Copy Mode

Copy mode lets you scroll through terminal output, search for text, and copy to a clipboard — all without a mouse.

This is essential when:

You need to scroll back through long output
You want to copy error messages or commands
You're working on a remote server without mouse support

NOTE:

Copy mode is like less or vim for your terminal output.

Entering copy mode

Enter copy mode:

You can now scroll up from your current position.

NOTE:

Copy mode shows output that has scrolled off screen. You can't copy what's currently visible — for that, just select text in your terminal emulator.

Scrolling

Line by line:

Page by page:

# page up

# page down

Jump to top/bottom:

# go to top

# go to bottom

Searching

Search forward:

Type your search term, press Enter. Press n for next match, N for previous.

Search backward:

Same behavior, but searches upward.

NOTE:

Search supports regex. Use \bword\b for whole-word matches.

Copying text

Enter copy mode: Ctrl-b [
Navigate to start position with arrow keys or search
Start selection: Space
Move to end position (text is highlighted)
Copy selection: Enter

The text is now in tmux's paste buffer.

Pasting

Paste the last copied text:

This works in any pane or window — paste is session-wide.

Vi mode vs Emacs mode

Copy mode uses vi keys by default. If you prefer emacs:

From command line:

NOTE:

Vi mode is more powerful but requires learning vi. Emacs mode uses familiar arrow keys.

Copy mode commands (vi mode)

Key	Action
`h` `j` `k` `l`	Left, down, up, right
`w` `b`	Forward/backward by word
`0` `$`	Start/end of line
`g` `G`	Start/end of buffer
`/` `?`	Search forward/backward
`n` `N`	Next/previous search result
`Space`	Start selection
`Enter`	Copy selection and exit
`q` `Esc`	Exit without copying

Copy mode commands (emacs mode)

Key	Action
`↑` `↓` `←` `→`	Arrow keys
`Ctrl-b` `Ctrl-f`	Page up/down
`Ctrl-a` `Ctrl-e`	Start/end of line
`Alt-<` `Alt->`	Start/end of buffer
`Ctrl-s` `Ctrl-r`	Search forward/backward
`Ctrl-Space`	Start selection
`Ctrl-w`	Copy selection
`Enter`	Copy selection
`Esc`	Exit

Paste buffers

tmux keeps multiple paste buffers. List them:

Use arrow keys to select, Enter to paste.

Copying between sessions

By default, paste buffers are per-session. To share across sessions:

Type: set-buffer -b shared "text"

Then in another session:

Type: paste-buffer -b shared

Configuring scrollback

Increase scrollback history:

Type: set-option -g history-limit 10000

NOTE:

Set this permanently in .tmux.conf: set -g history-limit 10000

Clearing history

Clear scrollback history:

Type: clear-history

Capturing pane

Save entire pane contents to file:

-S -: Start from beginning
-E -: End at end
> output.txt: Redirect to file

Scrolling with mouse

tmux supports mouse scrolling (requires configuration):

Type: set-option -g mouse on

Now you can:

Scroll with mouse wheel
Click to position cursor
Select and copy with mouse

NOTE:

Mouse mode is convenient but slow. Keyboard-only is faster once learned.

Practical examples

Copy error message:

# Run failing command
npm test

# Enter copy mode
Ctrl-b [

# Search for "Error"
/
Error

# Copy the error
Space (select)
Enter (copy)

# Paste elsewhere
Ctrl-b ]

Copy command from earlier:

# Scroll back
Ctrl-b [
k (up)

# Select command line
Space
0 (start of line)
$ (end of line)
Enter (copy)

# Paste to execute
Ctrl-b ]

Copy mode workflows

Reviewing build output:

Build runs, scrolls off screen
Enter copy mode: Ctrl-b [
Search for "error" or "warning": /error
Review each match with n
Copy specific error to report

Extracting data:

Run command with table output
Enter copy mode, navigate to table
Copy rows with Space ... Enter
Paste into file or spreadsheet

Documenting commands:

Run successful command sequence
Enter copy mode
Copy each command with 0 $ Enter
Paste into documentation

Key bindings summary

Key	Action
`Ctrl-b [`	Enter copy mode
`Ctrl-b ]`	Paste buffer
`Ctrl-b =`	Choose buffer
`Space`	Start selection
`Enter`	Copy selection
`q`	Exit copy mode
`/`	Search forward
`?`	Search backward
`n` `N`	Next/previous match

Next: Step 7 → Configuration — Customize tmux with .tmux.conf