How to copy to clipboard in Vim?

Question

Is it possible to copy to clipboard directly from Vim? yy only copies stuff to Vim's internal buffer. I want to copy to the OS's clipboard. Is there any such command in Vim or you can only yank stuff within Vim?

Lancet

Please see the under-voted answer that clarifies an important fact: you must have vim compiled with the +clipboard feature for ANY of the below suggestions to work in the first place! This is NOT the default on most systems. – Ivers

@NeilTraft, some answers suggest piping from vim to external programs, so the claim that ANY answer requires +clipboard flag, is wrong. Just pointing out to save future readers from confusion. – Pumpernickel

Possible duplicate of How to make vim paste from (and copy to) system's clipboard? (Note: the other question is newer, but has better answers IMHO, which I why I marked this one as a dupe) – Filippo

Make sure you have done sudo apt-get install vim-gnome before applying these commands below or you will get Invalid Register Error! – Primogenitor

@Harnirvair For many sets of readers here, vim-gnome is probably overkill or simply unavailable in their OS/distro, whereas I suspect vim-gtk and preferably vim-gtk3 are more likely to exist and pull fewer dependencies, while still providing clipboard integration (at least for those still on X11; I'm not sure how this all interacts with Wayland). – Internationalism

See also vi.stackexchange.com/questions/84/… – Osmond

Checkout https://mcmap.net/q/54093/-how-to-copy-selected-lines-to-clipboard-in-vim – Peele

i use cat file.filetype | clip on git bash in windows as i need to copy whole file as assignment in school. for sections of a file i have added set clipboard=unnamed in my _vimrc. – Graz

On Ubuntu make sure and install vim-gui-common even if only using the non gui version of vim, as this seems to also install the clipboard capable non gui vim – Holcman

Besides vim-gnome, "+y is also supported by default in neovim on Ubuntu 20.04 – Abe

Answer 1

The * register will do this. In Windows, + and * are equivalent. In unix there is a subtle difference between + and *:

Under Windows, the * and + registers are equivalent. For X11 systems, though, they differ. For X11 systems, * is the selection, and + is the cut buffer (like clipboard). http://vim.wikia.com/wiki/Accessing_the_system_clipboard

* is probably what you want most of the time, so I use * because it functions as I expect it to in both environments.

In Linux distros you have to install vim-gtk (aka gvim) first to gain clipboard functionality. This is because non-gtk vim is typically compiled without X11 support. This is to allow it to run on console only machines (often servers).

And for those confused about how to use registers when yanking or putting, you merely write " then the name of the register. So for copying something to the clipboard register you type "*y and then to put you type "*p (credit: Kyle Mathews)

Viscera

Doesn't work on mac osx lion. After pressing " then *, it makes that noise the mac makes when you can't do something. How do I do it on mac? – Rosner

You have to also make sure that vim is compiled with support for the clipboard. The default vim in Ubuntu is not. Try vim --version|grep .xterm_clipboard -o and if it's - then you do not have support. Download a different version as per ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1686955 – Amourpropre

If you are using Linux, you should + register. For example, if you wanna copy three lines into system's clipboard, use commands like v3j"+y, and then you can paste them into another application more another VIM. Using * register under Linux can only copy and paste between different VIM applications. – Heptarchy

On Linux, the * register doesn't work for copying and pasting externally. – Detrain

Also, why is the system clipboard not used by default. You know, since it works in VIM and outside of it as well... – Detrain

weberc2 and diabloneo, the * register is for the selection clipboard, accessible from middle clicking, not the menu paste or ^V – Twomey

By the way, you need to check if VIM compile with +clipboard features. On Ubuntu you can install vim-gnome to get this feature. – Heptarchy

@Amourpropre The Ubuntu forums thread post is now out of date - 'Huge vim' config on Ubuntu now comes with '-xterm_clipboard. – Dissonance

@Dissonance Thanks for the info. I've switched distros, but I seem to remember having gvim installed. I'm not sure if that works now. – Amourpropre

Not a perfect place to ask but has anyone got it working for vim in a (gnu-)screen? I can't get it copied, the default screen copy method doesn't work for multiple lines in a split vim window :-/. – Collaborate

On Ubuntu, install vim-gtk will enable +clipboard and +xterm_clipboard features, and then you can use "+y to copy content to system clipboard. In other program like Chrome, you can use Ctrl+v to paste the content. You need to use middle button of mouse to paste content if you use "*y to copy content in vim. – Stomatitis

