Clear selection
copy mode
// what it does
In vi copy mode, Escape runs `clear-selection`, cancelling the current highlight and dropping the selection anchor while keeping you in copy mode. Use it when you started a selection at the wrong spot and want to restart.
// shortcut
Esc
// gotcha
Unlike Vim, Escape here does not exit copy mode — it only clears the selection; you still need q to return to the shell. In emacs mode the same key acts as a meta prefix, so this clear-selection behavior is specific to mode-keys vi.