---
name: "xclip-copyfile"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "xclip"
version: "0.13-6"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/xclip-copyfile"
---

# xclip-copyfile(1)

copy and move files via the X clipboard

## NAME

xclip-copyfile, xclip-cutfile, xclip-pastefile - copy and move files via the X clipboard

## SYNOPSIS

**xclip-copyfile** \[-p\] FILES...

**xclip-cutfile** \[-p\] FILES...

**xclip-pastefile**

## DESCRIPTION

**xclip-copyfile** copies files into the X clipboard, recursing into directories.

**xclip-cutfile** copies the files, but also deletes them afterwards.

- **-p**

  preserve path formation

**xclip-pastefile** pastes the files out of the clipboard

## EXAMPLES

**Copying a file to a remote host**

```
[maggie.lkpg.cendio.se ~]$ echo "A file created on ${HOSTNAME}" > file1
[maggie.lkpg.cendio.se ~]$ xclip-copyfile file1
[sofie.homeip.net ~/doc]$ xclip-pastefile
file1
[sofie.homeip.net ~/doc]$ cat file1
A file created on maggie.lkpg.cendio.se
Copying an entire tree structure
[sofie.homeip.net ~]$ xclip-copyfile doc
[maggie.lkpg.cendio.se ~/tmp]$ xclip-pastefile
doc/
doc/letter-mom-april.txt
doc/file1
doc/letter-dad-march.txt
Copying files with preserved path information
[maggie.lkpg.cendio.se ~]$ xclip-copyfile -p /etc/sysconfig/grub
tar: Removing leading `/' from member names
[sofie.homeip.net ~/tmp]$ xclip-pastefile
etc/sysconfig/grub
[sofie.homeip.net ~/tmp]$ ls etc/sysconfig/grub
etc/sysconfig/grub
Moving files
[sofie.homeip.net ~]$ ls letter-brother-may.txt
letter-brother-may.txt
[sofie.homeip.net ~]$ xclip-cutfile letter-brother-may.txt
[sofie.homeip.net ~]$ ls letter-brother-may.txt
ls: cannot access letter-brother-may.txt: No such file or directory
[sofie.homeip.net ~]$ cd doc
[sofie.homeip.net ~/doc]$ xclip-pastefile
letter-brother-may.txt
```

## AUTHORS

This manual page was written by Maximilian Gass \<mxey@cloudconnected.org\> for the Debian project. It may be used for everything else, of course.