I have Ubuntu 16.04 with vim 8.1 (2018 May). "+y worked for me but not "*y. – Aphrodisiac

For Ubuntu 18,04 found middle click often didn't work, especially when trying to paste passwords in chrome. Using "+y always has worked. For pasting into vim select then in vim "*p middle click works, no copy command needed for the source, only select. – Maller

For easier use, I mapped this command with nnoremap <leader>c "*y and nnoremap <leader>v "*p on vimrc. This can be changed to what your system accepts. Made it easier to remember the command and interact with the outside world :) – Wizard

Thanks for the hint with vim-gtk I always wondered why sometimes y"* failed to work! Maybe that rectifies emphasing this part a bit. – Desuetude

Answer good, but long story short, "vim-gtk" is must, it doesnt work without. " is a separate shortcut for a command input, similarly as the key :. "*y copies to the x-selection clipboard , "+y copies to the primary clipboard – Frap

My god this is difficult. Now I know why I don't use :set mouse=a (or dare I say XEmacs). – Sattler

Default desktop Ubuntu should be compiled with this by default. – Abe

Good news for macOS users. I just tested on the default vim installed in macOS Ventura 13.3.1 and the * register works just fine with :set mouse=a enabled and all. – Jethro

Working on Ubuntu 20.04. Clipboard support can be enabled by installing vim-gtk3: sudo apt install vim-gtk3 – Frazee

Answer 2

On Mac OSX

• copy selected part: visually select text(type v or V in normal mode) and type :w !pbcopy

• copy the whole file :%w !pbcopy

• paste from the clipboard :r !pbpaste

On most Linux Distros, you can substitute:

• pbcopy above with xclip -i -sel c or xsel -i -b
• pbpaste using xclip -o -sel -c or xsel -o -b
  -- Note: In case neither of these tools (xsel and xclip) are preinstalled on your distro, you can probably find them in the repos

Appointee

+1 Works with Lion, though vim --version shows -clipboard – Sharpen

compatible with vim that is shipped with mavericks osx. add to your .vimrc vnoremap <C-c> :w !pbcopy<CR><CR> noremap <C-v> :r !pbpaste<CR><CR> To use this mapping, if you want to copy, highlight text in visual mode and hit Ctrl-c to copy. To paste from the system clipboard, hit Ctrl-v. – Emlynn

The only problem so far with this method is that pasting breaks formatting (mac osx mavericks). Seems like Mavericks messed up my Vim installation :-) if you use pbcopy and pbpaste in visual mode it's okay, but if you cannot use pbcopy and then Command + V without breaking formatting – Celin

On linux this works with :w !xclip -sel c or :w !xsel -b – Cassell

hi, @Zeus77, thanks for the info. I'd like to update the answer. would you please tell me how to past from the clipboard on Linux? Or you can edit the answer by yourself if you want to :) – Appointee

For Linux Ctrl+C copy: in ~/.vimrc add: vnoremap <C-C> :w !xclip -i -sel c<CR><CR> – Mcgray

A far more helpful answer than the accepted one. Thank you! – Dogbane

I'm in Mac, vim shows +clipboard and either :w !pbcopy or :%w !pbcopy copies the entire file – Palstave

@davidtingsu's keybindings will conflict with <C-v> in normal mode to enter visual block selection mode. Limiting it to insert mode only also conflicts with the insert literal char sequence. – Soubise

@Zeus77 xcopy & xsol don't work for me. They copy all content of file. I use vim 8.0 on ubuntu – Lifeordeath

@Lifeordeath add this to your vimrc set clipboard=unnamed,unnamedplus. this will use the OS clipboard for vim's yank operations. and then you can just select in visual mode and yank whatever you want. – Cassell

@Zeus77 it doesn't work, but it's not so important. thanks – Lifeordeath

@Lifeordeath for that to work you need a build of vim with clipboard support. on linux this can be gvim, vim-gnome or vim-athena – Cassell

This is how you can verify clipboard support: vim.wikia.com/wiki/… – Cassell

Oh I wasn't aware about it. I was using vim. thank you – Lifeordeath

This copies whole line for me – Weaponeer

I've made an improved version which allows copying only part of the line here: vi.stackexchange.com/questions/26745/… – Baptista

xclip -o -sel -c is supposed to be xclip -o -sel c and the command to copy a selection is not :w !pbcopy but instead :'<,'>w !pbcopy. – Firth

