How do you copy and paste into Git Bash

Question

I'm using msysgit running on Windows XP.

Tried Ctrl+V, Right click, Middle click, google... no luck.

Kopje

@hobbs has the answer you are looking for! Right-click the top left corner of the window (the icon) select PROPERTIES and select "QUICK EDIT MODE" – Issacissachar

I've seen is added but here's a link udacity.com/wiki/ud775/git-bash-copy-paste – Stove

Another usefull page: #25267562 – Wauters

Answer 1

Press Insert.

Also, to copy from the window, try clicking the console's window icon (topleft) and choosing Edit -> Mark, then drag a box on the text, then press Enter. (You can also paste via the window icon menu, but the key is faster.)

UPDATE

Starting from Windows 10 the CTRL + C, CTRL + V and a lot of other feature are implemented in conhost.exe so they should work with every console utility on Windows. (You have to enable Properties -> Option tab -> Quick Edit Mode)

Ref: http://blogs.windows.com/buildingapps/2014/10/07/console-improvements-in-the-windows-10-technical-preview/

Dexter

What I want is to paste content into git bash. But thanks to you, I spotted Edit -> Paste which is exactly what I want! No more typing API code manually! – Kopje

Glad my answer helped, even if slightly circuitously. ;) – Dexter

Strictly speaking, that's not msysgit's fault, but rather an issue because msys uses cmd.exe. – Orang

I upvoted your answer, but the fancy "Insert" key formatting initially made me miss the "Press Insert." part. – Weiweibel

I'm not sure if this is also true in msysgit, but in git bash, using Edit->Mark->Enter copies line breaks or something. I was trying to create a new ssh key for bitbucket and using your suggestion gave me an "Invalid Key" message. So instead, I did cat ~/.ssh/mykeyfile > /c/Users/user/pub.txt and copied it from Notepad instead. Not saying your answer is wrong (actually it's perfectly correct and I upvoted it), but in case people run into copy/paste issues, I thought I'd mention this. – Almandine

@Almandine yes, Mark->Enter in the Windows terminal copies what's literally in the terminal, rather than being aware of lines. (Basically it comes down to Windows terminals being pretty dumb, sadly.) – Dexter

Fuuuuuu, I am on mac running windows, I don't have INSERT – Beersheba

@KevinT you can use the "click on the console window icon" method then, it'll just be a little slower. – Dexter

I too do not have an insert key! Why do they remove the ability to paste in bash?!? – Issacissachar

@Issacissachar You can still paste into Git Bash even without an Insert key - just use the menu method. – Dexter

Thanks, btw on Win 7 I have to use Shift + Ins, otherwise it says something like [(^2A]( and so forth. – Grin

for folk using Parallels Desktop: add the shortcut of your liking in Preferences > Shortcuts > [your virtual machine]: I've set cmd+alt+i = insert – Herrera

Shift-Insert required on Lubuntu as well. – Hoatzin

@Beersheba and Mac users. Number Pad 0 is Insert on Windows. – Genuflection

For those of you like me that have a Lenovo laptop without an Insert key, Fn + i will paste into the Git shell. – Trant

@Poma thanks, for me using Shift+FN+Enter allows me to paste into git bash while running in parallels. – Luthern

Starting from Windows 10 the Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V is implemented in conhost so it should work with every console utility on Windows. (You have to enable Properties -> Option tab -> Quick Edit Mode) – Ischia

Anyone else dumb enough to look for an Insert option in the menu? I've never seen the keyboard markup before, and I don't think I've ever used to the Insert key as a Windows user on purpose. If not, I will gladly be your Village Idiot for the day, with scheduling flexibility. – Darrelldarrelle

This also applies to mintty, although the remark about conhost obviously does not. Ctrl-V doesn't work in mintty and Shift-Insert is standard. – Chromatography

I am running Git Bash in Windows 10 using a Mac Keyboard... I have tried every keyboard shortcut suggestion on this list without success. – Actually

on Win 7 I used Win + Insert – Eames

how come in 2021 apps still exist in which default key bindings are absent? – Chemmy

@Dexter I downwoted you, because it does not work by only pressing Intert key. i had to press shift + Insert then it worked on win 10 pro!! – Impatience

Those instructions for changing the default didn't work for me. Instead I had to go into the Git Bash options: #49142662 – Cablegram

Answer 2

Aside from using the edit menu commands, you can directly paste into the git bash window using the keyboard shortcut, Insert.

