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What is the command line equivalent of copying a file to clipboard?

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81

24

What is the command line equivalent to pressing CTRL+C over a file in the file manager so that the file (not the filename) is copied to the clipboard?

A situation where this can be useful and fast, for example, is when you want to copy to the clipboard a file from the directory you are in the terminal to quickly paste the file in the directory you are in the file manager. There are others.

command-line files clipboard

share|improve this question

edited 2 mins ago

Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy

74.4k9155325

asked Nov 1 '12 at 7:46

StrapakowskyStrapakowsky

3,839112638

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  This really doesn't look like a duplicate to me. One answer is about general copy paste generally, and this one is about copy a file specific subject
  
  – Ulysse BN
  Aug 25 '17 at 19:07
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  I second Ulysse
  
  – Yasser Hussain
  Sep 12 '17 at 7:19
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

81

24

What is the command line equivalent to pressing CTRL+C over a file in the file manager so that the file (not the filename) is copied to the clipboard?

A situation where this can be useful and fast, for example, is when you want to copy to the clipboard a file from the directory you are in the terminal to quickly paste the file in the directory you are in the file manager. There are others.

command-line files clipboard

share|improve this question

edited 2 mins ago

Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy

74.4k9155325

asked Nov 1 '12 at 7:46

StrapakowskyStrapakowsky

3,839112638

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  This really doesn't look like a duplicate to me. One answer is about general copy paste generally, and this one is about copy a file specific subject
  
  – Ulysse BN
  Aug 25 '17 at 19:07
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  I second Ulysse
  
  – Yasser Hussain
  Sep 12 '17 at 7:19
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

What is the command line equivalent to pressing CTRL+C over a file in the file manager so that the file (not the filename) is copied to the clipboard?

A situation where this can be useful and fast, for example, is when you want to copy to the clipboard a file from the directory you are in the terminal to quickly paste the file in the directory you are in the file manager. There are others.

command-line files clipboard

share|improve this question

edited 2 mins ago

Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy

74.4k9155325

asked Nov 1 '12 at 7:46

StrapakowskyStrapakowsky

3,839112638

share|improve this question

edited 2 mins ago

Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy

74.4k9155325

asked Nov 1 '12 at 7:46

StrapakowskyStrapakowsky

3,839112638

share|improve this question

edited 2 mins ago

Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy

74.4k9155325

asked Nov 1 '12 at 7:46

StrapakowskyStrapakowsky

3,839112638

edited 2 mins ago

Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy

74.4k9155325

edited 2 mins ago

Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy

74.4k9155325

asked Nov 1 '12 at 7:46

StrapakowskyStrapakowsky

3,839112638

asked Nov 1 '12 at 7:46

StrapakowskyStrapakowsky

3,839112638

2 Answers
2

active

oldest

votes

97

When you press Ctrl-C over a file in the file manager, the file's contents IS NOT copied to the clipboard. A simple test: select a file in file manager, press Ctrl-C, open a text editor, press Ctrl-V. The result is not file's contents but its full path.

In reality the situation is a bit more complicated because you can't do the opposite - copy a list of filenames from a text editor and paste them into file manager.

To copy some data from command line to X11 clipboard you can use xclip command, which can be installed with

sudo apt-get install xclip

to copy contents of a file or output of some command to clipboard use

cat ./myfile.txt|xclip -i

the text can be then pasted somewhere using middle mouse button (this is called "primary selection buffer").

If you want to copy data to the "clipboard" selection, so it can be pasted into an application with Ctrl-V, you can do

cat ./myfile.txt|xclip -i -selection clipboard

To be able to copy files from the command line and paste them in a file manager, you need to specify a correct "target atom" so the file manager recognizes the data in the clipboard, and also provide the data in correct format - luckily, in case of copying files in a file manager it's just a list of absolute filenames, each on a new line, something which is easy to generate using find command:

find $PWD -name "*.pdf"| xclip -i -selection clipboard -t text/uri-list

(at least this works for me in KDE). Now you can wrap into a small script which you can call, say, cb:

#!/bin/sh
xclip -i -selection clipboard -t text/uri-list

then you put it in ~/bin, set executable bit on it and use it like this:

find $PWD -name "*.txt"| cb

Nice, isn't it?

share|improve this answer

edited Nov 1 '12 at 22:51

answered Nov 1 '12 at 8:29

SergeySergey

36.6k98799

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Nice, but only works for text and it's not the file really, just the text. Suppose you have a jpg file?
  
  – Strapakowsky
  Nov 1 '12 at 9:33
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Yes, I knew this effect that if you copy a file from the file manager if you paste it in another folder you paste the file, but if you paste in a text editor you get the file path.
  
  – Strapakowsky
  Nov 1 '12 at 9:34
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  In case of binary files (jpg etc.) everything is much more complicated. Here I asked a question inspired by yours - unix.stackexchange.com/questions/53503/… - have a read about "target atoms" and stuff
  
  – Sergey
  Nov 1 '12 at 9:48
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  I heard that xclip also supports file copying with xclip-copyfile and xclip-pastefile. I haven't really used it though, but it might be a solution.
  
