How to Force Select Text From a Screen Session on Terminal Mac

Sometimes, when you’re working in a terminal on your Mac and using the screen command to manage multiple shell sessions, you may encounter situations where you need to select and copy text from within a screen session. However, the usual text selection methods like click and drag may not work as expected within a screen session. In such cases, you can use the Fn key in combination with the Left Click to force select text within a screen session.

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to force select text from a screen session on Terminal Mac using Fn + Left Click:

1. Open Terminal: Launch the Terminal application on your Mac if it’s not already open. You can find Terminal in the Applications folder or use Spotlight Search (press Cmd + Space and type “Terminal”).

2. Start a screen Session: If you haven’t already, start a screen session by typing the following command and pressing Enter:

   1

   screen

   This will open a new shell session within the screen environment.

3. Force Select Text:

   • Inside your screen session, move the cursor to the beginning of the text you want to select.

   • Hold down the Fn key on your keyboard (usually located at the bottom-left corner).

   • While holding the Fn key, left-click (press and release) the mouse or trackpad button at the start position of the text you want to select.

   • Without releasing the Fn key, move the cursor to the end of the text you want to select.

   • Left-click again (press and release) at the end position of the text.

4. Copy the Selected Text:

   • After successfully selecting the text, release the Fn key.

   • To copy the selected text to the clipboard, simply press Cmd + C.

5. Paste the Copied Text:

   • To paste the copied text, move to the location where you want to paste it and press Cmd + V.

That’s it! You’ve successfully force-selected text from a screen session on Terminal Mac using Fn + Left Click. This method should help you extract and copy text from within a screen session when the regular text selection methods don’t work as expected.