Understanding Copy Mode Copy mode allows you to navigate through a pane’s history, search for text, and copy content to paste buffers. It’s similar to a pager like less or a text editor’s visual mode.
Copy mode provides access to the scrollback history, which by default stores 2000 lines. You can adjust this with the history-limit option.
Entering Copy Mode Basic Entry C-b [ # Enter copy mode C-b PageUp # Enter copy mode and scroll up one page
From the command line:
tmux copy-mode # Enter and scroll up one page tmux copy-mode -u # Enter and scroll down one page tmux copy-mode -d # Hide position indicator tmux copy-mode -H # Exit automatically when scrolling to bottom tmux copy-mode -e
Exit Copy Mode Press q (vi mode) or Escape (emacs mode) to exit copy mode.
Key Binding Modes tmux supports two key binding sets for copy mode: vi and emacs . Set your preference with:
# Use vi key bindings (default if VISUAL or EDITOR contains 'vi') set-option -w mode-keys vi # Use emacs key bindings set-option -w mode-keys emacs
Navigation in Copy Mode Vi Key Bindings Basic Movement
Word Movement
Scrolling
Jumping
Key Action hMove cursor left jMove cursor down kMove cursor up lMove cursor right 0Move to start of line $Move to end of line ^Move to first non-whitespace character
Key Action wMove to next word bMove to previous word eMove to end of next word WMove to next space-separated word BMove to previous space-separated word EMove to end of next space-separated word
Key Action C-fPage down C-bPage up C-dHalf page down C-uHalf page up C-eScroll down C-yScroll up
Key Action gGo to top of history GGo to bottom of history :Prompt for line number HMove to top of screen MMove to middle of screen LMove to bottom of screen
Emacs Key Bindings Basic Movement
Word Movement
Scrolling
Jumping
Key Action LeftMove cursor left DownMove cursor down UpMove cursor up RightMove cursor right C-aMove to start of line C-eMove to end of line M-mMove to first non-whitespace
Key Action M-fMove to end of next word M-bMove to previous word
Key Action PageDownPage down PageUpPage up M-DownHalf page down M-UpHalf page up C-DownScroll down C-UpScroll up
Key Action M-<Go to top of history M->Go to bottom of history gPrompt for line number M-RMove to top of screen M-rMove to middle of screen
Searching in Copy Mode Vi Mode Searching /pattern # Search forward for pattern ? pattern # Search backward for pattern n # Repeat last search forward N # Repeat last search backward
Emacs Mode Searching C-s # Incremental search forward C-r # Incremental search backward n # Repeat last search forward N # Repeat last search backward
Search Commands From the tmux command prompt or key bindings:
# Search forward send-keys -X search-forward "error" # Search backward send-keys -X search-backward "warning" # Search for plain text (not regex) send-keys -X search-forward-text "literal text" # Incremental search (with command-prompt -i) command-prompt -i -p "Search:" \ 'send-keys -X search-forward-incremental "%%%"'
Advanced Searching Searches use regular expressions by default. For literal string matching, use the -text variants.
Selecting and Copying Text Vi Mode Selection
Space # Begin selection (character mode) v # Toggle rectangle selection V # Select entire line
Move the cursor with navigation keys to extend the selection.
o # Toggle which end of selection the cursor is at
Enter # Copy selection and exit copy mode A # Append to top buffer and exit Emacs Mode Selection
C-Space # Begin selection R # Toggle rectangle selection
Move with navigation keys to extend selection.
M-w # Copy selection and exit copy mode C-g # Clear selection without copying Copy Commands Explicit copy commands for use with send-keys -X:
# Copy selection send-keys -X copy-selection send-keys -X copy-selection-no-clear # Don't clear selection send-keys -X copy-selection-and-cancel # Copy and exit # Copy and pipe to command send-keys -X copy-pipe "xclip -selection clipboard" send-keys -X copy-pipe-and-cancel "pbcopy" # Copy without selection send-keys -X copy-line # Current line send-keys -X copy-end-of-line # From cursor to end # Named buffers send-keys -X copy-selection mybuffer # Copy to named buffer
Copy Flags # -C: Don't set terminal clipboard # -P: Don't create paste buffer # Copy to buffer only, not clipboard send-keys -X copy-selection-and-cancel -C # Copy to clipboard only, not buffer send-keys -X copy-selection-and-cancel -P
Selection Modes Copy mode supports different selection modes:
Character Selection (Default) Select character by character.
