

Feb ’23

"clear" should work.

1