tmux Copy Mode, Scrollback, and Clipboard

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tmux copy-mode commands, scrollback capture, search, buffers, and clipboard configuration patterns.

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Copy mode and scrolling

Navigate history, search, and select text.

Enter copy mode

Open scrollback for the active pane.

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bashANYtmuxcopy-mode

bash

tmux copy-mode

Equivalent to using the copy-mode key binding.

Scroll up half a page

Send a copy-mode command to the current pane.

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bashANYtmuxcopy-modesend-keys

bash

tmux send-keys -X halfpage-up

Useful for scripts or custom key bindings.

Search backward in history

Prompt for a reverse search term.

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bashANYtmuxsearchhistory

bash

tmux command-prompt -p "search" "send-keys -X search-backward-incremental "%%""

Builds an interactive copy-mode search prompt.

Capture visible history

Dump pane contents into a paste buffer.

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bashANYtmuxcapture-panehistory

bash

tmux capture-pane -pS -100

Prints the last 100 lines to stdout with `-p`.

Write the top buffer to a file

Persist copied text to disk.

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bashANYtmuxsave-bufferclipboard

bash

tmux save-buffer ~/tmux-buffer.txt

Useful after copying logs or diagnostics.

Clipboard workflows

Use buffers and system clipboard integrations.

List paste buffers

Show all saved buffers.

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bashANYtmuxbuffers

bash

tmux list-buffers

Helpful if you copy frequently.

Show the current buffer

Print the active buffer contents.

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bashANYtmuxbuffer

bash

tmux show-buffer

Inspect the current copied text.

Paste the current buffer

Insert copied text into the active pane.

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bashANYtmuxpaste-buffer

bash

tmux paste-buffer

Useful in scripts and macros.

Enable clipboard integration

Tell tmux to use the terminal clipboard when supported.

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tmuxANYtmuxclipboardconfig

tmux

set -g set-clipboard on

This can help integrate tmux copying with the system clipboard in supporting terminals.

Enable vi-style keys in copy mode

Use familiar vi navigation in copy mode.

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tmuxANYtmuxvicopy-mode

tmux

set -g mode-keys vi

Popular among vim users.

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