Resetting a Messed-up Terminal Screen

1. Overview

The terminal is a fundamental tool for Linux users, providing a command-line interface for executing commands and managing files. However, a cluttered or unresponsive terminal screen can hinder productivity.

In this tutorial, we’ll first examine the common causes of terminal screen issues. Then, we’ll discuss various commands and keyboard shortcuts for resetting a messed-up terminal screen. Finally, we’ll cover best practices for maintaining a clean and efficient terminal environment.

We tested these commands on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, but they should work in most POSIX-compliant environments.

2. Understanding Terminal Screen Issues

Terminal screen issues can arise for various reasons, including software bugs, user errors, and system limitations. Let’s explore some common problems.

• Garbled Output: Garbled output occurs when commands or scripts produce jumbled text, making it difficult to read and understand. This can happen due to mistyped commands or faulty scripts.
• Excessive Output: Output overflow from commands or applications can overwhelm the terminal. This occurs when a command or application produces more output than the terminal buffer can handle.
• Display Issues: Terminal size or window size issues, color issues, and formatting problems can also impact the terminal’s appearance and functionality.

Let’s see an example:

In the output, we can see large jumbled text that is hard to read and messed up a terminal.

Now that we’ve identified some common terminal issues, let’s explore ways to resolve them.

3. Using the reset Command

The reset command not only clears the console but also restores the terminal to its default state:

$ reset

When we execute the reset command, it reinitializes terminal settings, fixing issues such as garbled output and unresponsive behavior. Moreover, the reset command doesn’t affect running processes or stored data.

4. Using the tput Command

The tput command provide options to reset the terminal to its default state. One such option is tput reset, which performs a hard reset that not only restores the terminal to its default settings but also clears the screen:

$ tput reset

The command relies on the terminal’s internal database to determine the correct reset sequence. This makes it more effective at resetting the terminal to its default state, especially where the standalone reset command is not working as expected.

In contrast, the tput init command performs a soft reset, which restores the terminal’s default settings without clearing the screen:

$ tput init

We can choose either of the two commands based on our specific requirements.

5. Using the stty sane Command

The stty command, used with its sane option, resets the terminal’s lines settings to their default state. Before running stty sane, it’s useful to check the current terminal settings using the -a option:

$ stty -a

The command provides detailed information about the current terminal’s configuration, helping identify any settings that might be causing issues.

Next, we can execute:

$ stty sane

Unlike the reset, stty sane does not clear the screen but restores the terminal’s line editing and echoing behavior. This feature makes it ideal for fixing specific input or display issues without reinitializing the entire terminal.

6. Using Keyboard Shortcuts

While not all keyboard shortcuts directly reset a messed-up terminal, they’re essential for managing situations that often lead to display issues. Keyboard shortcuts can quickly clear the screen, stop problematic processes, or manage input errors to resolve terminal display problems.

6.1. Using CTRL + L

If the display is cluttered with output, we can clear it using CTRL + L. Pressing CTRL + L scrolls the screen up and clears the visible area, so that we can start fresh and focus on the current commands or tasks.

Notably, CTRL + L only clears the visible screen area and doesn’t affect the scrollback buffer, so we can still scroll up to see the previous output.

6.2. Using CTRL + C

If a command takes too long to complete or is causing issues with the console, we can use CTRL + C to interrupt it.

However, we need to be cautious, as it may cause data loss or other unintended consequences.

6.3. Using CTRL + Z

If we need to temporarily stop a process that’s causing issues with the terminal, we can press CTRL + Z to suspend it. By pressing CTRL + Z, we’re moving the currently running process to the background.

We can then resume the same process later using the fg command.

7. Best Practices for a Clean Terminal

To minimize the occurrence of console errors:

• Regularly clear the terminal: Use CTRL + L or the clear command often to remove clutter from the screen.
• Use reset before long sessions: If we’re starting a long terminal session, resetting the terminal first can help avoid display issues later on.
• Manage output size: When running commands that produce large amounts of output, consider using commands like less or more to control the output and avoid terminal overflow.
• Monitor terminal buffer: For heavy terminal usage, consider increasing the terminal buffer size in the terminal emulator’s setting to prevent buffer overflow issues.
• Switch to virtual terminals: If the terminal emulator becomes unresponsive, switch to a virtual terminal and investigate the issues from there.
• Using a terminal multiplexer: Consider using a terminal multiplexer like screen or tmux to manage multiple sessions and windows.

By following these practices, we can ensure a more stable, responsive, and efficient terminal experience.

8. Conclusion

In this article, we discussed different ways to reset a messed-up terminal screen, including terminal commands and keyboard shortcuts.

We also covered best practices for maintaining a clean and efficient terminal environment.

Overall, various methods exist to resolve terminal screen issues, so the approach often depends on the specific problem and our personal preference.