How to reload screenrc without restarting screen?

Question

After modified screenrc, how to see the changes without restarting screen?

score 126 · Accepted Answer · edited Jan 23 '13 at 06:51

126

You could try Ctrl-a : source ~/.screenrc.

edited Jan 23 '13 at 06:51

djd

103

answered Oct 25 '10 at 18:51

Dennis Williamson

64,083

holydevil · Answer 2 · 2015-05-19T01:19:52.560

38

I tried the option mentioned here - Ctrl-a : source ~/.screenrc and it didn't work for me.

This is what worked for me - Ctrl-a : source $HOME/.screenrc

edited May 19 '15 at 01:19

answered Dec 08 '11 at 10:30

holydevil

491
4
4

score 23 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 31 '11 at 16:57

I have this in my .screenrc file:

bind R eval "source $HOME/.screenrc" "echo '.screenrc reloaded!'"

Which causes screen to reload the .screenrc file when Ctrl-AShift-R is pressed.

Of course, this only works if you've already got the line in your .screenrc file! To 'bootstrap' this sortcut on an existing screen session, add the line above line to your .screenrc file and then follow @Dennis Williamson's answer. After that, you'll be able to use the new keyboard shortcut.

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Oct 09 '20 at 09:29

The Ctrl-a : source ~/.screenrc (or variants) mentioned by others are indeed "the way to go".

But if you are using a frontend for screen (e.g. byobu), a bit of extra work is needed:

Open a new terminal
Attach the screen here too: screen -x
Run Ctrl-a : source ~/.screenrc (like everyone suggested)
Detach the screen: Ctrl-a d
Stop the new terminal: exit

The settings are now applied everywhere this screen is attached, no matter what frontend you are using. (Even when using no frontend at all)

How to reload screenrc without restarting screen?

4 Answers4