This unfortunately does not work on mac (host) connected to a remote machine (per ssh). – Lightman

Attaching a key combination to :w !xclip -i -sel c\n<leader> did the trick for me. – Mayflower

:set mouse= to reset mouse setting if someone made it impossible to do regular terminal-selection paste. – Oceanography

If you're getting the entire buffer copied, it's because you didn't first select the text you wanted to copy. Use v or V to select the lines that will be copied. Then :w !pbcopy copies only the selected text. – Allowable

To avoid mapping Ctrl-C in your .vimrc, you can instead define a leader such as the space key. For example: let mapleader=" " followed by vnoremap <leader>c :w !pbcopy – Allowable

Answer 3

In your vimrc file you can specify to automatically use the system clipboard for copy and paste.

On macOS and Windows set:

set clipboard=unnamed

On Linux set (vim 7.3.74+):

set clipboard=unnamedplus

NOTE: You may need to use an up to date version of Vim for these to work.

http://vim.wikia.com/wiki/Accessing_the_system_clipboard

Itself

As an addendum to your note - you may also have to install extra packages to get this to work. If your vim lacks the +xterm_clipboard feature (visible when you run vim --version). This was the case for me (running Kubuntu 12.10). I had to install the vim-gui-common package to get the correct functionality. – Aerograph

set clipboard=unnamed works in Mac OS 10.11.6 (El Capitan) with vim 7.4 – Joiner

1. Copy on drag 2. mouse select, works in Mac Sierra-10.12.6 and vim-version: 8.0.1800 by specifying following commands in ~/.vimrc file set mouse=v and set clipboard=unnamed – Luxury

You might wish to update your answer. It does not function on Ubuntu 18.04 with vim 8.0. – Rahman

This works for me with nvim 0.4.4. Thanks! To copy a whole file I use ggvGGy – Kneeland

set clipboard^=unnamed,unnamedplus will solve it for Windows and Linux. Not sure about Mac. – Gregarine

@LuísdeSousa set clipboard=unnamedplus works with Ubuntu 18.04 and Vim 8.0 when vim-gui-common is installed as Jacob Dalton pointed out. – Burgas

Working on Ubuntu 20.04. But requires to install vim-gtk3 to enable clipboard support: sudo apt install vim-gtk3 – Frazee

Answer 4

Use the register "+ to copy to the system clipboard (i.e. "+y instead of y).

Likewise you can paste from "+ to get text from the system clipboard (i.e. "+p instead of p).

Tagliatelle

I use "*, but it seems that there's only a difference in X. – Reincarnate

@dash-tom-bang: the +/* difference is SELECTION vs PRIMARY copy buffers (can't recall which is which atm) – Incivility

Yeah star is the selection, plus is the clipboard. – Reincarnate

The double quote character serves as the register selector in vi and vim. – Tagliatelle

Two sets of shortcut to remember: "+yy (copy line to clipboard) and "+yy (copy line to selection); "+p (paste from clipboard) and "*p (paste from selection). " is to select register which is vim's own internal register by default (the way yy and p would work without referencing any type of register). PS: I wonder if there's a character for Vim's own internal register something like "&yy which turns to yy by default. – Sabo

I also recall that in Vim you can have many internal registers and assign them to letters (I think it would be something like "ayy to copy into the a register) but I'm not very much informed about that :( – Sabo

This is what I use (macOS v.10.12.6) and it works just fine. Wish this was higher up because it's a lot less complicated answer for mac users. – Zone

Is there any way to make yy copy things directly into the system buffer? – Olivaolivaceous

When people say "register" what do they mean? I find that term confusing :/ Sorry, I'm new to vim. – Overarch

Any ideas why this solution might have stopped working? I always used "+y to copy to clipboard in nvim with Ubuntu, but recently it stopped working. Vim (and nvim) say 282 lines yanked into "+ when doing it, but then when I Ctrl+P somewhere, it does not paste it – Debenture

Answer 5

@Jacob Dalton has mentioned this in a comment, but nobody seems to have mentioned in an answer that vim has to be compiled with clipboard support for any of the suggestions mentioned here to work. Mine wasn't configured that way on Mac OS X by default and I had to rebuild vim. Use this the command to find out whether you have it or not vim --version | grep 'clipboard'. +clipboard means you're good and the suggestions here will work for you, while -clipboard means you have to recompile and rebuild vim.

