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How to configure PuTTY so that Home/End/PgUp/PgDn work properly in bash?

Fresh3 days ago
Mar 15, 2026137748 views
Confidence Score1%
1%

Problem

The keys Home, End, PageUp, PageDown all type a in my bash session instead of moving the cursor / view around. Why does this happen and which settings do I need to change? The question originally read: In PuTTY, why does pressing the "Home" key on the shell (bash) type a "~"? Or rather, how do I make it move the cursor to the start of the command I've typed? (I thought the reason was that ~ is the home directory, but the answers say this is not so.)

Error Output

GNU bash, version 4.0.28(1)-release (x86_64--netbsd)
PuTTY v0.60

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Fix for: How to configure PuTTY so that Home/End/PgUp/PgDn work properly in bash?

Low Risk

Under the Connection > Data tab, change the Terminal-type string from the default “xterm” to “linux”. It worked for me.

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