Commands

A command in screen can either be bound to a key, invoked from a screenrc file, or called from the colon prompt (see section Customizing Screen). As of version 3.3, all commands can be bound to keys, although some may be less useful than others. For a number of real life working examples of the most important commands see the files `etc/screenrc' and `etc/etcscreenrc' of your screen distribution.

In this manual, a command definition looks like this:

-- Command: command [-n] ARG1 [ARG2] ...

(keybindings)
This command does something, but I can't remember what.

An argument in square brackets (`[]') is optional. Many commands take an argument of `on' or `off', which is indicated as state in the definition.

• Default Key Bindings: screen keyboard commands.
• Command Summary: List of all commands.

Default Key Bindings

As mentioned previously, each keyboard command consists of a C-a followed by one other character. For your convenience, all commands that are bound to lower-case letters are also bound to their control character counterparts (with the exception of C-a a; see below). Thus, both C-a c and C-a C-c can be used to create a window.

The following table shows the default key bindings:

C-a '

C-a "

(select)
Prompt for a window identifier and switch. See section Selecting a Window.

C-a 0...9

(select 0...select 9)
Switch to window number 0...9. See section Selecting a Window.

C-a C-a

(other)
Toggle to the window displayed previously. See section Selecting a Window.

C-a a

(meta)
Send the command character (C-a) to window. See escape command. See section Command Character.

C-a A

(title)
Allow the user to enter a title for the current window. See section Naming Windows (Titles).

C-a b

itemx C-a C-b (break)
Send a break to the tty. See section Break.

C-a B

(pow_break)
Close and reopen the tty-line. See section Break.

C-a c

C-a C-c

(screen)
Create a new window with a shell and switch to that window. See section Screen Command.

C-a C

(clear)
Clear the screen. See section Clear.

C-a d

C-a C-d

(detach)
Detach screen from this terminal. See section Detach.

C-a D D

(pow_detach)
Detach and logout. See section Power Detach.

C-a f

C-a C-f

(flow)
Cycle flow among `on', `off' or `auto'. See section Flow.

C-a C-g

(vbell)
Toggle visual bell mode. See section Bell.

C-a h

(hardcopy)
Write a hardcopy of the current window to the file "hardcopy.n". See section hardcopy.

C-a H

(log)
Toggle logging of the current window to the file "screenlog.n". See section log.

C-a i

C-a C-i

(info)
Show info about the current window. See section Info.

C-a k

C-a C-k

(kill)
Destroy the current window. See section Kill.

C-a l

C-a C-l

(redisplay)
Fully refresh the current window. See section Redisplay.

C-a L

(login)
Toggle the current window's login state. See section Login.

C-a m

C-a C-m

(lastmsg)
Repeat the last message displayed in the message line. See section Display Last Message.

C-a M

(monitor) Toggle monitoring of the current window. See section Monitoring.

C-a SPC

C-a n

C-a C-n

(next)
Switch to the next window. See section Selecting a Window.

C-a N

(number)
Show the number (and title) of the current window. See section Number.

C-a p

C-a C-p

C-a C-h

C-a BackSpace

(prev)
Switch to the previous window (opposite of C-a n). See section Selecting a Window.

C-a q

C-a C-q

(xon)
Send a ^Q (ASCII XON) to the current window. See section XON and XOFF.

C-a r

C-a C-r

(wrap)
Toggle the current window's line-wrap setting (turn the current window's automatic margins on or off). See section Wrap.

C-a s

C-a C-s

(xoff)
Send a ^S (ASCII XOFF) to the current window. See section XON and XOFF.

C-a t

C-a C-t

(time)
Show the load average and xref. See section Time.

C-a v

(version)
Display the version and compilation date. See section Version.

C-a C-v

(digraph)
Enter digraph. See section Digraph.

C-a w

C-a C-w

(windows)
Show a list of active windows. See section Windows.

C-a W

(width)
Toggle between 80 and 132 columns. See section Window Size.

C-a x

C-a C-x

(lockscreen)
Lock your terminal. See section Lock.

C-a z

C-a C-z

(suspend)
Suspend screen. See section Suspend.

C-a Z

(reset)
Reset the virtual terminal to its "power-on" values. See section Reset.

C-a .

(dumptermcap)
Write out a `.termcap' file. See section Write out the window's termcap entry.

C-a ?

(help)
Show key bindings. See section Help.

C-a C-\

(quit)
Kill all windows and terminate screen. See section Quit.

C-a :

(colon)
Enter a command line. See section Colon.

C-a [

C-a C-[

C-a ESC

(copy)
Enter copy/scrollback mode. See section Copying.

