 <p>To exit the function stack without exiting shell one can use the command:</p> <pre><code>kill -INT $$ </code></pre> <p>As <a href="http://stackoverflow.com/users/1276280/pizza">pizza</a> stated, this is like pressing Ctrl-C, which will stop the current script from running and drop you down to the command prompt.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <p>Note: the only reason I didn't select <a href="http://stackoverflow.com/users/1276280/pizza">pizza</a>'s answer is because this was buried in his/her answer and not answered directly.</p>