Politicking

Or, instead of compiling yourself, you can install a vim package that has already been built with clipboard support. On OS X, Homebrew has this: brew install vim. On Ubuntu, you can use sudo apt-get install vim-gnome. On other (non-GNOME) Linux distros you may rather install vim-gtk or vim-athena. – Ivers

Thanks, in Arch Linux I had to remove vim and install gvim wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Vim#Installation – Ahders

Your answers is explaining why the yank doesn't work with clipboard, with your information alone i could do a better google search and make it work easily. And now it working. It would be better if you also include @NeilTraft comment to your answer so that people doesn't need to do google search. – Manis

On Mac, right after brew install vim I added set clipboard=unnamed to .vimrc. Run source ~/.vimrc in command line. In .bash_profile I added alias vim="/usr/local/bin/vim" then run source ~/.bash_profile. Now in vim just use y and p to copy/paste – Vauban

Answer 6

Summing up and make it easier for newbies,

To copy the current line, in command mode type:

"*yy

To copy the whole file/buffer, in command mode, first go to the beginning via gg, then type

"*yG

As noted, this requires +clipboard out of vim --version, which indicate the availability of clipboard support, -clipboard means no.

Laciniate

"*5yy says 5 lines yanked but nothing in the clipboard? os/x. – Lydia

Yes i had verified +clipboard – Lydia

nnoremap <leader>c "* in .vimrc works quite well as a "copy" of sorts, followed by a motion to grab the text object you want to copy into your OS clipboard. – Armalda

Thanks, you explained it exactly the way I needed it. – Pilsen

I installed vim-gtk to turn -clipboard into +clipboard, than "+yy is working. – Brighten

The best solution, on Linux use "+yG instead. – Nippon

For mac users, you can install via homebrew to get +clipboard working. brew install update Then close the terminal and reopen. When you type vim --version, the +clipboard should now show. – Sleeve

I had always installed vim+otherbins to make it happen without knowing very well what was it. Thanks thanks! – Irrelievable

Answer 7

For Ubuntu - July 2018

Use the register "+ to copy to the system clipboard (i.e. "+y instead of y).

Likewise you can paste from "+ to get text from the system clipboard (i.e. "+p instead of p).

You have to also make sure that vim is compiled with support for the clipboard. Try:

vim --version | grep .xterm_clipboard -o 

and if it's -xterm_clipboard (a minus prefix) then you do not have support.

Here are some instructions for swapping out with a working version of vim that has clipboard support.

$ sudo apt-get purge vim 
$ sudo apt-get autoremove (removes any extraneous vim dependency packages from system) 
$ sudo apt-get install vim-gnome (or `sudo apt-get install vim-gtk3` for newer Ubuntu versions) 

Check again with vim --version | grep .xterm_clipboard -o and you can confirm the clipboard is now available (ie. +xterm_clipboard)

Intitule

You made my day, or maybe my month. After toiling with clipboardless vim on Ubuntu for years, this is an amazing feeling. arcseldon, thank you!! – Cedar

Besides what was described above, I had to put set clipboard=unnamedplus in my .vimrc file for the yank to work. I am using Ubuntu 18.04. – Motherofpearl

Same as Elijah's comment above: I needed to follow this answer and also update .vimrc. – Quartas

Answer 8

If you are using vim in and old version of macOS, unfortunately the shipped version of vim may and not be compiled with clipboard options. Luckily, homebrew can easily solve this problem.

• Install vim:

  brew install vim
  

• Install gui verion of vim:

  brew install macvim
  

• Restart the terminal to take effect.

• Append the following line to ~/.vimrc

  set clipboard=unnamed
  

• Now you can copy the line in vim with yy and paste it system-wide.

Updated Method:

I was never satisfied with set clipboard method for years. The biggest drawback is it will mess up your clipboard history, even when you use x for deletion. Here is a better and more elegant solution.

1. Copy the text [range] of vim into the system clipboard. (Hint: use v or V to select the range first, and then type the colon : to activate the Ex command):

   :[line-range]yank +
   

   E.g., to copy/yank lines 5-10 to the system clipboard * register use:

   :5,10y * 
   

2. Paste the content from the system clipboard into vim on a new line:

   :put +
   

Note:

1. If you select a word range, the above will not work. use "*y or "+y to save this visual block to clipboard. However this is hard to type, I am still thinking about alternatives.
2. :help "* or :help *+ for more informations
3. brew info vim will be able to see other options for installing vim. Currently it does not have any other options.

