This is a quick reference guide cheat sheet for the screen command.
$ screen
1. Press Ctrl-A D to detach session
2. List all screen sessions
$ screen -ls
3. Re-attach a screen Session
$ screen -r <name/pid>
| Options | Example | Description |
|---|---|---|
-S |
screen -S debug | Start a new session with session name |
-ls |
screen -ls | List running sessions / screens |
-x |
screen -x | Attach to a running session |
-r |
screen -r debug | Attach to a running session with name |
-R |
screen -R debug | Attach to a session (Will create if it doesn't exist) |
-d |
screen -d -m wget xxxx.com/large.file | Start screen in detached mode |
-X |
screen -X -S debug kill | Kill a running session |
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
Ctrl-A ? |
See help (Lists keybindings) |
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
Ctrl-A C |
Create new window |
Ctrl-A Ctrl-A |
Change to last-visited active window |
Ctrl-A 0...9 |
Change to window by number |
Ctrl-A ' <0...9 or title> |
Change to window by number or name |
Ctrl-A N or Ctrl-A <space> |
Change to next window in list |
Ctrl-A P or Ctrl-A <backspace> |
Change to previous window in list |
Ctrl-A " |
See window list |
Ctrl-A W |
Show window bar |
Ctrl-A K |
Kill current window (not recommended) |
Ctrl-A \ |
Kill all windows (not recommended) |
Ctrl-A A |
Rename current window |
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
Ctrl-A D |
Detach |
Ctrl-A D D |
Detach and logout (quick exit) |
Ctrl-A : |
Exit all session |
Ctrl-A C-\ |
Force-exit screen (not recommended) |
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
Ctrl-A S |
Split display horizontally |
Ctrl-A V |
Split display vertically |
Ctrl-A | |
Split display vertically |
Ctrl-A TAB |
Jump to next display region |
Ctrl-A X |
Remove current region |
Ctrl-A Q |
Remove all regions but the current one |
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
Ctrl-A C-l |
Redraw window |
Ctrl-A [ |
Copy mode |
Ctrl-A ESC |
Copy mode |
Ctrl-A ] |
Paste |
Ctrl-A M |
Monitor window for activity |
Ctrl-A _ |
Monitor window for silence |
Ctrl-A Ctrl-V |
Enter digraph (non-ASCII characters) |
Ctrl-A X |
Lock (password protect) display |
Ctrl-A : |
Enter screen command |
Ctrl-A H |
Enable logging in the screen session |
SSH and attach in one line
$ ssh -t user@host screen -x <name/pid>