Why can't I type certain characters or use shortcuts in the terminal?

Last updated on July 7, 2023 at 8:10 PM

If you're using an international keyboard you might have trouble typing certain characters (ie ~ or $) or using keyboard shortcuts in the terminal. This happens because the library we use to provide the in-browser terminal does not support non-standard and international keyboard layouts.

One workaround for this is to try changing your keyboard settings to EN-US. If this doesn't work, you can try using a virtual on-screen keyboard — links to information for each major operating system is listed below:

Windows
Mac
Ubuntu

For Linux distributions other than Ubuntu, we suggest googling the keywords "on-screen keyboard { insert your Linux distribution here }".