Linux copy and paste in terminal

Select/copy/paste in terminal using only the keyboard

I’m looking for a way to select, copy and paste the text in the terminal completely without the mouse. I’ve been using tmux until now, but I find its key combinations a bit complex for everyday use of copy & paste, and I’m now looking for alternatives. Do you guys have any suggestions? To be clear, this is not about piping to the clipboard but about selecting the text as it’s possible in e.g. tmux !

See my answer here: askubuntu.com/a/756348/295286. Ive made a function that will copy whatever text is in front to clipboard. That works for copying the commands. As for output, it has to be piped

Okay guys this has nothing to do with stdout- it’s about moving a cursor to some previous printed text Select it and Copy/paste it to the current line of input in the terminal:-D Sorry for not being more precise in description.

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5 Answers 5

I always use Ctrl + Shift + C and Ctrl + Shift + V to copy and paste in my (non tmux) terminal.
You can change these keyboard shortcuts in the keyboard preferences of your (non-tmux) terminal.

If however you want to keep using tmux you can also change the keyboard shortcuts of tmux by adding commands to ~/.tmux.conf . simply add the following in that file:

bind-key -n [shortcut. for example Ctrl+v is C-v] [what you want to do. for example 'new-window' etc] 

You don’t need the command prefix key to execute the commands in the ~/.tmux.conf file.

For more info about the things available for ~/.tmux.conf check this link

Very rudimentary copying and pasting can be done using this however for a bit more usefulness I recommend using a Vim-style copy/paste config.
Enabling a Vim-style of copy/paste can be done with this config file or another config file. These do however require the use of the prefix key.
Someone even made a tmux extension to simplify the copy/paste action to the system clipboard in tmux. It might be worth a look.

If you want an alternative for Tmux you might try dvtm ( sudo apt-get install dvtm dtach ). I haven’t used it myself but it looks like it has similar options.

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How to Copy and Paste Text, Files and Folders in Linux Terminal

Copying and pasting is one of the most used actions on a computer. While it is easy to do so with the Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V keyboard shortcuts, on the Linux terminal it is not so straightforward. You have several options to get the job done. Here is how you can copy and paste text, files and directories in Linux terminal.

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Copy and Paste Text

If you just want to copy a piece of text in the terminal, all you need to do is highlight it with your mouse, then press Ctrl + Shift + C to copy.

To paste it where the cursor is, use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Shift + V .

The Paste shortcut also applies when you copy a section of text from a Word document (or any other application) and want to paste it in the terminal. For example, you can copy a command from a web page in your browser and use the Ctrl + Shift + V shortcut to paste it in the terminal.

If for some reason these keyboard shortcuts don’t work, the terminal might not be properly configured for it. Look for options that allow you to customize keyboard shortcuts. These are instructions for the most popular terminals:

• Gnome Terminal – Click the hamburger menu and click “Preferences.” Navigate to “Shortcuts” and scroll to “Edit.” The options for “Copy” and “Paste” will appear there ready to be configured.
• Konsole – Go to “Settings” and then click on “Configure Keyboard Shortcuts.” Search for “Copy,” configure it to use the key combos mentioned previously, then do the same for “Paste.”

Most other terminals will lock you into the default universal combination for copying/pasting in the console without the ability to configure them.

Copy and Paste a Single File

Any time you want to copy a file or folder in the Linux command line, the above keyboard shortcut won’t work. You have to use the cp command. cp is shorthand for copy. The syntax is simple, too. Use cp followed by the file you want to copy and the destination where you want it moved.

That, of course, assumes that your file is in the same directory you’re working out of. You can specify both.

cp ~/Downloads/your-file.txt ~/Documents/

You also have the option of renaming your file while copying it. Specify the new name in the destination.

cp ~/Downloads/your-file.txt ~/Documents/new-name.txt

Copy and Paste a Folder and Its Contents

In order to copy a folder and its contents, you’re going to need to tell the cp command to copy recursively. That’s simple enough with the -r flag.

cp -r ~/Downloads/pictures-directory ~/Pictures/family-vacation-pics

All the rest of your syntax is exactly the same. The -r flag serves to tell cp that it’s working with a directory and should copy its contents.

If you want the paste action to overwrite existing files, you can add the -f flag:

cp -rf ~/Downloads/pictures-directory ~/Pictures/family-vacation-pics

Copy and Paste Multiple Files

You can also copy multiple files. The Linux command line lets you target multiple items at once with brackets <> . You can use them to list the names of each file to be copied separated by commas.

cp ~/Downloads/{file1.txt,file2.jpg,file3.odt} ~/Documents/

All three files of differing file types will be copied to the Documents directory.

Copy and Paste All Files of the Same Type

If you have a ton of files of the same type to copy, you can use the wildcard character * . The asterisk/wildcard tells the Linux command line to accept absolutely anything in that place. So, if you tell Linux to copy *.jpg , it’ll copy all JPG files, regardless of the name or whatever comes before the .jpg part.

If you want to use multiple file types, say JPG and PNG, you can use the brackets from before.

cp ~/Downloads/*.{jpg,png} ~/Pictures/

Make Copying More Interactive

As you may have noticed while following this guide, using cp does not give you any sort of confirmation or prompt after finishing what it’s doing unless it encounters an error. This may cause a bit of discomfort especially when you’re doing very large file copy operations on slower hardware that could take a long time to complete.