Niobium

--with-override-system-vim should be --with-override-system-vi – Underlinen

I'd like to try this to avoid installing lots of Xorg stuff on minimal systems, but I am missing something. I get "Not an editor command [range]yank +" after selecting in v mode and then hitting ":" . – Rumormonger

Answer 9

I wasn't able to copy to my clipboard's system because I had this in my ~/.vimrc file:

 if has('mouse')
   set mouse=a
 endif

But if you add this line next, it will allow you to simply Ctrl+c to get whatever you have selected into your clipboard.

vmap <C-c> "+y

Original discussion and more details: Copy text out of vim with set mouse=a enabled

Hosfmann

I didn't add the line to my .vimrc, but the link you provided was very useful. If you hold down SHIFT while selecting text in vim, you're able to copy text without entering visual mode. So thanks and +1. – Chretien

Shift trick is what I needed. Works as well with editors like terminator that use Ctrl+Shift+c to copy while in the prompt, which is what I tried at first. I did have -xterm_clipboard installed with vim. – Rambow

You can also use set mouse=nvi. This omits command line mode. Then you can enter command mode (:) and use your mouse to copy. Hit escape after. – Orlandoorlanta

Answer 10

This answer contains details specific to macOS users.

Append the following line to ~/.vimrc:

set clipboard=unnamed

If this does not work, check if your installed version maybe has the clipboard feature not enabled. When this answer was written (2019), the default vim shipped with macOS did not come with clipboard option enabled. You need that option to access the system clipboard.

To check if your vim has that option enabled use the below command

vim --version | grep clipboard

In the result, you should have +clipboard. If it is -clipboard, then your VIM does NOT have the option to access the system clipboard.

You need to MAKE and install your VIM with the option you need. Following are the commands.

# Create the directories you need
$ sudo mkdir -p /opt/local/bin
# Download, compile, and install the latest Vim
$ cd ~
$ git clone https://github.com/vim/vim.git
$ cd vim
$ ./configure --prefix=/opt/local
$ make
$ sudo make install
# Add the binary to your path, ahead of /usr/bin
$ echo 'PATH=/opt/local/bin:$PATH' >> ~/.bash_profile
# Reload bash_profile so the changes take effect in this window
$ source ~/.bash_profile"

The above will install the latest VIM with the option +clipboard enabled.

Now you can yank text to system clipboard. Below steps explains how to yank.

1. In vim command mode press v, this will switch you to VISUAL mode.
2. Move the cursor around to select the text or lines you need to copy.
3. Press y, this will copy the selected text to clipboard.
4. Go to any external application and CMD + v to paste.

I use MACBook Pro with macOS Mojave and the above works in it.

Evonneevonymus

Answer 11

In vim under ubuntu terminal only,

press shift + drag mouse to select a text in vim then ctrl + shift + c on the terminal

then ctrl + v on other editor

Krusche

This works to select only what is visual in vim, what if you want to select the entire file? – Danilodanio

@Gerep this method not work for entire file selection. it's a good to select a section of text on vim terminal only and where text displayed on the terminal screen. – Krusche

This copies line numbers, buffer borders of splits and all that is visible, instead of only the text / code. – Nympha

Answer 12

This question already has a lot of answers. I am adding my way which I think is quick.

Quickly, you can press V (Shift + v) to active visual mode. In visible mode, you can use j and k to select the text you want to copy. After selection, use

"*y

Now, selected text is copied to clipboard.

Breeden

For Mac OS X: works simple and perfect. Make sure you have the "+clipboard" turned on, refer to gkb0986 answer for that. – Bee

This works out of the box - Big Sur, iTerm2 – Lynettalynette

I like you method but, I am in tmux, and want to paste in another panel, you know how? – Elongation

Answer 13

Keybindings to make it easier

I have been using these for many years now:

nnoremap Y "+y
vnoremap Y "+y
nnoremap yY ^"+y$

You can now just use upper case Y to copy to clipboard, and lowercase y won't be affected e.g. as by set clipboard=unnamed so you can still choose if the copy will go to the clipboard or not.