  – Gladen
  Nov 1 '12 at 9:50
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Wow, @Gladen, I think you need to post it as a separate answer. Although it does work when using xclip-copyfile and then xclip-pastefile, but doesn't seem to work with Ubuntu file manager...
  
  – Sergey
  Nov 1 '12 at 9:54
  
  

  
  
  
  

 | 
show 6 more comments

9

I heard that xclip also supports file copying with xclip-copyfile and xclip-pastefile. I haven't really used it though, but it might be a solution.

share|improve this answer

answered Nov 1 '12 at 10:03

GladenGladen

1,94331337

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  That just copies the file names, not the contents of the files. Just take a look at the man page examples, i.e. $ man xclip-copyfile
  
  – Craig
  May 8 '17 at 15:19
  
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

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97

When you press Ctrl-C over a file in the file manager, the file's contents IS NOT copied to the clipboard. A simple test: select a file in file manager, press Ctrl-C, open a text editor, press Ctrl-V. The result is not file's contents but its full path.

In reality the situation is a bit more complicated because you can't do the opposite - copy a list of filenames from a text editor and paste them into file manager.

To copy some data from command line to X11 clipboard you can use xclip command, which can be installed with

sudo apt-get install xclip

to copy contents of a file or output of some command to clipboard use

cat ./myfile.txt|xclip -i

the text can be then pasted somewhere using middle mouse button (this is called "primary selection buffer").

If you want to copy data to the "clipboard" selection, so it can be pasted into an application with Ctrl-V, you can do

cat ./myfile.txt|xclip -i -selection clipboard

To be able to copy files from the command line and paste them in a file manager, you need to specify a correct "target atom" so the file manager recognizes the data in the clipboard, and also provide the data in correct format - luckily, in case of copying files in a file manager it's just a list of absolute filenames, each on a new line, something which is easy to generate using find command:

find $PWD -name "*.pdf"| xclip -i -selection clipboard -t text/uri-list

(at least this works for me in KDE). Now you can wrap into a small script which you can call, say, cb:

#!/bin/sh
xclip -i -selection clipboard -t text/uri-list

then you put it in ~/bin, set executable bit on it and use it like this:

find $PWD -name "*.txt"| cb

Nice, isn't it?

share|improve this answer

edited Nov 1 '12 at 22:51

answered Nov 1 '12 at 8:29

SergeySergey

36.6k98799

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Nice, but only works for text and it's not the file really, just the text. Suppose you have a jpg file?
  
  – Strapakowsky
  Nov 1 '12 at 9:33
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Yes, I knew this effect that if you copy a file from the file manager if you paste it in another folder you paste the file, but if you paste in a text editor you get the file path.
  
  – Strapakowsky
  Nov 1 '12 at 9:34
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  In case of binary files (jpg etc.) everything is much more complicated. Here I asked a question inspired by yours - unix.stackexchange.com/questions/53503/… - have a read about "target atoms" and stuff
  
  – Sergey
  Nov 1 '12 at 9:48
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  I heard that xclip also supports file copying with xclip-copyfile and xclip-pastefile. I haven't really used it though, but it might be a solution.
  
  – Gladen
  Nov 1 '12 at 9:50
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Wow, @Gladen, I think you need to post it as a separate answer. Although it does work when using xclip-copyfile and then xclip-pastefile, but doesn't seem to work with Ubuntu file manager...
  
  – Sergey
  Nov 1 '12 at 9:54
  
  

  
  
  
  

 | 
show 6 more comments

97

When you press Ctrl-C over a file in the file manager, the file's contents IS NOT copied to the clipboard. A simple test: select a file in file manager, press Ctrl-C, open a text editor, press Ctrl-V. The result is not file's contents but its full path.

In reality the situation is a bit more complicated because you can't do the opposite - copy a list of filenames from a text editor and paste them into file manager.

To copy some data from command line to X11 clipboard you can use xclip command, which can be installed with

sudo apt-get install xclip

to copy contents of a file or output of some command to clipboard use

cat ./myfile.txt|xclip -i

the text can be then pasted somewhere using middle mouse button (this is called "primary selection buffer").

If you want to copy data to the "clipboard" selection, so it can be pasted into an application with Ctrl-V, you can do

cat ./myfile.txt|xclip -i -selection clipboard

To be able to copy files from the command line and paste them in a file manager, you need to specify a correct "target atom" so the file manager recognizes the data in the clipboard, and also provide the data in correct format - luckily, in case of copying files in a file manager it's just a list of absolute filenames, each on a new line, something which is easy to generate using find command:

find $PWD -name "*.pdf"| xclip -i -selection clipboard -t text/uri-list

(at least this works for me in KDE). Now you can wrap into a small script which you can call, say, cb:

#!/bin/sh
xclip -i -selection clipboard -t text/uri-list

then you put it in ~/bin, set executable bit on it and use it like this:

find $PWD -name "*.txt"| cb

Nice, isn't it?

share|improve this answer

edited Nov 1 '12 at 22:51

answered Nov 1 '12 at 8:29

SergeySergey

36.6k98799

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Nice, but only works for text and it's not the file really, just the text. Suppose you have a jpg file?
  
