CheatPress

xclip X11 clipboard from shell

Version 0.13 · source

xclip, Postcard, light preview Light · Postcard 102 × 152 mm · PDF xclip, Postcard, dark preview Dark · Postcard 102 × 152 mm · PDF xclip, Postcard, ink saver preview Ink saver · Postcard 102 × 152 mm · PDF
xclip, A5, light preview Light · A5 148 × 210 mm · PDF xclip, A5, dark preview Dark · A5 148 × 210 mm · PDF xclip, A5, ink saver preview Ink saver · A5 148 × 210 mm · PDF
xclip, A4, light preview Light · A4 210 × 297 mm · PDF xclip, A4, dark preview Dark · A4 210 × 297 mm · PDF xclip, A4, ink saver preview Ink saver · A4 210 × 297 mm · PDF
xclip, A4 landscape, light preview Light · A4 landscape 297 × 210 mm · PDF xclip, A4 landscape, dark preview Dark · A4 landscape 297 × 210 mm · PDF xclip, A4 landscape, ink saver preview Ink saver · A4 landscape 297 × 210 mm · PDF
xclip, A3, light preview Light · A3 297 × 420 mm · PDF xclip, A3, dark preview Dark · A3 297 × 420 mm · PDF xclip, A3, ink saver preview Ink saver · A3 297 × 420 mm · PDF
xclip, A3 landscape, light preview Light · A3 landscape 420 × 297 mm · PDF xclip, A3 landscape, dark preview Dark · A3 landscape 420 × 297 mm · PDF xclip, A3 landscape, ink saver preview Ink saver · A3 landscape 420 × 297 mm · PDF
xclip, Letter, light preview Light · Letter 8.5 × 11 in · PDF xclip, Letter, dark preview Dark · Letter 8.5 × 11 in · PDF xclip, Letter, ink saver preview Ink saver · Letter 8.5 × 11 in · PDF
xclip, Tabloid, light preview Light · Tabloid 11 × 17 in · PDF xclip, Tabloid, dark preview Dark · Tabloid 11 × 17 in · PDF xclip, Tabloid, ink saver preview Ink saver · Tabloid 11 × 17 in · PDF

Start here

<cmd> | xclip -sel clip
Copy output to clipboard
xclip -sel clip <file>
Copy a file's text
xclip -o -sel clip
Paste clipboard to stdout
xclip -o
Print highlighted text
xclip -o | xclip -sel clip
Primary to clipboard
xclip -o -sel clip > <file>
Save clipboard to file
xclip -sel clip -t image/png -i <file>
Copy an image
xclip -o -t TARGETS -sel clip
List formats on offer

Concepts

  1. stdin / file your data
  2. X selection held by xclip
  3. Application requests a target

Copy

<cmd> | xclip
Copy output to PRIMARY
<cmd> | xclip -sel clip
Copy output to clipboard
xclip -sel clip <file>
Copy file contents to clipboard
xclip -i
Read stdin into selection (default mode)
xclip -r -sel clip
Drop the trailing newline
Handy for pwd or a path, so pasting into a shell does not run it.
xclip -f -sel clip
Copy and pass stdin through to stdout
Use mid-pipeline: cmd | xclip -f -sel clip | next
xclip -sel clip -l 1
Exit after one paste
xclip -l <n> -verbose <file>
Serve n pastes, log each request
xclip -sensitive -sel clip
Clear the selection after one paste
Implemented as -wait 50; raise -wait if pasting then fails.
xclip -wait <ms> -sel clip
Clear selection <ms> after first paste

Paste

xclip -o
Print PRIMARY
xclip -o -sel clip
Print clipboard
xclip -o -sel clip > <file>
Save clipboard to a file
xclip -o -sel sec
Print SECONDARY
xclip -o | xclip -sel clip
Copy PRIMARY to clipboard
xclip -o -sel clip | xclip
Copy clipboard to PRIMARY
$(xclip -o -sel clip)
Use clipboard in a command
xclip -o -sel clip | wc -w
Count words in clipboard

Selections & Display

-sel primary / -sel p
Highlighted text (default)
-sel clipboard / -sel c
Ctrl+C clipboard
-sel secondary / -sel s
Rarely used third selection
-d <host:0> / -display <host:0>
Pick the X display
Defaults to $DISPLAY; needed over ssh without -X.
-quiet
Stay in the foreground, show messages
-silent
Fork to background (default)
-verbose
Log activity and paste requests
-noutf8
Legacy non-UTF-8 text handling
-version
Show installed version
-h / -help
Short usage summary

Targets & Images

xclip -o -t TARGETS -sel clip
List formats currently offered
xclip -sel clip -t <type> -i <file>
Copy as a given MIME type
xclip -sel clip -t image/png -i <file>
Copy an image to clipboard
xclip -o -sel clip -t image/png > <file>
Save a clipboard image
xclip -sel clip -t text/html <file>
Offer a file as HTML
xclip -t text/html -alt-text "<text>"
Plain-text fallback beside HTML
xclip -o -sel clip -t text/uri-list
Read copied file paths

File Transfer

xclip-copyfile <file>
Copy a file or tree into the clipboard
xclip-copyfile -p <file>
Same, keeping the path
xclip-cutfile <file>
Mark a file for moving
xclip-pastefile
Paste copied files to current dir

Recipes

Copy a public SSH key
xclip -sel clip < ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub# paste into the web form with Ctrl+V
Copy your working directory
pwd | xclip -r -sel clip
Screenshot into clipboard
import png:- | xclip -sel clip -t image/png# then Ctrl+V into chat or editor
Fix clipboard text and put it back
xclip -o -sel clip | tr -d '\r' | xclip -sel clip# transform: paste, filter, copy
Pick a line with fzf and copy it
history | fzf | cut -c8- | xclip -r -sel clip