This command will let you just type c-a b (which means press 'ctrl' then 'a' then 'b'), and screen will save your copy buffer to /tmp/screen-exchange, and then execute xsel to copy the contents of that file into the system's X clipboard. 1. Install Conrad Parker's xsel from http://www.vergenet.net/~conrad/software/xsel/ 2. Add these lines to your .screenrc # Add cool line to make copying to x clipboard possible. # This binds C-a b to copy screen's copy buffer to the system clipboard. bind b eval writebuf 'exec /bin/sh -c "xsel -i -b < /tmp/screen-exchange"' 'exec /bin/sh -c "killall xsel"' 3. Restart screen. 4. Test it by typing c-a [ to enter copy mode. 5. Select some text using vi movement keys (h, j, k, l, etc...) and starting your selection by hitting the space bar, moving with vi movement keys, and then ending your selection with the space bar. 6. Type C-a b, and screen will use xsel to copy your screen copy buffer to the system's X clipboard buffer. 7. Then you can paste the screen copy buffer into any X program. Note: If you're using Mac OSX, you can use pbcopy instead of xsel. Also Note: The second exec in the .screenrc file, which runs killall on xsel, is necessary, because even when you redirect a file to xsel, xsel waits for you to press ctrl-c to kill it, and have it stop waiting for more input. Since xsel forces screen to wait, and I don't want to press ctrl-c, I send the equivalent of ctrl-c with killall causing xsel to write /tmp/screen-exchange to the X clipboard, and then exit. It's a hack, but it works. If you know how to get this to work without a lame hack leave a comment explaining how. Show Sample Output