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I know how to start a screen, and how to list different screens:

screen -ls

or to attach:

There are screens on:
        2477.pts-0.server1      (Detached)
        2522.pts-0.server1      (Detached)
2 Sockets in /var/run/screen/S-root.

$ screen -r 2477.pts-0.server1

But what is the key combination to detach from a screen session and keep it running?

muru
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maniat1k
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5 Answers5

284

Ctrl+a followed by d. Note the lower case. The [screen manpage] has a long list of these shortcuts under "DEFAULT KEY BINDINGS".

Max Bileschi
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Soren
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    I think that you mean Ctrl-A d (lowercase). The upper case (D) is 'powerdetach'. – Arcege Apr 25 '12 at 00:23
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    yes, as @Arcege proposes, detaches from current screen session. Which worked for me. seemed to wait something else and received "detach aborted" message as soon as I pressed any other Key. If pressed you're detached and logout from ssh. – theme Jul 07 '17 at 10:51
75

To list your sessions, run:

screen -list

You can run any command under screen command like:

screen myscript.sh

Then press Ctrl+a (release) and then d to detach the process/screen (so it'll continue to run).

To resume detached process, use:

screen -r

If you have multiple, then add the session number after that.

You can also re-attach to already Attached screen by screen -x. Useful to investigate why it's attached, share terminal with someone or to watch/check somebody what they're doing.

For more help, either run man screen or within the screen press Ctrl+a, release and then hit ? to see more shortcuts.

See also:

kenorb
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12

You'll probably see it listed like this in the screen man page:

^a - d

It's important the note the case of the letters as uppercase and lowercase will do different functions.

rwc
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7

Create screen using this command: screen -S testscreen

List the screen using this command: screen -ls

Attache the screen using this command: screen -r testscreen

Attache the multipurpose screen using this command (if already others are attached with the same screen): screen -x testscreen

Detach the screen using this command: screen -X detach OR Ctrl+a+d

Kill the screen using this command: screen -XS testscreen kill

Terminate the attached screen using: Ctrl+d

Brijesh Sondarva
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5

Some systems remove certain bindings by default. So it is best to look at the online keybinding page: Ctrl-a ?. You can also use the command prompt in screen: Ctrl-a :detach. Myself, I generally remove the key bindings for 'detach' and 'powerdetach', except on remote systems.

Arcege
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