keyboard shortcut to quit 'telnet'

Question

on Windows XP/server 2003

When telnet some remote host on a specified port, after connection established, sometimes press ctrl+] doesn't quit. Is there any command can quit instead of just close the command line window? Thanks.

EDIT: But sometimes even type ctrl + ], telnet command line doesn't show up, still stuck at the blank screen.

score 56 · Answer 1 · edited Sep 19 '15 at 00:29

56

ctrl+] is an escape sequence that puts telnet into command mode, it doesn't terminate the session. If you type close after hitting ctrl+], that will "close" the telnet session.

edited Sep 19 '15 at 00:29

chicks

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answered Aug 28 '10 at 18:07

Alex

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Weird, Ctrl+] doesn't seem to work. Also, why do you type `close` instead of simply typing `q`? – Pacerier Jul 03 '15 at 04:08
I think of them as "opening" and "closing" connections rather than "quitting" a session. If you run telnet by itself with no other options, you would use `open host.domain.com`. So to me, `close` is `open`'s obvious partner and just makes more sense. However, `q` also works, and is certainly fewer letters :) – Alex Jul 06 '15 at 04:06
close takes me to `Microsoft Telnet>` and `q` or `quit` takes me to `C:\Windows\system32>` – Sohail Ahmed Dec 26 '16 at 09:37

Norbert Weuster · Answer 2 · 2015-12-30T11:17:32.727

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on German keyboards the following keystrokes will help

CTRL + +

or rather

Strg + +

edited Dec 30 '15 at 11:17

answered Jan 17 '14 at 10:41

Norbert Weuster

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Very true. On a German keyboard ctrl+] does not (!) work. I'm sure other keyboard layouts need other combinations. – twigmac Feb 01 '16 at 10:19
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for swiss german it is CTRL + ¨ – raudi Nov 08 '16 at 10:32
For French, it's CTRL + '$' – Orsiris de Jong Apr 16 '18 at 13:09
For Slovenian use Ctrl + č – Luc Feb 18 '22 at 14:27

score 8 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 28 '10 at 17:14

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You can use the 'quit' command, or abbreviate it to just 'q' if you like.

answered Aug 28 '10 at 17:14

Cypher

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score 3 · Answer 4 · answered Apr 12 '16 at 15:41

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The solution worked for me is

CTRL $

Then after when you will be in telnet invite type

quit

then enter to exit from telnet and return to your DOS invite

answered Apr 12 '16 at 15:41

abk

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score 2 · Answer 5 · edited Jul 03 '15 at 10:18

I'm not terribly familiar with Windows telnet, but local behavior on non-Windows boxes using telnet is a combination of the telnet state and that of the terminal or enclosing window and shell. (If your remote connection has changed the echo mode, font color, interrupt status, and etc, killing telnet has no effect on that local status.)

Does Windows have similar local status? (I assume so, or most text editors and many other programs wouldn't work in telnet windows.)

For Unix, the typical sequence was Ctrl] → quit → return → stty sane → return to get local control and tty sanity. What's the Windows equivalent of "tty sane"?

score 1 · Answer 6 · answered Aug 29 '10 at 10:50

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ctrl+] will take you to command mode if the telnet client is already connected; from there you can type (q)uit to exit.

If it's connecting, however (or failing to connect...), then there is no way to interrupt the process until it times out.

answered Aug 29 '10 at 10:50

Mikeage

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polemon · Answer 7 · 2010-08-29T19:34:27.633

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Standard way of disconnecting the line in most applications is ~+., keep in mind, that often this has to be typed in blindly, so press enter a couple of times: Enter+~+..

This is also the standard way of closing the connection on an SSH session, that became unresponsive.

edited Aug 29 '10 at 19:34

answered Aug 29 '10 at 19:02

polemon

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Doesn't work: `Invalid Command. type ?/help for help` – Pacerier Jul 03 '15 at 04:08
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tilde then dot was used by `rlogin`, and subsequently by `ssh` (at least on Unix); it was not and is not used by `telnet`. (Some programs like `ed`, and some protocols like SMTP and NNTP, use a *line* containing only dot to terminate data.) Most `telnet` clients, including Windows, default to ctrl-] but can be set to something else. – dave_thompson_085 Nov 30 '15 at 14:23

score 1 · Answer 8 · answered Feb 09 '17 at 09:25

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On a French keyboard I have to use ctrl+$

Then 'quit' from the resulting telnet prompt.

answered Feb 09 '17 at 09:25

Martin R

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score 0 · Answer 9 · answered Aug 29 '10 at 10:42

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maybe with ctrl + d ?

answered Aug 29 '10 at 10:42

Nikolaidis Fotis

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score 0 · Answer 10 · answered Jul 18 '13 at 11:36

At least in my Linux system, the only way to exit from a telnet session is by using the following keys (pressing the 3 keys together: Ctrl, AltGr,+ and then the following prompt appears: telnet> Now press the key q and the telnet session will be terminated.

keyboard shortcut to quit 'telnet'

10 Answers10