This is info about configuring your system so that the delete key will erase characters. Different editors may need something different here. This is what I've found helpls with the vi clones. It doesn't seem to matter which shell you're using. There's a discussion of it (dated 2013-1-8, works 2022-1-15) at: https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/60627/vim-how-to-configure-backspace-and-delete-keys-both-as-normal The best advice seems to be in answer 3: stty erase ^? where the "^?" is a Ctrl-V followed by the Delete key. (So far, I haven't really found a coherent explanation for why this is such a problem. Mostly all you can find is various "magic wands" like the above, telling you to type something nonsensical, which worked on someone else's system.)