diff --git a/src/tui/components/ColorMenu.tsx b/src/tui/components/ColorMenu.tsx
index d6f5434..06b1080 100644
--- a/src/tui/components/ColorMenu.tsx
+++ b/src/tui/components/ColorMenu.tsx
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import {
     getAvailableBackgroundColorsForUI,
     getAvailableColorsForUI
 } from '../../utils/colors';
+import { shouldInsertInput } from '../../utils/input-guards';
 import { getWidget } from '../../utils/widgets';
 
 import { ConfirmDialog } from './ConfirmDialog';
@@ -97,7 +98,7 @@ export const ColorMenu: React.FC<ColorMenuProps> = ({ widgets, lineIndex, settin
                 }
             } else if (key.backspace || key.delete) {
                 setHexInput(hexInput.slice(0, -1));
-            } else if (input && hexInput.length < 6) {
+            } else if (shouldInsertInput(input, key) && hexInput.length < 6) {
                 // Only accept hex characters (0-9, A-F, a-f)
                 const upperInput = input.toUpperCase();
                 if (/^[0-9A-F]$/.test(upperInput)) {
@@ -144,7 +145,7 @@ export const ColorMenu: React.FC<ColorMenuProps> = ({ widgets, lineIndex, settin
                 }
             } else if (key.backspace || key.delete) {
                 setAnsi256Input(ansi256Input.slice(0, -1));
-            } else if (input && ansi256Input.length < 3) {
+            } else if (shouldInsertInput(input, key) && ansi256Input.length < 3) {
                 // Only accept numeric characters (0-9)
                 if (/^[0-9]$/.test(input)) {
                     const newInput = ansi256Input + input;
diff --git a/src/tui/components/GlobalOverridesMenu.tsx b/src/tui/components/GlobalOverridesMenu.tsx
index d64f93c..ebc3a04 100644
--- a/src/tui/components/GlobalOverridesMenu.tsx
+++ b/src/tui/components/GlobalOverridesMenu.tsx
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import {
     getChalkColor,
     getColorDisplayName
 } from '../../utils/colors';
+import { shouldInsertInput } from '../../utils/input-guards';
 
 import { ConfirmDialog } from './ConfirmDialog';
 
@@ -57,7 +58,7 @@ export const GlobalOverridesMenu: React.FC<GlobalOverridesMenuProps> = ({ settin
                 setPaddingInput(paddingInput.slice(0, -1));
             } else if (key.delete) {
                 // For simple text inputs without cursor, forward delete does nothing
-            } else if (input) {
+            } else if (shouldInsertInput(input, key)) {
                 setPaddingInput(paddingInput + input);
             }
         } else if (editingSeparator) {
@@ -86,7 +87,7 @@ export const GlobalOverridesMenu: React.FC<GlobalOverridesMenuProps> = ({ settin
                 setSeparatorInput(separatorInput.slice(0, -1));
             } else if (key.delete) {
                 // For simple text inputs without cursor, forward delete does nothing
-            } else if (input) {
+            } else if (shouldInsertInput(input, key)) {
                 setSeparatorInput(separatorInput + input);
             }
         } else if (confirmingSeparator) {
diff --git a/src/tui/components/PowerlineSeparatorEditor.tsx b/src/tui/components/PowerlineSeparatorEditor.tsx
index 1648ade..92f4349 100644
--- a/src/tui/components/PowerlineSeparatorEditor.tsx
+++ b/src/tui/components/PowerlineSeparatorEditor.tsx
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import {
 import React, { useState } from 'react';
 
 import type { Settings } from '../../types/Settings';
+import { shouldInsertInput } from '../../utils/input-guards';
 
 export type EditorMode = 'separator' | 'startCap' | 'endCap';
 
@@ -133,7 +134,7 @@ export const PowerlineSeparatorEditor: React.FC<PowerlineSeparatorEditorProps> =
             } else if (key.backspace && cursorPos > 0) {
                 setHexInput(hexInput.slice(0, cursorPos - 1) + hexInput.slice(cursorPos));
                 setCursorPos(cursorPos - 1);
-            } else if (input && /[0-9a-fA-F]/.test(input) && hexInput.length < 4) {
+            } else if (shouldInsertInput(input, key) && /[0-9a-fA-F]/.test(input) && hexInput.length < 4) {
                 setHexInput(hexInput.slice(0, cursorPos) + input.toUpperCase() + hexInput.slice(cursorPos));
                 setCursorPos(cursorPos + 1);
             }
diff --git a/src/tui/components/TerminalWidthMenu.tsx b/src/tui/components/TerminalWidthMenu.tsx
index 893fc29..3134707 100644
--- a/src/tui/components/TerminalWidthMenu.tsx
+++ b/src/tui/components/TerminalWidthMenu.tsx
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import React, { useState } from 'react';
 
 import type { FlexMode } from '../../types/FlexMode';
 import type { Settings } from '../../types/Settings';
+import { shouldInsertInput } from '../../utils/input-guards';
 
