--- title: clear vs CTRL + L in Your Shell | daily.dev description: Learn about the difference between using clear and CTRL + L in the shell to clear the screen and buffer. CTRL + L clears the visible output while still... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/clear-vs-ctrl-l-in-your-shell-7yvfostqi twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: clear vs CTRL + L in Your Shell | daily.dev og:description: Learn about the difference between using clear and CTRL + L in the shell to clear the screen and buffer. CTRL + L clears the visible output while still... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/clear-vs-ctrl-l-in-your-shell-7yvfostqi og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/7YvfoStQI.png og:image:alt: clear vs CTRL + L in Your Shell og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # clear vs CTRL + L in Your Shell **[Nick Janetakis](https://daily.dev/sources/nickjanetakis)** · 2 min read · 41 upvotes · 6 comments ## Summary Learn about the difference between using clear and CTRL + L in the shell to clear the screen and buffer. CTRL + L clears the visible output while still allowing you to scroll up, while clear also clears the buffer. Watch the demo video to see it in action. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Community discussion Top comments from developers on daily.dev. **@debajyatidey** · 0 upvotes > Wow! I was always waiting for someone to write on this topic! **@tassosmdj** · 0 upvotes > Well, that's heplful! Thanks for sharing! **@valdirjunior011** · 0 upvotes > I use both to be honest but since I have aliases for clear, it's faster for me just type c on my terminal. **@mrsnake** · 0 upvotes > thanks **@furyxthor** · 0 upvotes > Good To Know Thanks! --- Tags: [#shell](https://daily.dev/tags/shell) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/clear-vs-ctrl-l-in-your-shell-7yvfostqi) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"clear vs CTRL + L in Your Shell","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/clear-vs-ctrl-l-in-your-shell-7yvfostqi","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/clear-vs-ctrl-l-in-your-shell-7yvfostqi"},"datePublished":"2024-05-07T10:02:05.177Z","dateModified":"2024-05-09T08:39:06.345Z","description":"Learn about the difference between using clear and CTRL + L in the shell to clear the screen and buffer. 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I was always waiting for someone to write on this topic!","datePublished":"2024-05-15T17:50:59.581Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/7YvfoStQI#c-yc5XfQF20","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Debajyati Dey","url":"https://daily.dev/debajyatidey","image":"https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/127122455?v=4"}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"Well, that’s heplful! Thanks for sharing!","datePublished":"2024-05-15T18:42:52.914Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/7YvfoStQI#c-kfxvSc15h","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Tassos Mdj","url":"https://daily.dev/tassosmdj","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--O0TOmw4y--/f_auto/v1715772965/public/noProfile"}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"I use both to be honest but since I have aliases for clear, it’s faster for me just type c on my terminal.","datePublished":"2024-07-24T05:59:15.875Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/7YvfoStQI#c-BK8uzxHGv","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Valdir Junior","url":"https://daily.dev/valdirjunior011","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--H4Vqvx6---/f_auto/v1721682751/avatars/avatar_RlCmhmA7m0xwupNL51K98"}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"thanks","datePublished":"2024-07-11T21:18:14.213Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/7YvfoStQI#c-EJAAalFui","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"kerem k","url":"https://daily.dev/mrsnake","image":"https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/a/ACg8ocJlj64t5k79lsYhUYqt-zgd9SCMp4d8-OHRzfn-MVU_Cok=s96-c"}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"Good To Know Thanks!","datePublished":"2024-08-05T05:58:59.461Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/7YvfoStQI#c-iiKLgb4VN","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Purvesh Panchal","url":"https://daily.dev/furyxthor","image":"https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/a/ACg8ocLdQRxYdGgihD5ylHi44GVFSIQaaVOT5UIdld5CWnf7sg0=s96-c"}}]} ```