Tested on ubuntu 21.04, vim 8.2.

Peugia

I was using vim on Manjaro Linux and the clipboard was not supported by the package, therefor keymaps did not work for me, so I replaced my vim package with vim-clipboard package then clipboard is available now and keymaps are working. – Harrelson

Answer 14

the solution for me was to install additional vim that has the clipboard option included: 

sudo apt-get install vim-gnome

Unruh

This is what I had to do for Ubuntu 16.04. I tried the other suggestions without success. This was the easiest and did what I expected with "+y. – Iyeyasu

It works like a charm without any vimrc changes! still valid in Ubuntu 16.04 – Rockel

The "+y suggestion only worked with vim-gnome. Using Linux Mint 18.2. – Rossini

Besides vim-gnome, this is also supported by default in neovim on Ubuntu 20.04 – Abe

Answer 15

You can find the answers here Arch Wiki

For Linux: First of all you have to enable Clipboard in your vim version by installing gvim.

---

Next you have to put this line on your .vimrc file.

set clipboard=unnamedplus

Sophiasophie

+1, was surprised that this step is now required. In all of my previous Arch installation I didn't have to do it. – Biting

worked for ubuntu 18.04 too and running in tmux. Thanks! – Hautevienne

Answer 16

If you are using GVim, you can also set guioptions+=a. This will trigger automatic copy to clipboard of text that you highlight in visual mode.
Drawback: Note that advanced clipboard managers (with history) will in this case get all your selection history…

Barbiturism

Answer 17

If your vim happens to be compiled without +xterm_clipboard option like it is by default in Debian and I guess Ubuntu, you can pipe selection or entire buffer to external program that handles desktop clipboard. For xclip (which you may need to install previously), the command will be :w !xclip -sel clip

Pumpernickel

Thanks for this - it hasn't worked for me on Ubuntu (so confirming your Ubuntu guess is correct) for ages and I didn't know why. Now I can see -xterm_clipboard in the flags shown when I vim --version. – Dissonance

This helped me find a good source of clipboard support: vimcasts.org/blog/2013/11/getting-vim-with-clipboard-support – Dissonance

You can also add a custom command in your vimrc: command Xclip :w !xclip -sel clip, then you can just type :Xclip – Materiality

Answer 18

If you have xclip an easy way of copying text to the clipboard is as follows:

1. Yank text you want to copy. (y command in vanilla vim)
2. Type in :call system("xclip -selection clipboard", @")

:call system() runs a terminal command. It takes two arguments, the first the command, the second what to pipe to that command. For example :echom system("head -1", "Hello\nWorld") returns Hello (With some padding). echom returns the output of a command, call doesn't.

xclip -selection clipboard just copies text into the system clipboard as opposed to the default X clipboard, (Accessed by the middle moue button).

@" returns the last yanked text. " is the default register, but you could use any register. To see the contents of all registers, type :registers.

Pentastyle

This is more robust, it works even when vim is not complied with support for the clipboard and on any OS. For example, on Mac run :call system("pbcopy",@"). One can bind this command to a key. – Exuberate

it works fine, but can I put it in my vimrc, will it work. It is not working for me. – Gardener

Answer 19

I've been struggling with this for months till now on MacOsX using keyboard shortcuts. I know question isn't about using keyboard shorts. But this might help someone with the same concern.

I found that if you uncheck:

View -> Allow Mouse Reporting

from Terminal menu, you'll be able to copy to clipboard using

command + c

again.

Julide

⌘ + R = "View -> Allow Mouse Reporting" 👍🏻 – Euchromatin

Answer 20

I'm a Vim newby but, to copy all the text to system clipboard (e.g if you want to paste it to a word processor or another text editor like gedit, mousepad etc...), in normal mode:

ggVGy

or, more simply:

:%y

As suggested, I also installed vim-gtk and put

set clipboard=unnamedplus

in my .vimrc

and everything works fine

If you want to copy only a portion of text, use visual mode (v), select the text you want to copy and press y.

Finally, I suggest a clipboard program like Clipman (my favorite), Clipit, Parcellite or similar.

(I'm using vim 8.0 in Debian Stretch Xfce)

FORGIVE ME FOR MY ENGLISH! :-)

Fradin

Answer 21

My solution was putting the following line to .vimrc:

map <C-y> :w !xclip -sel c <CR><CR>

The script copies the selected line (trough visual mode) or the file content (if none is selected) to the clipboard using Ctrl + y. I'm using Manjaro Linux if that matters.

