Are you used to macOS but now you're fancying Linux?
First, ensure you have xclip installed on your machine.
If youre are on a Debain/Ubunto-based Linux distro, run this command:
1sudo apt install xclip -y
If your machine is an Arch Linux-based operating system, instead run this command:
1sudo pacman -S xsel
Now, add these aliases to your ~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc, ~/.aliasrc, etc. …
1alias pbcopy="xclip -selection clipboard"
2alias pbpaste="xclip -selection clipboard -o"
Now, open a new tab in your terminal.
Let's try copying some text:
1echo 'xyz' | pbcopy
Now let's try pasting from your clipboard:
1pbpaste
You should see this output:
1xyz
¡Voilà!
Or, for a more cross-platform implementation that works on macOS, Linux, and Windows, add this to your profile script:
1#!/bin/bash
2
3if grep -q -i microsoft /proc/version; then
4 # on WSL: version contains the string "microsoft"
5 alias copy="clip.exe"
6 alias paste="powershell.exe Get-Clipboard"
7elif grep -q -i cygwin $(uname -a); then
8 # on CYGWIN: uname contains the string "cygwin"
9 alias copy="/dev/clipboard"
10 alias paste="cat /dev/clipboard"
11elif [[ ! -r /proc/version ]]; then
12 # on MAC: version is not readable at all
13 alias copy="pbcopy"
14 alias paste="pbpaste"
15else
16 # on "normal" linux
17 alias copy="xclip -sel clip"
18 alias paste="xclip -sel clip -o"
19fi
Copying #
1# pipe
2echo "hello world" | copy
3
4# or for direct file input
5copy < file
Pasting #
1paste > file
Credits: This Stack Overflow answer, by winklerrr.