C-a ]

C-a C-]

(paste .)
Write the contents of the paste buffer to the stdin queue of the current window. See section Paste.

C-a {

(history)
Copy and paste a previous (command) line. See section History.

C-a >

(writebuf)
Write the paste buffer out to the screen-exchange file. See section Screen-Exchange.

C-a <

(readbuf)
Read the screen-exchange file into the paste buffer. See section Screen-Exchange.

C-a =

(removebuf)
Delete the screen-exchange file. See section Screen-Exchange.

C-a _

(silence)
Start/stop monitoring the current window for inactivity. See section Silence,

C-a ,

(license)
Show the copyright page.

Command Summary

acladd usernames

Allow other users in this session. See section Multiuser Session.

aclchg usernames permbits list

Change a user's permissions. See section Multiuser Session.

acldel username

Disallow other user in this session. See section Multiuser Session.

activity message

Set the activity notification message. See section Monitoring.

allpartial state

Set all windows to partial refresh. See section Redisplay.

at [ident][#|*|%] command [args]

Execute a command at other displays or windows. See section At.

autodetach state

Automatically detach the session on SIGHUP. See section Detach.

autonuke state

Enable a clear screen to discard unwritten output. See section Autonuke.

bell_msg message

Set the bell notification message. See section Bell.

bind key [command [args]]

Bind a command to a key. See section The bind command.

bindkey [opts] [string [cmd args]]

Bind a string to a series of keystrokes. See section Bindkey.

break [duration]

Send a break signal to the current window. See section Break.

bufferfile [exchange-file]

Select a file for screen-exchange. See section Screen-Exchange.

c1 [state]

Change c1 code processing. See section Character Processing.

charset set

Change character set slot designation. See section Character Processing.

chdir [directory]

Change the current directory for future windows. See section Chdir.

clear

Clear the window screen. See section Clear.

colon

Enter a screen command. See section Colon.

command

Simulate the screen escape key. See section Command Character.

console [state]

Grab or ungrab console output. See section Console.

copy

Enter copy mode. See section Copying.

copy_reg [key]

Removed. Use paste instead. See section Registers.

crlf state

Select line break behavior for copying. See section CR/LF.

debug state

Suppress/allow debugging output. See section Debug.

defautonuke state

Select default autonuke behavior. See section Autonuke.

defc1 state

Select default c1 processing behavior. See section Character Processing.

defcharset [set]

Change defaul character set slot designation. See section Character Processing.

defescape xy

Set the default command and meta characters. See section Command Character.

defflow fstate

Select default flow control behavior. See section Flow.

defgr state

Select default GR processing behavior. See section Character Processing.

defhstatus [status]

Select default window hardstatus line. See section Hardstatus.

defkanji wtype

Select default GR processing behavior. See section Character Processing.

deflogin state

Select default utmp logging behavior. See section Login.

defmode mode

Select default file mode for ptys. See section Mode.

defmonitor state

Select default activity monitoring behavior. See section Monitoring.

defobuflimit limit

Select default output buffer limit. See section Obuflimit.

defscrollback num

Set default lines of scrollback. See section Scrollback.

defwrap state

Set default line-wrapping behavior. See section Wrap.

defwritelock on|off|auto

Set default writelock behavior. See section Multiuser.

defzombie [keys]

Keep dead windows. See section Zombie.

detach

Disconnect screen from the terminal. See section Detach.

digraph

Enter digraph sequence. See section Digraph.

dumptermcap

Write the window's termcap entry to a file. See section Write out the window's termcap entry.

echo [-n] message

Display a message on startup. See section Startup.

escape xy

Set the command and meta characters. See section Command Character.

exec [[fdpat] command [args ...]]

Run a subprocess (filter). See section Exec.

flow [fstate]

Set flow control behavior. See section Flow.

gr [state]

Change GR charset processing. See section Character Processing.

hardcopy

Write out the contents of the current window. See section hardcopy.

hardcopy_append state

Append to hardcopy files. See section hardcopy.

hardcopydir directory

Place, where to dump hardcopy files. See section hardcopy.

hardstatus [state]

Use the hardware status line. See section Hardware Status Line.

height [lines]

Set display height. See section Window Size.

help

Display current key bindings. See section Help.

history

Find previous command beginning .... See section History.

info

Display terminal settings. See section Info.

ins_reg [key]

Removed, use paste instead. See section Registers.

kanji wtype [dtype]

Set the kanji type of a window. See section Character Processing.

kill

Destroy the current window. See section Kill.

lastmsg

Redisplay the last message. See section Display Last Message.

license

Display licensing information. See section Startup.

