Terminal settings prevent either using @ symbol or multiline
Status Closed — not planned
Maintainer reply None cached
Workaround ✓ Mentioned in thread ↓
Activity 10 comments · opened Jun 30, 2025 · closed Feb 7, 2026
OS: MacOS 14.4.1
Claude Code v1.0.35 directly in Terminal
Keyboard layout: German
Depending on the Terminal setting "Use Option as Meta key", I can
- either use the option key + Enter to enter a new line (instead of submitting the prompt), but then the @ symbol can't be typed using option+L
- or vice versa, can type @, but not multiline.
This makes Claude Code barely usable because it prevents either file references or complex prompts. It forces clumsy workarounds like writing prompts to external files or copy/pasting the @ symbol.
A possible solution would be to use Shift+Enter to submit the prompt or enter a new line.
10 Comments
Found 3 possible duplicate issues:
This issue will be automatically closed as a duplicate in 3 days.
🤖 Generated with Claude Code
You can use \ + Enter (Shift + Option + 7, then enter) for Multiline when "Use Option as Meta key" is disabled.
But Claude will reenable it every time, that's very annoying with German keyboards.
Related: https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/1793
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Nothing changed here, the issue persists and makes targeting file paths a pain in the butt.
The recently released
Option+Pshortcut for model switching (v2.0.65) makes this issue significantly worse.Context: This feature was requested for months because
/modelonly works with an empty input field. If you've written a long prompt and realize you need a different model, you're stuck — there's no way to cut/paste the entire input (no Ctrl+A, and Ctrl+L clears without copying to clipboard).The conflict now:
Option+Pfor model switching → requires "Use Option as Meta key" enabled@for file tagging → requires "Use Option as Meta key" disabled (on Spanish, German, Nordic, and most non-US keyboards)Both features are essential for daily use. With Meta key disabled,
Option+Pproducesπ. With Meta key enabled,@becomes impossible to type.The current situation forces international keyboard users to choose between two core features.
This affects Spanish, German, French, Nordic, Portuguese, Italian, and essentially every non-US keyboard layout.
Found a workaround here by using iTerm 2. It allows to enter @ on a German keyboard, and works with Shift+Enter for new lines.
This issue has been automatically closed due to 60 days of inactivity. If you're still experiencing this issue, please open a new issue with updated information.
Even if a workaround exist, this issue was closed incorrectly despite recent human comments. This behavior of the bot is reported at https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/16497. Please upvote that issue, so maybe it gets noticed.
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