Out of the box, on a fresh iTerm2 installation when you press Option-Backspace ( ) it won't delete whole words but instead backspace delete one character at a time.

The solution is to

  1. Open iTerm2's settings by pressing ,
  2. Go to Profiles
  3. Select "Keys" tab
  4. Look for "Left option (⌥) key:"
  5. Change it from "Normal" to "Esc+"
  6. Close the preferences window

I keep forgetting this and struggled to find up-to-date instructions so hopefully by blogging about it I won't forget next time.

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