Semicircle

Nice one! Worked great for me. – Mazurek

Thanks, this works well! Just needed a way to quickly copy my selection to the clipboard as it spanned beyond the terminal view. – Mellette

This one does work for vi/vim on macOS – Lydia

Answer 22

1. Put set clipboard=unnamed in your vimrc.
2. Select what you want to copy in Visual mode (Press v to enter).
3. Back to Normal mode (Press escape[esc]), press y to copy.
4. If you want to paste something from OS's clipboard, press p/P in Vim Normal mode.

Swampy

Answer 23

Maybe someone will find it useful. I wanted to stay independent from X clipboard, and still be able to copy and paste some text between two running vims. This little code save the selected text in temp.txt file for copying. Put the code below into your .vimrc. Use CTRL-c CTRL-v to do the job.

vnoremap :w !cp /dev/null ~/temp.txt && cat > ~/temp.txt

noremap :r !cat ~/temp.txt

Quianaquibble

Answer 24

I'm on mac osx (10.15.3) and new to vim. I found this so frustrating and all the answers on here too complicated and/or didn't apply to my situation. I ended up getting this working in 2 ways:

1. key mapping that uses pbcopy: works on the old version of vim that ships with mac.

   Add vmap '' :w !pbcopy<CR><CR> to your ~/.vimrc
   Now you can visually select and hit '' (two apostrophes) to copy to clipboard

2. Install newer version of vim so I can access the solution most recommended in other answers:

   brew install vim
alias vim=/usr/local/bin/vim (should add this to your ~/.bashrc or equivalent)
   Now you can visually select and hit "+yy to copy to clipboard

Sportscast

very nice solution! – Madonnamadora

Answer 25

In case you don't want to use any graphical interface for vim and you prefer to just stick with terminal emulator there may be a much simpler approach to this problem. Instead of using yank or anything like this, first take a look at documentation of terminal you use. I've been struggling with the same issue (trying to use +clipboard and xclip and so on) and in the end it turned out that in my terminal emulator it's enough to just press shift and select any text you want to copy. That's it. Quite simple and no need for messing with configuration. (I use urxvt by the way).

Canorous

Answer 26

I had issue because my vim was not supporting clipboard:

vim --version | grep clip
-clipboard       +insert_expand   +path_extra      +user_commands
+emacs_tags      -mouseshape      +startuptime     -xterm_clipboard

I installed vim-gnome (which support clipboard) and then checked again:

vim --version | grep clipboard
+clipboard       +insert_expand   +path_extra      +user_commands
+emacs_tags      +mouseshape      +startuptime     +xterm_clipboard

Now I am able to copy and paste using "+y and "+p respectively.

Vesta

Answer 27

Besides vim-gnome, "+y is also supported by default in neovim on Ubuntu 20.04.

If you don't want to install a new program, you could always do the lazy method of cat file.txt or gedit file.txt and copy from there.

Abe

Answer 28

I wrote a simple line in my .vimrc to get copy working. Hope this helps someone. My vim is not installed with Clipboard support, unfortunately, so none of these suggestions worked for me. Basically, paste this line in your .vimrc:

map <C-c> y:e ~/clipsongzboard<CR>P:w !pbcopy<CR><CR>:bdelete!<CR>

If you'd like to read details about what this does, you can read about this on my blog

Marbles

Buyer beware. On mac, this has weird effects. – Lamanna

this does not seem to copy anything to the clipboard when using as instructed (on linux ubuntu 16.04, no clipboard support), and if multiple files are opened in a vim session, will close the tab where the actions were taken (visual select and C-c). – Hillman

Answer 29

For some international keyboards, you may need to press "+Space to get a ".

So in those case you would have to press "Space+y or "Space*y

Nucleolus

Answer 30

for OSX, like the 10342 answers above made clear, you need to make sure that vim supports the clipboard feature, said the the one that comes pre-shipped with OSX does NOT support clipboard, and that if you run brew install vim it would work.