# Vi mode: Space to begin # Emacs mode: C-Space to begin
Line Selection Select entire lines at a time.
# Vi mode: V send-keys -X select-line
Rectangle Selection Select a rectangular block of text.
# Vi mode: v to toggle # Emacs mode: R to toggle send-keys -X rectangle-on send-keys -X rectangle-off send-keys -X rectangle-toggle
Word Selection Select word under cursor.
Jumping in Copy Mode Quickly move within a line:
Vi Mode Jumps f <char> # Jump forward to next occurrence of <char> F <char> # Jump backward to previous occurrence of <char> t <char> # Jump forward to before next <char> T <char> # Jump backward to after previous <char> ; # Repeat last jump , # Repeat last jump in reverse direction
Example:
fa # Jump to next 'a' ; # Jump to next 'a' again , # Jump back to previous 'a'
Jump Commands send-keys -X jump-forward "x" send-keys -X jump-backward "x" send-keys -X jump-to-forward "x" send-keys -X jump-to-backward "x" send-keys -X jump-again send-keys -X jump-reverse
Marks and Position Setting Marks # Vi mode: X # Emacs mode: X send-keys -X set-mark # Jump to mark M-x # Both vi and emacs send-keys -X jump-to-mark
Position Indicator The position indicator shows:
Current cursor position
Total lines in history
Search match count (when searching)
# Toggle position indicator visibility P # Both vi and emacs mode send-keys -X toggle-position
Advanced Copy Mode Features # Scroll to make current line top/middle/bottom z # Vi mode: middle send-keys -X scroll-middle send-keys -X scroll-top send-keys -X scroll-bottom
History Navigation # Move between shell prompts (requires shell support) send-keys -X next-prompt send-keys -X previous-prompt # Move to command output start send-keys -X next-prompt -o
Prompt navigation requires your shell to emit OSC 133 escape sequences. Supported by some shells with proper configuration.
Matching Brackets # Vi mode: % # Emacs mode: M-C-f (forward), M-C-b (backward) send-keys -X next-matching-bracket send-keys -X previous-matching-bracket
Paragraph Navigation # Vi mode: { and } # Emacs mode: M-{ and M-} send-keys -X previous-paragraph send-keys -X next-paragraph
Paste Buffers Copied text is stored in paste buffers.
Viewing Buffers C-b # # List all paste buffers C-b = # Choose buffer interactively tmux list-buffers tmux lsb
Pasting Buffers C-b ] # Paste most recent buffer tmux paste-buffer tmux paste-buffer -b buffer0 # Paste specific buffer # With separator tmux paste-buffer -s ',' # Use comma as separator tmux paste-buffer -r # No replacement (keep LF) # With bracketed paste tmux paste-buffer -p
Managing Buffers # Delete buffer tmux delete-buffer -b buffer0 # Save buffer to file tmux save-buffer ~/output.txt tmux save-buffer -b buffer2 ~/backup.txt # Load file into buffer tmux load-buffer ~/input.txt tmux load-buffer -b mybuffer ~/data.txt # Set buffer from string tmux set-buffer "some text" tmux set-buffer -b mybuffer "more text" # Append to buffer tmux set-buffer -a "appended text"
Mouse Support in Copy Mode When mouse mode is enabled:
# Enable mouse set-option -g mouse on
Mouse actions in copy mode:
Click and drag - Select textDouble-click - Select wordTriple-click - Select lineMouseDrag1 - Begin selectionMouseDragEnd1 - Copy selection and exitWheelUp/Down - Scroll history
Mouse Copy Configuration # Copy on mouse drag end bind-key -T copy-mode-vi MouseDragEnd1Pane \ send-keys -X copy-pipe-and-cancel "xclip -selection clipboard" bind-key -T copy-mode-emacs MouseDragEnd1Pane \ send-keys -X copy-pipe-and-cancel "pbcopy" # Don't exit on mouse drag end bind-key -T copy-mode-vi MouseDragEnd1Pane \ send-keys -X copy-pipe "xclip -selection clipboard"