  – Strapakowsky
  Nov 1 '12 at 9:33
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Yes, I knew this effect that if you copy a file from the file manager if you paste it in another folder you paste the file, but if you paste in a text editor you get the file path.
  
  – Strapakowsky
  Nov 1 '12 at 9:34
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  In case of binary files (jpg etc.) everything is much more complicated. Here I asked a question inspired by yours - unix.stackexchange.com/questions/53503/… - have a read about "target atoms" and stuff
  
  – Sergey
  Nov 1 '12 at 9:48
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  I heard that xclip also supports file copying with xclip-copyfile and xclip-pastefile. I haven't really used it though, but it might be a solution.
  
  – Gladen
  Nov 1 '12 at 9:50
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Wow, @Gladen, I think you need to post it as a separate answer. Although it does work when using xclip-copyfile and then xclip-pastefile, but doesn't seem to work with Ubuntu file manager...
  
  – Sergey
  Nov 1 '12 at 9:54
  
  

  
  
  
  

 | 
show 6 more comments

When you press Ctrl-C over a file in the file manager, the file's contents IS NOT copied to the clipboard. A simple test: select a file in file manager, press Ctrl-C, open a text editor, press Ctrl-V. The result is not file's contents but its full path.

In reality the situation is a bit more complicated because you can't do the opposite - copy a list of filenames from a text editor and paste them into file manager.

To copy some data from command line to X11 clipboard you can use xclip command, which can be installed with

sudo apt-get install xclip

to copy contents of a file or output of some command to clipboard use

cat ./myfile.txt|xclip -i

the text can be then pasted somewhere using middle mouse button (this is called "primary selection buffer").

If you want to copy data to the "clipboard" selection, so it can be pasted into an application with Ctrl-V, you can do

cat ./myfile.txt|xclip -i -selection clipboard

To be able to copy files from the command line and paste them in a file manager, you need to specify a correct "target atom" so the file manager recognizes the data in the clipboard, and also provide the data in correct format - luckily, in case of copying files in a file manager it's just a list of absolute filenames, each on a new line, something which is easy to generate using find command:

find $PWD -name "*.pdf"| xclip -i -selection clipboard -t text/uri-list

(at least this works for me in KDE). Now you can wrap into a small script which you can call, say, cb:

#!/bin/sh
xclip -i -selection clipboard -t text/uri-list

then you put it in ~/bin, set executable bit on it and use it like this:

find $PWD -name "*.txt"| cb

Nice, isn't it?

share|improve this answer

edited Nov 1 '12 at 22:51

answered Nov 1 '12 at 8:29

SergeySergey

36.6k98799

sudo apt-get install xclip

cat ./myfile.txt|xclip -i

cat ./myfile.txt|xclip -i -selection clipboard

find $PWD -name "*.pdf"| xclip -i -selection clipboard -t text/uri-list

#!/bin/sh
xclip -i -selection clipboard -t text/uri-list

find $PWD -name "*.txt"| cb

share|improve this answer

edited Nov 1 '12 at 22:51

answered Nov 1 '12 at 8:29

SergeySergey

36.6k98799

answered Nov 1 '12 at 8:29

SergeySergey

36.6k98799

answered Nov 1 '12 at 8:29

SergeySergey

36.6k98799

9

I heard that xclip also supports file copying with xclip-copyfile and xclip-pastefile. I haven't really used it though, but it might be a solution.

share|improve this answer

answered Nov 1 '12 at 10:03

GladenGladen

1,94331337

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  That just copies the file names, not the contents of the files. Just take a look at the man page examples, i.e. $ man xclip-copyfile
  
  – Craig
  May 8 '17 at 15:19
  
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

9

I heard that xclip also supports file copying with xclip-copyfile and xclip-pastefile. I haven't really used it though, but it might be a solution.

share|improve this answer

answered Nov 1 '12 at 10:03

GladenGladen

1,94331337

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  That just copies the file names, not the contents of the files. Just take a look at the man page examples, i.e. $ man xclip-copyfile
  
  – Craig
  May 8 '17 at 15:19
  
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

I heard that xclip also supports file copying with xclip-copyfile and xclip-pastefile. I haven't really used it though, but it might be a solution.

share|improve this answer

answered Nov 1 '12 at 10:03

GladenGladen

1,94331337

share|improve this answer

answered Nov 1 '12 at 10:03

GladenGladen

1,94331337

answered Nov 1 '12 at 10:03

GladenGladen

1,94331337

answered Nov 1 '12 at 10:03

GladenGladen

1,94331337