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Termux runs on devices that may not have a physical keyboard with Ctrl, Escape, Tab, or function keys. To compensate, the Volume Down key acts as a virtual Ctrl modifier and the Volume Up key acts as a virtual Fn modifier, giving you access to keys that are common in terminal workflows without requiring a hardware keyboard. These virtual key bindings are active by default and can be disabled by setting volume-keys=volume in ~/.termux/termux.properties.

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Volume Down as Ctrl

Pressing Volume Down while typing a letter sends that letter as a Ctrl combination. These are the most commonly used mappings:
CombinationEquivalentCommon use
Volume Down + CCtrl+CInterrupt the running process (SIGINT)
Volume Down + DCtrl+DSend EOF / exit the shell
Volume Down + ZCtrl+ZSuspend the foreground process (SIGTSTP)
Volume Down + LCtrl+LClear the screen
Volume Down + ACtrl+AMove to beginning of line (readline)
Volume Down + ECtrl+EMove to end of line (readline)
Volume Down + KCtrl+KKill to end of line (readline)
Volume Down + UCtrl+UKill to beginning of line (readline)
Volume Down + WCtrl+WDelete previous word (readline)
Volume Down + RCtrl+RReverse history search (readline)
Volume Down applies the Ctrl modifier to any letter you type next, so the full range of Ctrl+[A–Z] combinations is available.

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Volume Up as Fn

The Volume Up key provides access to special keys that cannot easily be typed on a touch keyboard:
CombinationSends
Volume Up + EEscape
Volume Up + TTab
Volume Up + IInsert
Volume Up + H~ (tilde)
Volume Up + .Ctrl+\ (SIGQUIT)
CombinationSends
Volume Up + 1F1
Volume Up + 2F2
Volume Up + 3F3
Volume Up + 4F4
Volume Up + 5F5
Volume Up + 6F6
Volume Up + 7F7
Volume Up + 8F8
Volume Up + 9F9
Volume Up + 0F10
CombinationSends
Volume Up + L| (pipe)
Volume Up + U_ (underscore)
Volume Up + BAlt+B (move back one word in readline)
Volume Up + FAlt+F (move forward one word in readline)
Volume Up + XAlt+X
CombinationAction
Volume Up + Q or Volume Up + KToggle the extra keys toolbar
Volume Up + VShow the system volume control UI

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Hardware keyboard shortcuts

When a physical keyboard is attached, Termux recognizes Ctrl+Alt combinations for session and UI management. These shortcuts are enabled by default and can be disabled by setting disable-hardware-keyboard-shortcuts=true in ~/.termux/termux.properties.
ShortcutAction
Ctrl+Alt+CCreate a new session
Ctrl+Alt+N or Ctrl+Alt+DownSwitch to next session
Ctrl+Alt+P or Ctrl+Alt+UpSwitch to previous session
Ctrl+Alt+[1–9]Switch directly to session 1–9
Ctrl+Alt+RRename the current session
Ctrl+Alt+UShow URL selection dialog
Ctrl+Alt+VPaste from clipboard
Ctrl+Alt+KToggle the soft keyboard
Ctrl+Alt+MOpen the context menu
Ctrl+Alt+RightOpen the session list drawer
Ctrl+Alt+LeftClose the session list drawer
Ctrl+Alt++Increase font size
Ctrl+Alt+-Decrease font size
Termux does not steal Ctrl+Alt shortcuts from a connected alphabetic hardware keyboard (i.e. a full external keyboard). Volume key virtual mappings are also skipped for alphabetic hardware keyboards so the physical keys work as normal media keys.

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Configurable session shortcuts

You can assign Ctrl key combinations to session management actions using ~/.termux/termux.properties: 
# Use Ctrl+1 to create a new session
shortcut.create-session=1

# Use Ctrl+2 / Ctrl+3 to cycle through sessions
shortcut.next-session=2
shortcut.previous-session=3

# Use Ctrl+4 to rename the current session
shortcut.rename-session=4
These work from the soft keyboard via the Volume Down (Ctrl) modifier as well as from hardware keyboards.

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The extra keys bar

The extra keys bar is a configurable row of buttons displayed above the soft keyboard. It provides one-tap access to keys like Escape, Tab, Ctrl, arrow keys, and common symbols that would otherwise require the volume key workarounds. Toggle the extra keys bar by:
  • Long-pressing the keyboard toggle button in the session drawer.
  • Pressing Volume Up + Q or Volume Up + K.
  • Long-pressing the keyboard icon in the drawer.

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Default extra keys layout

The default layout (from TermuxPropertyConstants.java) provides two rows: 
ESC  /  -|  HOME  ↑  END  PgUp
TAB  CTRL  ALT  ←  ↓  →  PgDn
Where -| is a key that shows - and has | (pipe) as a popup on long-press.

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Customizing the extra keys bar

Edit ~/.termux/termux.properties and set extra-keys to a JSON-style array of key rows. Each entry is a key name (uppercase) or a popup object: 
extra-keys = [['ESC','TAB','CTRL','ALT','LEFT','DOWN','UP','RIGHT'], \
              ['F1','F2','F3','F4','F5','F6',{key: '-', popup: '|'},'BKSP']]
Supported key names include: ESC, TAB, CTRL, ALT, SHIFT, FN, UP, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT, HOME, END, PGUP, PGDN, INS, DEL, BKSP, ENTER, F1–F12, SPACE, DRAWER, KEYBOARD, PASTE, and any literal character. Use extra-keys-text-all-caps=false to display key labels in lowercase. Adjust the row height with terminal-toolbar-height (a float scale factor, default 1.0).

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