Screen Cheatsheet
Start and Exit
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
screen
|
Start a new screen session |
screen -S work |
Start session named work |
screen -ls |
List running sessions |
screen -X -S work quit |
Stop session work |
exit |
Exit current shell/window |
Attach and Detach
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
screen -r |
Reattach to the only detached session |
screen -r work |
Reattach to named session |
screen -x work |
Attach to an already-attached session |
screen -d -r work |
Detach elsewhere and reattach here |
Ctrl+a d |
Detach current session |
Prefix and Help
Default prefix is Ctrl+a.
| Key | Description |
|---|---|
Ctrl+a |
Enter screen command mode |
Ctrl+a ? |
Show key bindings help |
Ctrl+a : |
Open command prompt |
Ctrl+a " |
Show window list |
Windows
| Key / Command | Description |
|---|---|
Ctrl+a c |
Create a new window |
Ctrl+a n |
Next window |
Ctrl+a p |
Previous window |
Ctrl+a Ctrl+a |
Switch to last window |
Ctrl+a 0-9 |
Switch to window by number |
Ctrl+a A |
Rename current window |
Ctrl+a k |
Kill current window |
Navigation and Layout
| Key | Description |
|---|---|
Ctrl+a w |
List windows in status line |
Ctrl+a ' |
Prompt for window number |
Ctrl+a S |
Split display horizontally |
Ctrl+a | |
Split display vertically |
Ctrl+a Tab |
Move between split regions |
Ctrl+a X |
Remove current region |
Ctrl+a Q |
Remove all regions except current |
Copy and Scrollback
| Key | Description |
|---|---|
Ctrl+a [ |
Enter copy/scrollback mode |
Space |
Start selection (in copy mode) |
Enter |
Copy selection (in copy mode) |
Ctrl+a ] |
Paste copied text |
Ctrl+a H |
Toggle logging to file |
Session Management
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
screen -wipe |
Clean dead sessions |
Ctrl+a x |
Lock session |
screen -S work -X stuff 'ls^M' |
Send command to session (^M = Enter) |
screen -S work -p 0 -X hardcopy |
Save current window output |
Useful Patterns
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
screen -dmS job bash -lc 'long-command' |
Start detached background job |
screen -D -R |
Reattach if possible, otherwise create |
screen -r work -p 2 |
Attach directly to window 2 |
screen -L |
Start session with logging enabled |
Configuration
| File / Command | Description |
|---|---|
~/.screenrc |
User configuration file |
defscrollback 10000 |
Increase scrollback history |
hardstatus on |
Enable status line |
startup_message off |
Disable startup message |
AI Assistant
