iTerm2 is a near perfect Terminal.app replacement for MacOS.

There are two key configurations I make on a new iTerm2 installation.

Change Option Key (⌥) Mapping from Meta to +Esc

Why? The default behaviour of Option (⌥) key allows you to input diacritics and other special characters.

But I never need that. However, when it’s mapped to +Esc, it enables a very powerful feature.

With +Esc mapping, your Option (⌥) key becomes a powerful modifier key that lets you navigate through commonds, code, and text very quickly.

Eg:

  1. ⌥ + f and ⌥ + b let you jump one word at a time, instead of one character with ← and →.
  2. ⌥ + delete let you delete one word at a time, instead of one character with delete.

This is super powerful if you use command line a lot.

This setting can be found at: Settings > Profiles > Keys > General

Increase Font Size

iTerm2’s default font size is 12, which is super tiny for a retina display. I like it when it’s 36, but it may be too large for your taste.

This setting can be found at: Settings > Profiles > Text > Font