pbcopy

Copy text to clipboard

$ echo "[text]" | pbcopy

$ pbcopy < [file.txt]

$ ls -la | pbcopy

$ pbpaste

$ pbpaste > [file.txt]

pbcopy [options]
pbpaste [options]

pbcopy copies standard input to the macOS clipboard (pasteboard). Its companion pbpaste outputs clipboard contents to standard output.
These tools integrate the command line with the graphical clipboard, enabling scripted clipboard operations.

-pboard name

Pasteboard name (general, ruler, find, font).

Preferred data type (txt, rtf, ps).

Copy output and paste elsewhere:

$ cat file.txt | pbcopy
# Cmd+V in any application

$ pbpaste | grep pattern

macOS only. Rich text may not copy as expected. Binary data needs careful handling. Pasteboard changes affect system clipboard.

pbcopy and pbpaste are macOS utilities provided by Apple. They have been part of macOS since early versions, providing command-line access to the system pasteboard (clipboard).

xclip(1), xsel(1), wl-copy(1)