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In GNOME Terminal, the “Select All” option (usually accessed via Edit > Select All or Ctrl+Shift+A) only selects the text currently visible on the screen. To select all text in the terminal, including content in the scrollback buffer (beyond what’s visible), you can use one of these methods:

Method 1: Increase Scrollback Buffer and Manual Selection

1. Ensure Scrollback is Enabled:
   • Go to Edit > Profile Preferences in GNOME Terminal.
   • Under the “Scrolling” tab, ensure the scrollback buffer is set to a high number or “Unlimited” to capture all terminal output.
2. Manual Selection:
   • Scroll to the top of the terminal output using the mouse or Shift+Page Up.
   • Click and drag from the top to the bottom to select all text manually.
   • Alternatively, use Shift+Home to jump to the start of the buffer, then click and drag or use Shift+End to select to the end.

Method 2: Use a Command to Capture All Output

If you want to capture all terminal output (including scrollback), you can redirect or copy the output using a command:

1. Redirect Output to a File:
   • If you know the command generating the output, rerun it with redirection:

     command > output.txt
     

     This saves all output to output.txt, which you can then open and select.

2. Use script to Record Terminal Session:
   • Start a recording session with:

     script output.log
     

   • Run your commands, then type exit to stop recording.
   • Open output.log to select all text.

Method 3: Copy Scrollback Buffer via Terminal Command

1. Use the tee command or similar to capture output while running commands:

   command | tee output.txt
   

   This displays the output in the terminal and saves it to output.txt.

2. Open the file in a text editor to select all text easily.

Method 4: Use tmux or screen for Advanced Control

If you frequently need to capture all terminal output:

1. Install and Use tmux:
   • Install tmux:

     sudo apt install tmux  # On Debian/Ubuntu
     

   • Start a tmux session:

     tmux
     

   • Run your commands.
   • Enter scroll mode with Ctrl+b, [, then press Ctrl+a, Ctrl+e to select all text in the buffer.
   • Copy with Ctrl+b, ] (after configuring tmux to enable copying).
2. Save tmux Buffer:
   • Save the entire buffer to a file:

     tmux capture-pane -S - -E - -b 0 -J > output.txt
     

   • Open output.txt to select all text.

Limitations

• GNOME Terminal itself doesn’t have a built-in “select all scrollback” feature via the GUI.
• The scrollback buffer size may limit how much text is available if not set to unlimited.
• For very large outputs, using tmux, screen, or redirecting to a file is more reliable.

If you need further clarification or help with a specific command, let me know!

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