Macintosh Terminal Pocket Guide

Name

pbcopy — stdin  stdout  - file  -- opt  --help  --version

Synopsis

pbcopy [options]

pbcopy copies standard input to the Macintosh clipboard.^[24] This is great for copying the output of commands into other programs. For example, to copy the output of who into TextEdit, first send the output to the clipboard:

➜ who | pbcopy

Then perform a paste operation in TextEdit. You can also copy the entire contents of a text file to the clipboard with:

➜ pbcopy < myfile.txt

Typed without arguments, pbcopy reads from standard input until you type ^D on a line by itself:

➜ pbcopy
This is the symphony
that Schubert wrote
and never finished.
^D              Ctrl-D to end the input
➜

Now perform a paste operation in another application, and you’ll get the typed text.

pbcopy is most effective when you’re using the Mac desktop and Terminal. If you’re logged in from a remote system via SSH (as described in Running a Shell Remotely), you won’t have the same clipboard as the graphical applications on the desktop, so copying from them won’t work.

^[24] Apple uses the term “pasteboard,” hence the “pb” in the name.