On Linux, Control-C and Control-V don't work for copying and pasting in terminals. The Control modifier is used for its original purpose of inserting control codes. Instead, terminal apps require an extra Shift modifier, like Control+Shift+C.
But what if there were hidden shortcut combos for copy and paste on Linux that work across most apps without adding any additional software or configuration? By the end of 2025, this will be the case, and many apps already support them. Here's the scoop!
Copy and Paste keys?
In a story of "what's old is new again", the solution dates back to ancient keyboards with physical keys for Copy and Paste.
Sun Microsystems Type 5 Keyboard with the Copy and Paste keys highlighted.
Because physical copy and paste keys existed, Linux supported them as recognized key codes. But simply to exist as keycodes is not enough to make them work. To trigger the copy or paste keyboard actions, software has to bind these key codes to actions. Software toolkits or apps themselves are responsible for this.
Which brings us to the present. While you are unlikely to see physical copy and paste keys anymore, there's a growing adoption of keyboards with custom firmware– programmable keyboards– and these keyboards allow you to define layers that send whatever keycodes that you like.
Think of a phone keyboard– one key on the virtual keyboard is used to switch from the main layer to a number layer. Same idea. Easy to use.
This solution requires some support by both hardware and software. Let's look at the hardware side first.
Hardware support
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