diff --git a/CHANGELOG.adoc b/CHANGELOG.adoc
index c3fd5c3c01..2a82f6b630 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.adoc
+++ b/CHANGELOG.adoc
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ This file documents all notable changes to https://github.com/devonfw/IDEasy[IDE
 
 Release with new features and bugfixes:
 
+* https://github.com/devonfw/IDEasy/issues/821[#821]: Made the `ide` prefix in `ide shell` part of the editable input so it can be removed for non-IDEasy commands
 * https://github.com/devonfw/IDEasy/issues/2286[#2286]: Fix SystemPath.findBinary to search extraPathEntries
 * https://github.com/devonfw/IDEasy/issues/1165[#1165]: Fix automatic project import for Eclipse
 * https://github.com/devonfw/IDEasy/issues/2040[#2040]: Fixed buggy workspace selection in the GUI
diff --git a/cli/src/main/java/com/devonfw/tools/ide/commandlet/ShellCommandlet.java b/cli/src/main/java/com/devonfw/tools/ide/commandlet/ShellCommandlet.java
index 7172588ba1..01e9305419 100644
--- a/cli/src/main/java/com/devonfw/tools/ide/commandlet/ShellCommandlet.java
+++ b/cli/src/main/java/com/devonfw/tools/ide/commandlet/ShellCommandlet.java
@@ -42,6 +42,8 @@ public final class ShellCommandlet extends Commandlet {
 
   private static final String EXIT_COMMAND = "exit";
 
+  private static final String IDE_PREFIX = "ide ";
+
   /**
    * The constructor.
    *
@@ -90,9 +92,9 @@ protected void doRun() {
         while (true) {
           try {
             String cwdPath = String.valueOf(context.getCwd());
-            String prompt = cwdPath + (cwdPath.length() <= 80 ? "" : System.lineSeparator()) + "$ ide ";
-            line = reader.readLine(prompt, rightPrompt, (MaskingCallback) null, null);
-            line = line.trim();
+            String prompt = cwdPath + (cwdPath.length() <= 80 ? "" : System.lineSeparator()) + "$ ";
+            line = reader.readLine(prompt, rightPrompt, (MaskingCallback) null, IDE_PREFIX);
+            line = normalizeLine(line);
             if (EXIT_COMMAND.equals(line)) {
               return;
             }
@@ -122,6 +124,25 @@ protected void doRun() {
     }
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Strips the pre-filled {@link #IDE_PREFIX} from the given raw input line, so that a command entered after leaving the prefix untouched (e.g.
+   * {@code ide status}) behaves the same as if only {@code status} was entered. This allows the user to remove the prefix via backspace to enter a
+   * non-IDEasy command (e.g. {@code cd}) without the misleading {@code ide} prefix.
+   *
+   * @param rawLine the raw line as read from the {@link LineReader}.
+   * @return the normalized line ready to be passed to {@link #runCommand(String)}.
+   */
+  static String normalizeLine(String rawLine) {
+
+    String line = rawLine.trim();
+    if (line.equals(IDE_PREFIX.trim())) {
+      return "";
+    } else if (line.startsWith(IDE_PREFIX)) {
+      return line.substring(IDE_PREFIX.length()).trim();
+    }
+    return line;
+  }
+
   /**
    * Converts String of arguments to array and runs the command
    *
diff --git a/cli/src/test/java/com/devonfw/tools/ide/commandlet/ShellCommandletTest.java b/cli/src/test/java/com/devonfw/tools/ide/commandlet/ShellCommandletTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..23eb896c8b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cli/src/test/java/com/devonfw/tools/ide/commandlet/ShellCommandletTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+package com.devonfw.tools.ide.commandlet;
+
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+
+import com.devonfw.tools.ide.context.AbstractIdeContextTest;
+
+/**
+ * Test of {@link ShellCommandlet}.
+ */
+class ShellCommandletTest extends AbstractIdeContextTest {
+
+  /**
+   * Test of {@link ShellCommandlet#normalizeLine(String)} when the pre-filled {@code ide } prefix is left untouched, so the command behaves the same as
+   * before this prefix was made part of the editable input line.
+   */
+  @Test
+  void testNormalizeLineKeepsPrefixedCommand() {
+
+    // act & assert
+    assertThat(ShellCommandlet.normalizeLine("ide status")).isEqualTo("status");
+    assertThat(ShellCommandlet.normalizeLine("ide install java")).isEqualTo("install java");
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Test of {@link ShellCommandlet#normalizeLine(String)} when the user removed the pre-filled {@code ide } prefix via backspace to enter a non-IDEasy
+   * command, e.g. {@code cd}, see <a href="https://github.com/devonfw/IDEasy/issues/821">#821</a> for reference.
+   */
+  @Test
+  void testNormalizeLineWithRemovedPrefix() {
+
+    // act & assert
+    assertThat(ShellCommandlet.normalizeLine("cd ..")).isEqualTo("cd ..");
+    assertThat(ShellCommandlet.normalizeLine("exit")).isEqualTo("exit");
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Test of {@link ShellCommandlet#normalizeLine(String)} when the user leaves an empty or unmodified prompt.
+   */
+  @Test
+  void testNormalizeLineWithEmptyInput() {
+
+    // act & assert
+    assertThat(ShellCommandlet.normalizeLine("ide")).isEmpty();
+    assertThat(ShellCommandlet.normalizeLine("ide ")).isEmpty();
+    assertThat(ShellCommandlet.normalizeLine("")).isEmpty();
+  }
+}