xsel Command Examples

X11 selection and clipboard manipulation tool. More information: https://manned.org/xsel.

• Use a command's output as input of the clipboard (equivalent to <Ctrl c>):

echo 123 | xsel {{[-ib|--input --clipboard]}}

• Use the contents of a file as input of the clipboard:

cat {{path/to/file}} | xsel {{[-ib|--input --clipboard]}}

• Output the clipboard's contents into the terminal (equivalent to <Ctrl v>):

xsel {{[-ob|--output --clipboard]}}

• Output the clipboard's contents into a file:

xsel {{[-ob|--output --clipboard]}} > {{path/to/file}}

• Clear the clipboard:

xsel {{[-cb|--clear --clipboard]}}

• Output the X11 primary selection's contents into the terminal (equivalent to a mouse <MiddleClick>):

xsel {{[-op|--output --primary]}}