Pipe Terminal output straight to the clipboard — via SS64

Commandlow riskmacOS 14 Sonoma and later

pbcopy puts anything you send it on the clipboard, and pbpaste prints what's on the clipboard. No more selecting long Terminal output with the mouse.

Takes effect right away

The easy way

Copy a command's output: ls ~ | pbcopy.
Copy a file's contents: pbcopy < notes.txt.
Use the clipboard in a command: pbpaste | wc -l counts the lines you copied.

Command

Run in Terminal (Applications › Utilities).

ls ~ | pbcopy

Sources

pbcopy — by SS64

Source reviewed: 2026-11-02
Link checked: 2026-11-02
Tested hands-on: Not by Oddbyte.Me

Oddbyte.Me hasn't tried this on every macOS version, so keep the undo handy.

pbcopypbpasteclipboardterminalcopy

More in Hidden Tools & Commands

Download a full macOS installer from Terminal — via SS64

Commandlow risk

softwareupdate can list and download complete macOS installers, including older versions Apple still serves. Useful for making a bootable USB installer or installing on another Mac without hunting through the App Store. This entry only downloads; it doesn't install anything.

Search with Spotlight from Terminal (mdfind) — via SS64

Commandlow risk

mdfind runs Spotlight searches from the command line, so it's instant even across your whole drive. It can search by name, by content, or by metadata like 'images edited yesterday' or 'files tagged Green'.

Make your Mac talk, or turn text into an audio file — via SS64

Commandlow risk

The say command reads text aloud in any installed voice. Add it to the end of a long command to hear when it finishes, or save a text file as audio to listen to later.