By attaching the -v flag to your command, you tell cp to give you its most detailed output on what it does. The -i flag provides confirmation prompts so that you have a chance to cancel certain operations like overwriting certain files.

cp -rvi ~/Downloads/*.jpg ~/Pictures/

Generally the -v and -i flags are available in a large range of commands that are common to Linux.

Rsync vs CP

If you need to do several copy operations that overwrite files (such as creating a backup that you will update once in awhile) for some reason, rsync might just put a smile on your face.

rsync is a little more advanced in that it goes into the minutiae of each file, does a full comparison of the data in both, and within the file itself, only overwrites the data that has changed. This is especially useful if the destination folder is in an SSD, as it saves write cycles and doesn’t needlessly degrade the drive’s health by overwriting entire files.

Move a File or Folder

If you came here looking to move a file from one place to another without making a duplicate, you can do that easily too, but moving a file requires the mv command. The syntax is very similar to cp.

mv ~/Downloads/your-file.txt ~/Documents/

mv ~/Downloads/your-file.txt ~/Documents/renamed.txt

There is one major difference, though. You don’t need the -r flag to move a whole folder.

mv ~/Downloads/downloaded-folder ~/Pictures/vacation-pics

Frequently Asked Questions

Is rsync better than cp?

Neither is better than the other generally. rsync will make full comparisons of files in both the source and destination folders, taking up some computing resources to save on bandwidth or write cycles. It’s great if you’re constantly updating a backup of a particular folder, but less than ideal if you’re just doing a single copy operation.

cp functions more as a Swiss Army knife that just wants to get the job done. If you have to overwrite something, cp does it for you. Because of its capability for interactivity, it’s also more beginner-friendly and gives you a bit more control over the copying process.

Why can’t I just use Ctrl+C to copy items from my terminal?

In Linux terminal applications, pressing Ctrl + C on your keyboard sends a SIGINT (interrupt) signal to the kernel. It’s a simple way of telling Linux to stop whatever is running on that particular terminal.

If you configure the “Copy” function in your terminal to respond to that key combination, you will encounter problems when copying a line of text from an executing command while it’s still in the process of doing something.

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Miguel has been a business growth and technology expert for more than a decade and has written software for even longer. From his little castle in Romania, he presents cold and analytical perspectives to things that affect the tech world.

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How to Copy and Paste in Linux and Ubuntu Terminal

When you switch to Linux from Microsoft Windows, especially if you are a programmer, there is a possibility that you might struggle to copy and paste commands or lines in the Linux Terminal window.

Even when I ported to Ubuntu from Windows a decade ago, I struggled to copy and paste lines in the Linux terminal. At that time, I thought I’m the only user struggling to copy and paste. However, while searching on the Internet, I realized that it is a global problem.

The reason is a keyboard shortcut and mouse keys to copy and paste lines in the Linux terminal windows are not the same as the ones we use on Windows.

The key bindings for copy and paste operations are dependent on the specific terminal emulator you are using. In Linux, by default CTRL + C key binding is used for sending an interrupt signal to the command running in foreground. Hence, the Linux terminals do not use the standard CTRL + C and CTRL + V for copy and paste operations.

Using Keyboard Shortcut

On Ubuntu and other Linux distributions, you have to use CTRL + SHIFT + C combination of keys to copy text from a terminal or a text editor.

To copy a text or line of code from the browser, you can use the generic CTRL + C combination or CTRL + SHIFT + C. Then, to paste this line of code into the terminal, you need to use CTRL + SHIFT + V keys.

You have to use these key combinations in Ubuntu to perform copy and paste operations, especially in the Linux Terminal.

Using Mouse Right-Click Context Menu

The other way to copy and paste in the Linux terminal is to use Mouse right key context menu.

To copy the text or line in terminal, select the text then right click and select copy. Now, to paste the selected text, right-click and select paste from context menu.

Using Mouse Middle Key

This method is not so much popular among Linux users but still effective on some Linux distributions. In this method, you need to select the text you want to copy and paste. Then, press the scrolling wheel button, which is the middle button on the mouse, to paste the selected text.

This is how you can copy and paste text in Linux terminal. It is simple yet confusing for new Linux users, especially those switching to Linux from Windows or Mac. The mentioned methods may or may not work in various Linux distributions for the reason mentioned earlier in this article.

Conclusion

The copy and paste commands in the Linux and Ubuntu Terminals are different from Microsoft Windows and Mac. There are three methods to copy and paste in the Linux and Ubuntu Terminal. These methods are the use of the specific keyboard shortcuts, the use of the mouse right-click menu, and the use of the mouse middle key. When you implement the methods provided, you can successfully copy and paste in the Linux and Ubuntu Terminals. I hope this article helped you efficiently use the copy and paste command. To learn more, check out the other articles on LinuxHint.com.

About the author

Swapnil Tirthakar

A Software Engineer who loves football and passionate about traveling. I often spend my free time playing with gadgets and exploring new possibilities in tech world. I am Linux enthusiast and have about 6 years of experience in web development. I have good command on Python, Java, SQL and system security.

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