Overunder

No need for the Control key, just the Insert key works to paste – Unsuitable

how to cancel the paste? is there any shortcuts? Thanks! – Longsuffering

@Dan Rigby I am using latest msysgit at it doesn't work pasting. Triedied with bouth Menu->Paste and also hitting INSERT – Would

@Would it sounds like the content you want to paste isn't actually on the clipboard (or it's in a format that the shell doesn't understand). I verified locally with the latest version of msysgit that this is still functioning. – Overunder

@AntiGameZ undo can be done with Ctrl-_. I believe this is all from readline utility, which emulates Emacs, the One True Editor. – Persian

This is toggling between insert and replace for me unfortunately in Ubuntu terminal. In order to paste I had to use Edit -> paste. – Inaccurate

Still not good usability - if I use my INSERT key to paste in the bash window, my keyboard is then on REPLACE, rather than INSERT, which requires that I press INSERT again. – Potter

Answer 3

It's not really a function of git, msys, or bash; every windows console program is stuck using the same cumbersome copy/paste mechanism for historical reasons. Turning on QuickEdit mode can help -- or you can install a nice alternative console like this one, and change your git bash shortcut to use it instead.

Motorway

For those who want to know how to use Console2: lostechies.com/jimmybogard/2010/04/05/… – Tieshatieup

+1 for hysterical raisins. I think I will start using that from now on. – Rootstock

With QuickEdit on this becomes pretty easy: select, Enter, Insert – Ultrasound

@CharlesB - because QuickEdit is broken, throws weird error messages, and only works sporadically. – Pantheas

Also with quick edit mode one can paste with a click on the right mouse button. Handy! – Spinescent

Adding to what Imerus said, you dont even need to press enter for copy...select and double right click. It pastes.. – Araminta

Answer 4

Copy:

Long-term solution: Click on Topleft icon > Defaults > Select "QuickEdit Mode" under "Edit Options" > Okay

Then select the text you want to copy. Press Enter

Short-term solution: Click on Topleft icon > Edit > Mark. Press Enter.

Paste:

Press Insert

(If the "QuickEdit Mode" is on, Right clicking might work too.)

Labialize

This fixed it for me on Windows 7, after enabling QuickEdit Mode, I can use right click to paste :) – Dilly

+1 for the right-click as this works when using a windows VM with a mac keyboard – Nomenclator

Answer 5

I'm back to Windows for the first time in a long time and this got me cursing like a docker. I finally found this:

Enabling Ctrl+Shift+letter shortcuts got me to a Linux-like behaviour that has lowered my blood pressure. Ctrl+Shift+C/Vnow works.

Hereford

I wish this would have worked for me, but it didn't. I can currently copy paste, but only using shift + insert and not the ctrl c/v or ctrl shift + c/v . tried other answers too :( – Antiquary

Answer 6

Use Shift + Insert like in linux bash

Edit: It works even in putty.

Aesthesia

using mintty 3.4.6, quite late for this question but no need for Ctrl, Insert can do the job. – Addams

Answer 7

The way I do this is to hold Alt then press Space, then E and finally P.

On Windows Alt jumps to the window menu, Space opens it, E selects Edit and P executes the Paste command.

Get these correct in succession and you can paste a snippet in under 2 seconds.

Niven

This is mac friendly too (works for those of us using Windows on a mac!) – Overhead

Only works for English Windows. On a French OS it would be Alt + Space then M (Modifier) and finally O (Coller). – Aberration

Answer 8

This is suggested by the github help page:

clip < filename

this copies the contents of filename to the clipboard and is useful for doing things like copying your id_rsa.pub to a web form.

Kwang

This is exactly what I needed! Needed to pipe from a git command into my clipboard git diff abc^1 abc -- file | clip – Ungainly

Answer 9

In windows after this setting you can use ctrl + shift + v ( for windows)

Barque

Answer 10

For paste in Git BASH CTRL + P

Fishery

Thanks, that worked well and its better than use <Insert – Rangefinder

This is the only keyboard method that worked for me on Win10. Insert (in various combinations) didn't. Quick Edit is enabled. – Trilbi

Answer 11

Right click on the Git Bash shortcut and switch to the Options tab. Enable Quick Edit Mode and click OK.

Now you can use right click to paste into Git Bash, even passwords for remote push, which you can't do with Insert.

This also enables copy easily. Just left click and drag in the console window to select any block of text. Now right click on the selection and the text block will be copied in RAM. This is way more easier and intuitive than the other ways.

Image source: https://danlimerick.wordpress.com/2011/07/23/git-for-windows-tip-how-to-copy-and-paste-into-bash/

Pepys

Answer 12

Windows:

1. Right click
2. Choose Options
3. Choose Keys
4. Enable Ctrl+Shift+letter shortcuts

How does it look like?