 export interface TerminalWidthMenuProps {
     settings: Settings;
@@ -58,7 +59,7 @@ export const TerminalWidthMenu: React.FC<TerminalWidthMenuProps> = ({ settings,
                 setValidationError(null);
             } else if (key.delete) {
                 // For simple number inputs, forward delete does nothing since there's no cursor position
-            } else if (input && /\d/.test(input)) {
+            } else if (shouldInsertInput(input, key) && /\d/.test(input)) {
                 const newValue = thresholdInput + input;
                 if (newValue.length <= 2) {
                     setThresholdInput(newValue);
diff --git a/src/utils/__tests__/input-guards.test.ts b/src/utils/__tests__/input-guards.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e3df8db
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/utils/__tests__/input-guards.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+import {
+    describe,
+    expect,
+    it
+} from 'vitest';
+
+import { shouldInsertInput } from '../input-guards';
+
+describe('shouldInsertInput', () => {
+    it('allows regular printable input without modifiers', () => {
+        expect(shouldInsertInput('s', {})).toBe(true);
+        expect(shouldInsertInput('S', { shift: true })).toBe(true);
+    });
+
+    it('blocks ctrl chords', () => {
+        expect(shouldInsertInput('s', { ctrl: true })).toBe(false);
+    });
+
+    it('blocks meta chords', () => {
+        expect(shouldInsertInput('s', { meta: true })).toBe(false);
+    });
+
+    it('blocks tab-based input', () => {
+        expect(shouldInsertInput('\t', { tab: true })).toBe(false);
+    });
+
+    it('blocks control characters and allows unicode text', () => {
+        expect(shouldInsertInput('\u0013', {})).toBe(false);
+        expect(shouldInsertInput('🙂', {})).toBe(true);
+    });
+});
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/utils/input-guards.ts b/src/utils/input-guards.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9da2272
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/utils/input-guards.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+export interface InputKeyLike {
+    ctrl?: boolean;
+    meta?: boolean;
+    shift?: boolean;
+    tab?: boolean;
+}
+
+const CONTROL_CHAR_REGEX = /[\u0000-\u001F\u007F]/u;
+
+export const shouldInsertInput = (input: string, key: InputKeyLike): boolean => {
+    if (!input) {
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    if (key.ctrl || key.meta || key.tab) {
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    return !CONTROL_CHAR_REGEX.test(input);
+};
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/widgets/CurrentWorkingDir.tsx b/src/widgets/CurrentWorkingDir.tsx
index d3e459e..a2cb53e 100644
--- a/src/widgets/CurrentWorkingDir.tsx
+++ b/src/widgets/CurrentWorkingDir.tsx
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import type {
     WidgetEditorProps,
     WidgetItem
 } from '../types/Widget';
+import { shouldInsertInput } from '../utils/input-guards';
 
 export class CurrentWorkingDirWidget implements Widget {
     getDefaultColor(): string { return 'blue'; }
@@ -200,7 +201,7 @@ const CurrentWorkingDirEditor: React.FC<WidgetEditorProps> = ({ widget, onComple
                 onCancel();
             } else if (key.backspace) {
                 setSegmentsInput(segmentsInput.slice(0, -1));
-            } else if (input && /\d/.test(input) && !key.ctrl) {
+            } else if (shouldInsertInput(input, key) && /\d/.test(input)) {
                 setSegmentsInput(segmentsInput + input);
             }
         }
diff --git a/src/widgets/CustomCommand.tsx b/src/widgets/CustomCommand.tsx
index 8a8460d..cde2d5b 100644
--- a/src/widgets/CustomCommand.tsx
+++ b/src/widgets/CustomCommand.tsx
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import type {
     WidgetEditorProps,
     WidgetItem
 } from '../types/Widget';
+import { shouldInsertInput } from '../utils/input-guards';
 
 export class CustomCommandWidget implements Widget {
     getDefaultColor(): string { return 'white'; }
@@ -160,7 +161,7 @@ const CustomCommandEditor: React.FC<WidgetEditorProps> = ({ widget, onComplete,
                 if (commandCursorPos < commandInput.length) {
                     setCommandInput(commandInput.slice(0, commandCursorPos) + commandInput.slice(commandCursorPos + 1));
                 }
-            } else if (input) {
+            } else if (shouldInsertInput(input, key)) {
                 setCommandInput(commandInput.slice(0, commandCursorPos) + input + commandInput.slice(commandCursorPos));
                 setCommandCursorPos(commandCursorPos + input.length);
             }
@@ -178,7 +179,7 @@ const CustomCommandEditor: React.FC<WidgetEditorProps> = ({ widget, onComplete,
                 onCancel();
             } else if (key.backspace) {
                 setWidthInput(widthInput.slice(0, -1));
-            } else if (input && /\d/.test(input)) {
+            } else if (shouldInsertInput(input, key) && /\d/.test(input)) {
                 setWidthInput(widthInput + input);
             }
         } else if (mode === 'timeout') {
@@ -195,7 +196,7 @@ const CustomCommandEditor: React.FC<WidgetEditorProps> = ({ widget, onComplete,
                 onCancel();
             } else if (key.backspace) {
                 setTimeoutInput(timeoutInput.slice(0, -1));
-            } else if (input && /\d/.test(input)) {
+            } else if (shouldInsertInput(input, key) && /\d/.test(input)) {
                 setTimeoutInput(timeoutInput + input);
             }
         }
diff --git a/src/widgets/CustomText.tsx b/src/widgets/CustomText.tsx
index 0bda7ed..f28bf85 100644
--- a/src/widgets/CustomText.tsx
+++ b/src/widgets/CustomText.tsx
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ import type {
     WidgetEditorProps,
     WidgetItem
 } from '../types/Widget';
+import { shouldInsertInput } from '../utils/input-guards';
 
 export class CustomTextWidget implements Widget {
     getDefaultColor(): string { return 'white'; }
@@ -129,7 +130,7 @@ const CustomTextEditor: React.FC<WidgetEditorProps> = ({ widget, onComplete, onC
                     setText(text.slice(0, deleteFromIndex) + text.slice(deleteToIndex));
                 }
             }
-        } else if (input && !key.ctrl && !key.meta) {
+        } else if (shouldInsertInput(input, key)) {
             // Insert the input at cursor position
             const newText = text.slice(0, cursorPos) + input + text.slice(cursorPos);
             setText(newText);