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Last active March 31, 2026 19:29
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GNU Screen Cheat Sheet

GNU Screen Cheat Sheet

Basics

Keys Description
ctrl-a, c create new window
ctrl-a, A set window name
ctrl-a, w show all window
ctrl-a, 1/2/3/… switch to window n
ctrl-a, " choose window
ctrl-a, ctrl-a switch between window
ctrl-a, d detach window
ctrl-a, ? help
ctrl-a, [ start copy, move cursor to the copy location, press ENTER, select the chars, press ENTER to copy the selected characters to the buffer
ctrl-a, ] paste from buffer

Starting screen

Command Description
screen -DR list of detached screens
screen -r PID attach detached screen session
screen -dmS MySession start a detached screen session
screen -r MySession attach screen session with name MySession

Advanced

Keys Description
ctrl-a, S create split screen
ctrl-a, TAB switch between split screens
ctrl-a, Q kill all regions but the current one
ctrl-a, X remove active window from split screen
ctrl-a, O logout active window (disable output)
ctrl-a, I login active window (enable output)
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