12.6 Using org-mode on a tty

Org-mode uses a number of keys that are not accessible on a tty. This applies to most special keys like cursor keys, <TAB> and <RET>, when these are combined with modifier keys like <Meta> and/or <Shift>. Org-mode uses these bindings because it needs to provide keys for a large number of commands, and because these keys appeared particularly easy to remember. In order to still be able to access the core functionality of Org-mode on a tty, alternative bindings are provided. Here is a complete list of these bindings, which are obviously more cumbersome to use. Note that sometimes a work-around can be better. For example changing a time stamp is really only fun with S-<cursor> keys. On a tty you would rather use C-c . to re-insert the timestamp.

Default	Alternative 1	Alternative 2
S-<TAB>	C-u <TAB>
M-<left>	C-c C-x l	<Esc> <left>
M-S-<left>	C-c C-x L
M-<right>	C-c C-x r	<Esc> <right>
M-S-<right>	C-c C-x R
M-<up>	C-c C-x u	<Esc> <up>
M-S-<up>	C-c C-x U
M-<down>	C-c C-x d	<Esc> <down>
M-S-<down>	C-c C-x D
S-<RET>	C-c C-x c
M-<RET>	C-c C-x m	<Esc> <RET>
M-S-<RET>	C-c C-x M
S-<left>	C-c C-x <left>
S-<right>	C-c C-x <right>
S-<up>	C-c C-x <up>
S-<down>	C-c C-x <down>