Zondra

Not working for me (MINGW/GitBash on Win10), also how this should work if Ctl+C is already assigned? – Bounds

Answer 13

console2 ( http://sourceforge.net/projects/console/ ) is my go to terminal front end.

it add great features like copy/paste, resizable windows, and tabs. you can also integrate as many "terminals" as you want into the app. i personally use cmd (the basic windows prompt), mingW/msysGit, and i have shortcuts for diving directly into the python and mysql interpreters.

the "shell" argument i use for git (on a win7 machine) is:

C:\Windows\SysWOW64\cmd.exe /c ""C:\Program Files (x86)\Git\bin\sh.exe" --login -i"

Daron

Answer 14

Ctrl + insert did it for me in Windows.

Evitaevitable

Answer 15

if your intention is copy/paste comments for git commits, try set the enviromental variable EDITOR as your favorite plain-text editor (notepad, notepad++ ...) and when you will commit, don't give him the -m option and Git will open your favorite editor for copy/paste you comment

Everetteverette

Answer 16

Get Console2. You configure it to do it multiple different ways. Works with bash or Windows command prompts.

Winebibber

Answer 17

You can also just right-click in the console window. Be sure (as per earlier answers) to enable both 'Edit Options' in the Properties panel (from the System menu).

Constantia

Answer 18

In the properties of the console you can activate the "Quick Edit Mode" under "Edit Options", that way you can paste inside the console just right clicking. Or you can use 'Insert' as they say.

Denney

Answer 19

To copy select the text and click CTRL+INS

To paste place the cursor where you want to print

and click SHIFT+INS

For more options, on the top left click on git-bash icon

Ehf

Yours is the most useful answer. Thank you. – Melentha

Answer 20

I was actually wondering how to do this today...and coincidentally, Phil Haack posted a tip about using posh-git (Git on powershell), which gives you tab auto-complete and a few more cool bits. I'm not going back to Git bash.

check it out

http://haacked.com/archive/2011/12/13/better-git-with-powershell.aspx

Jerusalem

Answer 21

Yep, copy from somewhere else using ctrl+c and paste using INSERT. Work for me on Window 8.

Marcionism

Answer 22

1. Right-click on the git bash.
2. Select Options
3. Click on the Mouse option on the left side bar.
4. Select this highlighted option, it will be used as a paste.
5. Don't worry, you can get the options when you do right-click on the top bar of the terminal.

Jacobs

Right mouse click after this configuration still triggers visual mode in VIM. holding shift key + right mouse click worked for me. – Mausoleum

Answer 23

In windows I'm not sure about copy but for paste works Ctrl+Insert. In Linux copy: CTRL+SHIFT+C, paste: CTRL+SHIFT+V

Alica

Answer 24

I use the mouse:

1. mark
2. right click -> copy
3. right click -> paste

Uniat

Answer 25

COPY:Click the title bar, choose mark, then select the content you want to copy. PASTE: Copy what you want to past, focus on the bash, hit the insert key on the keyboard.

Dorey

Answer 26

For users working on Windows 7, Shift + INSERT works fine.

Dongola

Answer 27

I take it you're not on a Mac. Use insert key.

Marcionism

Answer 28

Here are a lot of answers already but non of them worked for me. Fyi I have a Lenovo laptop with win10 and what works for me is the following:

---

Paste = Shift+fn+prt sc

---

Copy = Shift+fn+c

Genie

Answer 29

I also go through the same problem, git bash does not support tradition method to copy and paste in windows but you can simply copy and paste in single command

SHIFT+fn+INSERT

Leesaleese

Answer 30

If you click at the icon on the upper left corner, a drop-down menu will appear, and you can find the option to copy/paste from there.

Decompose

Answer 31

on my keyboard insert is located on the same key as a Printscreen. unfortunately, ctrl + ins doesn't work for me , so i descoved the following working combinations for me:

FN + CTRL + PRT SC - for copy

FN + SHIFT + PRT SC - for insert

Upton

Answer 32

If you want to paste press:

shift + insert

Stinker

This is already mentioned in this earlier answer. – Diagnostician

Answer 33

The solution that worked is for:

• desktop keyboard: [shift] + [insert] keys to paste

• laptop keyboard: [shift] + [0] keys to paste

NB: For laptops, the 0 Key at the bottom of the number pad on the upper-right corner of your keyboard will function as an Insert Key when Num Lock is turned off. That is why it is labeled with both 0 and Ins on the key itself.

Claque

Answer 34

Just copy the link. Then press SHIFT + INSERT.

Soiree

This has already been mentioned in other answers such as https://mcmap.net/q/63370/-how-do-you-copy-and-paste-into-git-bash – Invalidate

Did not work for me on Windows11 and HP Notebook – Dominican

Answer 35

For Windows 11 users- GitBash version 2.39.0.windows.2 (64-bit):

To copy it's: Ctrl + Insert

To paste it's: Shift + Insert

Malva

Did not work for me. – Dominican

HP laptops don't have insert key. – Sarajane

Answer 36

MacBook pro doesnt have an ins key. Use FN + ENTER to paste

Spearwort