Customizing Copy Mode Custom Key Bindings # Vi mode key bindings bind-key -T copy-mode-vi 'v' send-keys -X begin-selection bind-key -T copy-mode-vi 'y' send-keys -X copy-selection-and-cancel bind-key -T copy-mode-vi 'r' send-keys -X rectangle-toggle # Emacs mode key bindings bind-key -T copy-mode 'v' send-keys -X begin-selection bind-key -T copy-mode 'y' send-keys -X copy-selection-and-cancel
Copy to System Clipboard Linux (X11)
macOS
Wayland
# Vi mode bind-key -T copy-mode-vi y send-keys -X copy-pipe-and-cancel \ 'xclip -in -selection clipboard' # Emacs mode bind-key -T copy-mode M-w send-keys -X copy-pipe-and-cancel \ 'xclip -in -selection clipboard'
# Vi mode bind-key -T copy-mode-vi y send-keys -X copy-pipe-and-cancel \ 'pbcopy' # Emacs mode bind-key -T copy-mode M-w send-keys -X copy-pipe-and-cancel \ 'pbcopy'
# Vi mode bind-key -T copy-mode-vi y send-keys -X copy-pipe-and-cancel \ 'wl-copy' # Emacs mode bind-key -T copy-mode M-w send-keys -X copy-pipe-and-cancel \ 'wl-copy'
Word Separators Customize what characters are considered word boundaries:
# Default separators set-option -g word-separators " -_@" # Only spaces set-option -g word-separators " " # No separators (treat everything as words) set-option -g word-separators ""
Copy Mode Commands Reference All Copy Mode Commands Complete list of commands for send-keys -X:
cursor-down cursor-left cursor-right cursor-up cursor-centre-vertical cursor-centre-horizontal start-of-line end-of-line back-to-indentation next-word next-word-end next-space next-space-end previous-word previous-space top-line middle-line bottom-line history-top history-bottom
search-forward < tex t > search-backward < tex t > search-forward-text < tex t > search-backward-text < tex t > search-forward-incremental < tex t > search-backward-incremental < tex t > search-again search-reverse
begin-selection clear-selection stop-selection select-line select-word rectangle-on rectangle-off rectangle-toggle other-end
copy-selection copy-selection-and-cancel copy-selection-no-clear append-selection append-selection-and-cancel copy-line copy-line-and-cancel copy-end-of-line copy-end-of-line-and-cancel copy-pipe < comman d > copy-pipe-and-cancel < comman d > copy-pipe-no-clear < comman d >
cancel goto-line < lin e > jump-forward < cha r > jump-backward < cha r > jump-to-forward < cha r > jump-to-backward < cha r > jump-again jump-reverse jump-to-mark set-mark next-matching-bracket previous-matching-bracket next-paragraph previous-paragraph next-prompt previous-prompt refresh-from-pane toggle-position
Practical Examples Quick Clipboard Integration # Enter copy mode, select text, copy to clipboard set-option -g mouse on set-option -w mode-keys vi bind-key -T copy-mode-vi v send-keys -X begin-selection bind-key -T copy-mode-vi y send-keys -X copy-pipe-and-cancel 'xclip -selection clipboard' bind-key -T copy-mode-vi MouseDragEnd1Pane send-keys -X copy-pipe-and-cancel 'xclip -selection clipboard' # Paste from clipboard bind-key C-v run "xclip -selection clipboard -o | tmux load-buffer - ; tmux paste-buffer"
Search and Copy Workflow # 1. Enter copy mode C-b [ # 2. Search for text /error # 3. Navigate to desired match n # Next match N # Previous match # 4. Begin selection Space # 5. Extend selection l l l # Move right # 6. Copy Enter # 7. Paste elsewhere C-b ]
Copy Command Output # Run command and copy output bind-key C-c run-shell \ 'tmux capture-pane -p | tail -n 20 | xclip -selection clipboard' # Copy entire pane history bind-key C-h run-shell \ 'tmux capture-pane -pS -32768 | xclip -selection clipboard'
Incremental Search Setup # Vi mode incremental search bind-key -T copy-mode-vi / command-prompt -i -p "Search:" \ 'send-keys -X search-forward-incremental "%%%"' bind-key -T copy-mode-vi ? command-prompt -i -p "Search:" \ 'send-keys -X search-backward-incremental "%%%"'