So iTerm2 is a great program, since I switched to it along with ZSH, it’s been nothing but blue skies and happiness… Until I tried to word jump with the Option key… Which doesn’t work.

After being too lazy to look it up for a few months, I finally got around to looking it up and found out that it’s a pretty easy change, just do the following:

Step 1

  • Open iTerm2 and open the Preferences window.
  • Click the Profiles tab at the top and select your profile in the left pane.
  • At the bottom under (Left Option) select `+Esc`.

iTerm2 Image 1

Step 2

  • Find the current shortcut for ⌥ ← in the list. (If you can’t find one, you may need to create it with the `+` button below the window.
  • Click on it and change the settings to:
    • Keyboard Shortcut: ⌥←
    • Action: Send Escape Sequence
    • Esc+: b

iTerm2 Image 2

Step 3

  • Repeat Step 2 and switch the arrow direction in the settings:
    • Keyboard Shortcut: ⌥→
    • Action: Send Escape Sequence
    • Esc+: f

    iTerm2 Image 3

    Aaaaaaaaand, you’re done!

    If you want this to work for the right option key, well, then you need to configure it as an escape character in step one.

    Enjoy!