| 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] |
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.
| 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) |
| Description |
Command |
| See help |
Ctrl-a ? (Lists keybindings) |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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
Not a screen command per se, but you can add
echo $STYwhich 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.