Gnome Screenshot Copy Clipboard not working on Ubuntu 20.04

Question

I've just upgraded to Ubuntu 20.04 from 18.04. Gnome screenshot command does not work anymore. The command does not copy the screenshot to the clipboard.

gnome-screenshot -a -c

Solution 1

Please try with CTRL + Shift + PrintSc

In my case, the solution is in configuration > key combinations > search the command and update the key combination. Currently, I take a screenshot area with shift + PrintSc and it is working for me!

Solution 2

After months of banging my head and fingers, it is like so:

Main behavior:
Prtscn => Saves Full screen to folder [default ~/Pictures]

Modifiers

• +Ctrl => Saves to clipboard
• +Alt => Saves current window
• +Shift => Draws area to save

And all combinations. [except alt + shift which behaves like alt alone]

For Example:
Ctrl + Shift + Prtscn will let you select area and save it to clipboard

Solution 3

I found a workaround in https://askubuntu.com/a/1212806/1074472

gnome-screenshot -acf /tmp/test && cat /tmp/test | xclip -i -selection clipboard -target image/png

You need to have xclip installed.

Solution 4

I think the issue has been there for a while. It is probably due to a bug in recent versions of gnome-setting-daemon, which clears data in clipboard when the app is closed. Thus, when the command gnome-screenshot -a -c runs and finishes, the screenshot is saved to clipboard and then cleared. That is the best guess for now.

For more information and updates, please refer to https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-screenshot/-/issues/66

Solution 5

My solution (Ubuntu 20.04.1) was to use only the first part of Faith Baltaci's answer:

gnome-screenshot -acf /tmp/test && cat /tmp/test

View more solutions

Comments

[Admin]

same problem with my 20.04 not with ctrl+prtsc and not with gnome-screenshot -a -c

[Admin]

I am finding it sometimes works. No idea why. Sometimes when I shift + printscreen THEN ctrl click it works.

[abdulmanov.ilmir]

Ctrl + Shift + PrintScreen If you'd like to select a certain area of your screen and put it in clipboard.

[user334639]

Please add a warning that this leaks data through the /tmp folder. On Ubuntu 20.04 with Gnome, gnome-screenshot -acf /tmp/tmp.png is enough.

[mathtick]

That site gitlab gnome will not even allow logins to post. Totally broken now.

[Admin]

are WE , the users , waiting for "act of congress" to get this WHERE is used to be - working ! ( Are "Inmates (still ) running the asylum ?" AKA HOW did the WORKING macro got changed?

[abelito]

This is exactly the issue I'm running into using gnome-screenshot in i3. Verified by using the "Copy to Clipboard" functionality from gnome-screenshot -a , hitting the "Copy to Clipboard" button and testing it in GIMP (worked), then closing the process and seeing that my clipboard was empty by trying to paste it again in GIMP.

[100rabh]

this works for me.

[mdev]

I can confirm this works in Ubuntu 20.04.4 LTS

[Admin]

If you modify this to save to Pictures/latest_screenshot.png instead of the temp directory, it turns the "information leak" into an intentional feature where it saves to a file AND the clipboard.