Except that running vi will still make you run the preshipped OSX version, not the one you installed from brew.

to get over this, I simply aliased my vim command to the brew version, not the OSX default one:

alias vim="/usr/local/Cellar/vim/8.0.1100_1/bin/vim"

and now i'm golden

Category

The MacOS version of vim on Monterrey and Ventura is 9.0 and does support named clipboard. On Catalina, it's 8.1 and also supports clipboard. Except yanking to a named clipboard over ssh connection doesn't work. I disabled set clipboard=unnamed in my .vimrc file. – Motel

Answer 31

In my instance selecting text by highlighting (clicking and dragging) with my mouse was causing vim to enter into visual mode.

On a mac anyway, the easiest solution is to use fn + mouse click and drag to avoid entering into visual mode.

If you wish to avoid this behavior by default you can edit your vimrc

Patsis

Answer 32

I have struggled a lot in copying to clipboard. Inside Vim it is quite simple using visual mode but if you want to copy to the clipboard things are quite messsed. I have simple method of copying using xclip utility. For this you must have to install xclip first.

for the whole file it is very simple

xclip -sel clip filename

but if you want to copy only a particular range of line numbers
tail -n +[n1] filename | head -n [n2] | xclip -sel clip

you can make use of ~/.bashrc to simplify this

#rangecp copy lines from n1 to n2 from a given file to clipboard
function rangecp()
{
    if [ -f $1 ]
    then
        if [ ! -z $3 ]
        then
            diff=$(($3 - $2 + 1))
            #diff=`expr $3 - $2 + 1`
            tail -n +$2  $1 | head -n $diff | xclip -sel clip
        elif [ ! -z $2 ]
        then
            tail -n +$2  $1 | xclip -sel clip
        else
            echo "Provide a range from [n1] lines to [n2] lines"
        fi
    else
        echo "[ $1 ] file doesn't exist"
    fi
}

then

source ~/.bashrc
How to use

rangecp filename.txt 50 89
rangecp filename.txt 50

Specie

Answer 33

I saw many answers on this question and the way to make this work was a combination of many.

The steps I followed to make vim copy to system clipboard are

1. Uninstall vim using sudo apt remove vim. (I was too lazy to find how to re-compile it with the +clipboard support.
2. Install a different vim package called vim-athena using sudo apt install vim-athena that ships with +clipboard.
3. Add to ~/.vimrc the following line: set clipboard=unnamedplus.
4. Source the file by entering command mode and typing source %.
5. Save and exit.

Note: I am using Ubuntu 20.04.

Autobahn

Answer 34

In linux with gnome (ubuntu, xubuntu etc) install vim-gnome and you will be able to use VISUAL to select and then Ctrl + C normally and paste in other applications with Ctrl + V

sudo apt install vim-gnome

Extravasation

Answer 35

selecting with the the help of the mouse and right-click copy worked in my case.

I didn't want the line numbers included so I :set nonumber before copying.

Grube

how can you do that in nerdTree – Erichericha

That has nothing to do with vim and is exclusively a terminal based copy to (X) clipboard. – Afoot

I'm not sure @Erichericha – Grube

Answer 36

Nothing above worked for me on my windows laptop.

Ctrl+C was fine for copying.. but I needed Shift+Insert to Paste !

(A good reason to always get a laptop where Insert can always be accessed without pressing a secondary key)

Culler

Answer 37

For Mac OS X, in the terminal:

• run vim --version | grep clipboard to check if the clipboard is enabled(with +)

• add the code below into the .vimrc file

if has("clipboard")
  set clipboard=unnamed " copy to the system clipboard

  if has("unnamedplus") " X11 support
    set clipboard+=unnamedplus
  endif
endif

• restart terminal & vim

reference: Setting up Vim to yank to clipboard on Mac OS X

Hurds

Answer 38

if you connect to the unix system thru putty then follow the steps below to copy content of a file

• Highlight text you want to copy ( you'll be able to copy page by page )
• press ctrl+c ( it'll copy the text to clipboard
• paste in any external editor Done

Autoerotism

Answer 39

I want to supplement a way to copy the line to the clipboard and use it on the function.

here is an example that you open the URL in the browser

let g:chrome_exe = 'C:/.../Google/Chrome/Application/chrome.exe'
function OpenURL()
    " copy the line and put it in the register *
    normal "*yy
    :execute "silent !start ".g:chrome_exe." ".getreg("*")
endfunction

map ,url :call OpenURL()<CR>

Borage

Answer 40

Shift+Ctrl+C if you are in graphical mode of Linux, but first you need to select what you need to copy.

Drisko