Terminal autocomplete doesn't work properly

Question

If I start typing a command like apt-g after hitting tab, the shell completes the command to apt-get, but for the second part of the command like install, if I enter some characters like insta, hitting tab, doesn't complete it to install.

Another example: after I enter sudo hitting tab doesn't complete anything. for example: sudo apt-ge [tab] and nothing.

I installed Ubuntu using mini iso (40MB network installer), so maybe there is a config that I missed!

I've added this code to my .bashrc but still it does not works:

if ! shopt -oq posix; then
  if [ -f /usr/share/bash-completion/bash_completion ]; then
    . /usr/share/bash-completion/bash_completion
  elif [ -f /etc/bash_completion ]; then
    . /etc/bash_completion
  fi
fi

I have also checked the permission of .bashrc and it's -rw-r--r--.

I also source the .bashrc after changes using source .bashrc to apply the changes to the new environment but still no effects.

I use xfce4-terminal so I thought it might be the terminal and not the bash.

But editing:

~/.config/xfce4/xfconf/xfce-perchannel-xml/xfce4-keyboard-shortcuts.xml

And changing:

<property name="&lt;Super&gt;Tab" type="string" value="switch_window_key"/>

to:

<property name="&lt;Super&gt;Tab" type="string" value="empty"/>

Doesn't makes any difference too.

Solution 1

bash-completion is a set of bash scripts which enables customized completion for specific commands.

This is not just for files and directories, but also e.g. for the commands. So you type partial of commands and by hitting Tab we get a auto completion of commands.

Installation

Step 1: Install bash-completion

$ sudo apt-get install bash-completion

And some times it works if we re-installed it by the follwing command:

$ sudo apt-get install --reinstall bash-completion

Step 2: Enable bash-completion in your .bashrc file

Open your gedit ~/.bashrc and if these content doesn't exist there, add them at the end of it and save it.

# enable bash completion in interactive shells
if ! shopt -oq posix; then
  if [ -f /usr/share/bash-completion/bash_completion ]; then
    . /usr/share/bash-completion/bash_completion
  elif [ -f /etc/bash_completion ]; then
    . /etc/bash_completion
  fi
fi

Important: After changing the file you need to source your ~/.bashrc with source ~/.bashrc or reopen your Terminal. It should be fixed now.

Solution 2

If your case is terminal tab not working under Xfce, the solution is as follows:

1. Open Application Menu > Settings > Window Manager.
2. Click on 'Keyboard' tab.
3. Clear the 'Switch window for same application' setting.

I've found the solution here.

Solution 3

You may also be in a shell that doesn't support auto complete (ex: Bourne Shell | SH). If you want BASH auto complete you need to switch shells, say to BASH (Bourne Again SHell) instead with the command

chsh -s /bin/bash

Source: Ubuntu Wiki - Changing Shells

Solution 4

In my case, I was trying to execute a script ./myScript.sh, and typing ./my[tab] would not auto-complete.

I had to add execute permissions to the file and auto-completion worked.

View more solutions

Comments

[user1226868]

Tried accepted awnser, but everything was already in place. This was indeed the solution for me.

[nullgeppetto]

I would like to confirm that adding the above block of code to the ~/.bashrc file did work for me. Just one comment; you don't really need to log out and log in again to make it work (you may not want to terminate what you work in), you could just run source ~/.bashrc.

[Gilberto Albino]

I had to reopen the Terminal in order for it to work!

[Gudlaugur Egilsson]

Completion suddenly stopped working for me, the above steps do not fix the issue. Any ideas on how to troubleshoot the issue? On ubuntu 16.04

[Hendy Irawan]

Step 2 does it for me. Or get the template from /etc/skel/.bashrc

[clifgray]

Still the solution I needed as of May 2018.

[Sergio Ivanuzzo]

not works with su hyphen (at least for Arch linux) (for example su - username)

[αғsнιη]

@SergioIvanuzzo not sure what issue you are facing you may look at this unix.stackexchange.com/q/219342/72456 it helps, else open your own question for the problem you have.

[bitsoflogic]

Needed this once I connected through xrdp

[Daniel]

for me, only chmod can't autocomplete, any ideas why?

[CodeMonkey]

Not sure which part did it, since I tried all three, but this worked. I had the issue that bash only autocompleted the second parameter, not the first, e.g. cd install/<TAB> would not show the folders inside install, but time cd install/<TAB> would work.

[JVE999]

What eventually solved this issue for me was changing the user's shell, via this answer serverfault.com/a/99791/185200