Screen Cheatsheet

screen_cheatsheet.markdown

Screen Quick Reference

Basic

Description	Command
Start a new session with session name	screen -S <session_name>
List running sessions / screens	screen -ls
Attach to a running session	screen -x
Attach to a running session with name	screen -r <session_name>
Detach a running session	screen -d <session_name>
Kill a running session	screen -X -S [session # you want to kill] kill
Accessing a screen that is already attached	screen -r -d [session name]

Escape Key

All screen commands are prefixed by an escape key, by default Ctrl-a (that's Control-a, sometimes written ^a). To send a literal Ctrl-a to the programs in screen, use Ctrl-a a. This is useful when when working with screen within screen. For example Ctrl-a a n will move screen to a new window on the screen within screen.

Getting Out

Description	Command
detach	Ctrl-a d
detach and logout (quick exit)	Ctrl-a D D
exit screen	Ctrl-a : quit or exit all of the programs in screen.
force-exit screen	Ctrl-a C-\ (not recommended)

Help

Description	Command
See help	Ctrl-a ? (Lists keybindings)

Window Management

Description	Command
Create new window	Ctrl-a c
Change to last-visited active window	Ctrl-a Ctrl-a (commonly used to flip-flop between two windows)
Change to window by number	Ctrl-a <number> (only for windows 0 to 9)
Change to window by number or name	Ctrl-a ' <number or title>
Change to next window in list	Ctrl-a n or Ctrl-a <space>
Change to previous window in list	Ctrl-a p or Ctrl-a <backspace>
See window list	Ctrl-a " (allows you to select a window to change to)
Show window bar	Ctrl-a w (if you don't have window bar)
Kill current window	Ctrl-a k (not recommended)
Kill all windows	Ctrl-a \ (not recommended)
Rename current window	Ctrl-a A

Split screen

Description	Command
Split display horizontally	Ctrl-a S
Split display vertically	`Ctrl-a
Jump to next display region	Ctrl-a tab
Remove current region	Ctrl-a X
Remove all regions but the current one	Ctrl-a Q

Misc

Description	Command
Redraw window	Ctrl-a C-l
Enter copy mode	Ctrl-a [ or Ctrl-a <esc> (also used for viewing scrollback buffer)
Paste	Ctrl-a ]
Monitor window for activity	Ctrl-a M
Monitor window for silence	Ctrl-a _
Enter digraph (for producing non-ASCII characters)	Ctrl-a Ctrl-v
Lock (password protect) display	Ctrl-a x
Enter screen command	Ctrl-a :
Enable logging in the screen session	Ctrl-a H

Scrolling

Description	Command
Enter scrolling mode	Ctrl-a esc
Scroll Up	Ctrl-u
Scroll Down	Ctrl-d
Exit scrolling mode	esc esc

This section is a contribution from: @mickpbarry

Scrolling:

Ctrl-a esc - Enter scrolling mode
Ctrl-u - scroll up
Ctrl-d - scroll down
esc esc - Exit scrolling mode

Can you add the following command to access a screen that is already attached?
screen -r -d [session name]

Can you add the following command to access a screen that is already attached?
screen -r -d [session name]

Done

Scrolling:

Ctrl-a esc - Enter scrolling mode
Ctrl-u - scroll up
Ctrl-d - scroll down
esc esc - Exit scrolling mode

Ty man, cheatsheet updated!!!

how to broadcast command to all splits

Send commands or input to a detached screen session

screenName=$(mktemp -u screen-session-XXXXXXXX)
screen -S "$screenName" -d -m # create a new screen session. dont attach
screenCommand="echo \"hello world\""
screen -S "$screenName" -X stuff "$screenCommand^M" # ^M = enter
sleep 0.1
screen -S "$screenName" -X stuff "read^M" # start process
sleep 0.1
screen -S "$screenName" -X stuff "^C" # ^C = Ctrl+C = kill process
screen -r "$screenName" # attach
# detach with Ctrl-a d
screen -S "$screenName" -X quit # kill the detached screen session

capture all *visible* output of a process (text screenshot)

screenName=$(mktemp -u screen-session-XXXXXXXX)
screen -S "$screenName" -d -m # create a new screen session. dont attach
captureCommand="cd $(mktemp -d); npm init -y; npm install cowsay" # example
screenLock=$(mktemp /tmp/screen-lock-XXXXXXXX)
screenCommand="$captureCommand; rm $screenLock;"
echo "start captureCommand"
screen -S "$screenName" -X stuff "$screenCommand^M" # ^M = enter
hardcopyFile=$(mktemp /tmp/hardcopy-XXXXXXXX)
enableWatcher=true
#enableWatcher=false
if $enableWatcher; then
  echo "start watcher"
  (
    # watcher: show live output while waiting
    while true
    #for watcherStep in $(seq 0 100) # debug
    do
      sleep 2
      #echo watcher step "$watcherStep"
      screen -S "$screenName" -X hardcopy -h "$hardcopyFile" # take screenshot. -h = include history
      #cat "$hardcopyFile"
      tail "$hardcopyFile"
    done
  ) &
  watcherPid=$!
  echo "watcherPid = $watcherPid"
fi
echo "wait for captureCommand ..."
while true
#for waiterStep in $(seq 0 100) # debug
do
  sleep 1
  #echo waiter step "$waiterStep"
  [ -e "$screenLock" ] || break
  done
echo "done captureCommand"
if $enableWatcher; then
  echo "stop watcher"
  kill $watcherPid
fi
screen -S "$screenName" -X hardcopy -h "$hardcopyFile" # take screenshot. -h = include history
echo "done hardcopy $hardcopyFile"

Rename Session:

ctrl+a :sessionname <desired session name>

*be sure to include the ':' before typing 'sessionname ...'

changed order of screens:
Open :windowlist (Ctrl-a ") move windows up , (comma) and down with . (dot)

0 user <- selected | pressed '.' | 0 log              |  pressed ',' |  0 user <- selected
1 log              |             | 1 user <- selected |              |  1 log 

Hey !

• | exit screen | Ctrl-a : quit or exit all of the programs in screen.|
  +| exit screen | Ctrl-a :quit to quit or exit all of the programs in screen.|

I had not realised that the quit needs to be typed.
Hopefully highlighting the quit would be helpful.

Here's the diff:
https://gist.github.com/sanyamsmulay/410cfe2123a4ff54acd7d22b65074ad0/revisions?source=1#diff-c1482fcf0d55b3ecb91770624a12c26c5e95d40bfa732406d2abb03b6a3e0e9dL24

Can you please add kill all screens:

killall screen

Instead of kill would be nice to see screen -X -S [session # you want to kill] quit.

Not a screen command per se, but you can add echo $STY which prints nothing if you're not in a screen session, but if you ARE in one, it will print the id of the screen session. It is useful when you're going back and forth between screen and shell and lose your bearings.