copy and paste doesn't work in terminal

Question

When trying to copy and paste from the terminal, it doesn't work. I can't use Ctrl + C to copy, and when I select the text with the mouse and right click, no option to copy or cut appears.

I installed Ubuntu 12.04 for the first time a few days ago and maybe it is missing something. Copy and paste does work in LibreOffice.

The shortcut for copying in the terminal is usually Ctrl-Shift-C, since Ctrl-C usually means "kill current program". Similarly for paste. — muru, Nov 07 '14 at 07:08

score 35 · Answer 1 · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:24

35

I hope these shortcuts are useful

Ctrl+Shift+C : copy
Ctrl+Shift+V : paste
Shift+Insert : paste (In some cases, I can't paste data stored in clipboard from Intellij or Netbeans IDE)
Use this tool for copying to clipboard: xclip

edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:24

Community

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answered Nov 07 '14 at 07:39

Lee Tuan

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@muru doesn't work. terminal thinks ctrl + shift + C is a command. right buttons options don't appear at all. i am dual booting a chromebox with crouton ubuntu 12.4. – Syd Nov 07 '14 at 08:40

score 10 · Answer 2 · edited Jun 15 '16 at 09:07

10

Select the text you want to copy, then go to the place where you want to copy to and press the scroll wheel of the mouse.

This method doesn't require any keyboard shortcut.

edited Jun 15 '16 at 09:07

MadMike

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answered Jun 15 '16 at 08:37

RD017

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@MadMike, thanks for editing my answer. I guess I should have put my answer correctly. :) – RD017 Jun 15 '16 at 18:38
You're welcome. Please don't take it as a criticism. We simply try to help each other. Each one with the time and ability we have. – MadMike Jun 15 '16 at 18:42
Sure. No problem. – RD017 Jun 15 '16 at 18:43

score 8 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 30 '19 at 20:10

8

You can change the defaults in the terminal:

In the terminal window menu you can go to "Edit" --> "Preferences", then the "Shortcuts" tab and select "Copy" and change it to "Ctrl+C", then select "Paste" and change it to "Ctrl+V" (you don't need to type it, just select the box and hit Ctrl and then C).

(this works in Ubuntu 18, I'm not sure about previous versions)

answered Apr 30 '19 at 20:10

Robert Corvus

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Is there any way to swap these shortcuts? On OSX, once I've made "Ctrl+C" copy, I can map "Shift+Ctrl+C" to the kill command, but I'm not seeing that option in Ubuntu 18.04. – Ed Lucas Feb 08 '21 at 23:57

score 8 · Answer 4 · edited Nov 07 '14 at 08:08

8

You can use Ctrl + Shift + X for cutting the content and Ctrl + Shift + V for pasting.

edited Nov 07 '14 at 08:08

muru

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answered Nov 07 '14 at 07:59

BDRSuite

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score 1 · Answer 5 · answered Jan 20 '21 at 18:37

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I earlier had this problem in my Ubuntu terminal on windows. Simple right click of the mouse on the desired postion in terminal will do the trick.

answered Jan 20 '21 at 18:37

DrusePstrago

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score 1 · Answer 6 · answered Jan 24 '22 at 19:56

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Select the text which you want to copy and then do right click two times it will paste your text.

answered Jan 24 '22 at 19:56

Shyamji Tiwari

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copy and paste doesn't work in terminal

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