lockscreen

Lock the controlling terminal. See section Lock.

log [state]

Log all output in the current window. See section log.

logfile filename

Place where to collect logfiles. See section log.

login [state]

Log the window in `/etc/utmp'. See section Login.

mapdefault

Use only the default mapping table for the next keystroke. See section Bindkey Control.

mapnotnext

Don't try to do keymapping on the next keystroke. See section Bindkey Control.

maptimeout timo

Set the intercharacter timeout used for keymapping. See section Bindkey Control.

markkeys string

Rebind keys in copy mode. See section markkeys.

meta

Insert the command character. See section Command Character.

monitor [state]

Monitor activity in window. See section Monitoring.

msgminwait sec

Set minimum message wait. See section Message Wait.

msgwait sec

Set default message wait. See section Message Wait.

multiuser state

Go into single or multi user mode. See section Multiuser Session.

nethack state

Use nethack-like error messages. See section Nethack.

next

Switch to the next window. See section Selecting a Window.

number [n]

Change/display the current window's number. See section Number.

obuflimit [limit]

Select output buffer limit. See section Obuflimit.

other

Switch to the window you were in last. See section Selecting a Window.

partial state

Set window to partial refresh. See section Redisplay.

password [crypted_pw]

Set reattach password. See section Detach.

paste [src_regs [dest_reg]]

Paste contents of paste buffer or registers somewhere. See section Paste.

pastefont [state]

Include font information in the paste buffer. See section Paste.

pow_break

Close and Reopen the window's terminal. See section Break.

pow_detach

Detach and hang up. See section Power Detach.

pow_detach_msg [message]

Set message displayed on pow_detach. See section Power Detach.

prev

Switch to the previous window. See section Selecting a Window.

printcmd [cmd]

Set a command for VT100 printer port emulation. See section Printcmd.

process [key]

Treat a register as input to screen. See section Registers.

quit

Kill all windows and exit. See section Quit.

readbuf

Read the paste buffer from the screen-exchange file. See section Screen-Exchange.

readreg [reg [file]]

Load a register from paste buffer or file. See section Registers.

redisplay

Redisplay the current window. See section Redisplay.

register key string

Store a string to a register. See section Registers.

removebuf

Delete the screen-exchange file. See section Screen-Exchange.

reset

Reset the terminal settings for the window. See section Reset.

screen [opts] [n] [cmd [args]]

Create a new window. See section Screen Command.

scrollback num

Set size of scrollback buffer. See section Scrollback.

select [n]

Switch to a specified window. See section Selecting a Window.

sessionname [name]

Name this session. See section Session Name.

setenv [var [string]]

Set an environment variable for new windows. See section Setenv.

shell command

Set the default program for new windows. See section Shell.

shelltitle title

Set the default name for new windows. See section Shell.

silence [state|seconds]

Monitor a window for inactivity. See section Silence.

silencewait seconds

Default timeout to trigger an inactivity notify. See section Silence.

sleep num

Pause during startup. See section Startup.

slowpaste msec

Slow down pasting in windows. See section Paste.

sorendition [attr [color]]

Change text highlighting. See section Sorendition.

startup_message state

Display copyright notice on startup. See section Startup.

stuff string

Stuff a string in the input buffer of a window. See section Paste.

suspend

Put session in background. See section Suspend.

term term

Set $TERM for new windows. See section Term.

termcap term terminal-tweaks [window-tweaks]

Tweak termcap entries for best performance. See section The termcap command.

terminfo term terminal-tweaks [window-tweaks]

Ditto, for terminfo systems. See section The termcap command.

termcapinfo term terminal-tweaks [window-tweaks]

Ditto, for both systems. See section The termcap command.

time

Display time and load average. See section Time.

title [windowtitle]

Set the name of the current window. See section Title Command.

unsetenv var

Unset environment variable for new windows. See section Setenv.

vbell [state]

Use visual bell. See section Bell.

vbell_msg [message]

Set vbell message. See section Bell.

vbellwait sec

Set delay for vbell message. See section Bell.

version

Display screen version. See section Version.

wall message

Write a message to all displays. See section Multiuser Session.

width [num]

Set the width of the window. See section Window Size.

windows

List active windows. See section Windows.

wrap [state]

Control line-wrap behavior. See section Wrap.

writebuf

Write paste buffer to screen-exchange file. See section Screen-Exchange.

writelock on|off|auto

Grant exclusive write permission. See section Multiuser Session.

xoff

Send an XOFF character. See section XON and XOFF.

xon

Send an XON character. See section XON and XOFF.

zombie [keys]

Keep dead windows. See section Zombie.