screen Cheatsheet

By Dejan Panovski •Updated on Feb 12, 2026 • Download PDF

Quick reference for GNU Screen sessions, windows, detach/attach, and common key bindings

GNU Screen is a terminal multiplexer that lets you keep shell sessions running in the background, reconnect later, and manage multiple windows in one terminal. This cheatsheet covers the most useful commands and key bindings.

Start and Exit

Command	Description
`screen`	Start a new screen session
`screen -S work`	Start session named `work`
`screen -ls`	List running sessions
`screen -X -S work quit`	Stop session `work`
`exit`	Exit current shell/window

Attach and Detach

Command	Description
`screen -r`	Reattach to the only detached session
`screen -r work`	Reattach to named session
`screen -x work`	Attach to an already-attached session
`screen -d -r work`	Detach elsewhere and reattach here
`Ctrl+a` `d`	Detach current session

Prefix and Help

Default prefix is Ctrl+a.

Key	Description
`Ctrl+a`	Enter screen command mode
`Ctrl+a` `?`	Show key bindings help
`Ctrl+a` `:`	Open command prompt
`Ctrl+a` `"`	Show window list

Windows

Key / Command	Description
`Ctrl+a` `c`	Create a new window
`Ctrl+a` `n`	Next window
`Ctrl+a` `p`	Previous window
`Ctrl+a` `Ctrl+a`	Switch to last window
`Ctrl+a` `0-9`	Switch to window by number
`Ctrl+a` `A`	Rename current window
`Ctrl+a` `k`	Kill current window

Key	Description
`Ctrl+a` `w`	List windows in status line
`Ctrl+a` `'`	Prompt for window number
`Ctrl+a` `S`	Split display horizontally
`Ctrl+a` `\|`	Split display vertically
`Ctrl+a` `Tab`	Move between split regions
`Ctrl+a` `X`	Remove current region
`Ctrl+a` `Q`	Remove all regions except current

Copy and Scrollback

Key	Description
`Ctrl+a` `[`	Enter copy/scrollback mode
`Space`	Start selection (in copy mode)
`Enter`	Copy selection (in copy mode)
`Ctrl+a` `]`	Paste copied text
`Ctrl+a` `H`	Toggle logging to file

Session Management

Command	Description
`screen -wipe`	Clean dead sessions
`Ctrl+a` `x`	Lock session
`screen -S work -X stuff 'ls^M'`	Send command to session (`^M` = Enter)
`screen -S work -p 0 -X hardcopy`	Save current window output

Useful Patterns

Command	Description
`screen -dmS job bash -lc 'long-command'`	Start detached background job
`screen -D -R`	Reattach if possible, otherwise create
`screen -r work -p 2`	Attach directly to window 2
`screen -L`	Start session with logging enabled

Configuration

File / Command	Description
`~/.screenrc`	User configuration file
`defscrollback 10000`	Increase scrollback history
`hardstatus on`	Enable status line
`startup_message off`	Disable startup message

Start and Exit #

Attach and Detach #

Prefix and Help #

Windows #

Navigation and Layout #

Copy and Scrollback #

Session Management #

Useful Patterns #

Configuration #