Table of Contents
Overview of PuTTY
PuTTY is a popular free and open source SSH and telnet client for Windows. It allows you to securely connect to Linux/Unix servers and run commands as if you were sitting in front of the machine.
Key features of PuTTY:
- Secure Shell (SSH) client for remotely accessing Linux/Unix servers
- Telnet client for connecting to Telnet servers
- Supports SSH key authentication for added security
- Supports SSH port forwarding for tunneling applications
- Highly configurable with many options
- Lightweight and fast
- Completely free and open source
Copying Text in PuTTY
Copying text in PuTTY works a bit differently than other Windows applications. Here are the steps:
- Select the text – Click and drag your mouse over the text you want to copy to highlight it
- The text is automatically copied – There are no extra key presses. Just highlighting the text copies it.
- Paste in another application – You can now paste the text in any application using Ctrl + V or the Paste option.
So the key things to remember are:
- No need to press Ctrl + C to copy
- Just highlighting the text copies it automatically
- Paste as you normally would in other applications
Pro Tip: You can double click to quickly select an entire word in PuTTY.
Pasting Text into PuTTY
To paste text from your Windows clipboard into PuTTY:
- Copy text – Copy the text you want to paste using Ctrl + C or Copy in any application
- Position cursor in PuTTY – Click inside the PuTTY window where you want to paste
- Right click to paste – Right click your mouse and the text will be pasted
Alternatively, you can press Shift + Ins to paste instead of right clicking.
Things to note:
- You must right click or press Shift + Ins to paste
- Ctrl + V does not work for pasting in PuTTY
- Text will be pasted exactly as if you typed it
Configuring Copy/Paste Settings
PuTTY allows you to customize some copy/paste settings:
To enable shortcut keys:
- Go to Window > Selection
- Check the box for Ctrl+Shift+C and Ctrl+Shift+V
- Set them both to System clipboard
This will allow you to use Ctrl+Shift+C to copy and Ctrl+Shift+V to paste.
To swap mouse buttons:
- Go to Window > Selection
- Change Action of mouse buttons
- Set Right button to Extend selection
- Set Middle button to Paste
This will make the right mouse button select text and the middle button paste.
Tips for Working Efficiently
Here are some tips for using PuTTY more efficiently:
- Use keyboard shortcuts – Learn shortcuts like Ctrl+A, Ctrl+E to navigate faster
- Paste commands from docs – Quickly copy/paste long commands instead of typing
- Auto-complete filenames/paths – Type the first few letters and press Tab
- Use the PuTTY clipboard – Copy multiple texts for later use
- Open multiple tabs – Connect to different servers in different tabs
- Save server profiles – Save frequently used server connections for quick access later
- Change font and color scheme – Customize PuTTY’s interface to your preference
Conclusion
In this article, we covered how to copy and paste text in PuTTY using the mouse and keyboard shortcuts. We also looked at configuring PuTTY’s copy/paste settings to your preferences. Finally, some tips were provided to help you work more efficiently with PuTTY.
The key things to remember are:
- Highlighting text copies it automatically
- Right click or Shift+Ins to paste text
- Use Ctrl+Shift+C/V if you enable the shortcuts
- Customize settings to swap mouse buttons
Mastering PuTTY’s copy and paste functionality will help you be more productive when accessing Linux servers. Combine that with all the other great features of PuTTY, and you have a powerful tool to manage remote servers right from Windows.