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Overview **When using [GNU *screen*](https://www.baeldung.com/linux/screen-command), we can sometimes end up with detached sessions that need cleanup.** In this quick tutorial, we’ll walk through a few options for killing a detached *screen* session. ## 2\. Listing Sessions Before we start discussing how to end existing sessions, let’s first go through listing existing sessions. First, let’s set up a couple of sample screen sessions. In a bash shell, let’s type: ``` Copy ``` This will create two sessions named *my\_session\_1* and *my\_session\_2*. Notice we are not attached to either (thanks to the *\-d* option). Now, let’s take a look at the sessions we created: ``` % screen -listCopy ``` Our two sessions show up: ``` Copy ``` Next, let’s talk about how to kill these sessions. ## 3\. Attach and Kill a *screen* Session One way we can kill a *screen* session is to attach and then kill it. So, let’s attach to the first session we created above: ``` % screen -r my_session_1Copy ``` Our command prompt is now inside our session. So we can just type: ``` % exitCopy ``` The session will end, and we should see: ``` [screen is terminating]Copy ``` Now we only have one session left: ``` Copy ``` **If the *screen* session had more than one window, we’d have to type *exit* (or *CTRL+a k*) at every window before the *screen* session would end**. An easier alternative is the [*quit* command](https://www.gnu.org/software/screen/manual/screen.html#Quit): ``` CTRL+a \Copy ``` (Note: you need to hold CTRL+a while hitting the *\\* key.) This prompts us with a confirmation: ``` Really quit and kill all your windows [y/n]Copy ``` We choose to close all session windows to end the *screen* session. The above-attached scenario is straightforward because we created the *screen* session in the same window. Now, **if there’s another terminal or user attached to the session we want to kill, we need a different command to attach**. In our current terminal window, create a new session: ``` % screen -S my_session_3Copy ``` The *\-S* will create the session and attach it to it. Now, let’s open a second terminal window and list our *screen* sessions: ``` Copy ``` Notice this is now “Attached” because we are attached in our first terminal. In our second terminal, we’re going to force the session to detach from the first terminal window and attach to the second terminal. In the second terminal, type: ``` % screen -D -R my_session_3Copy ``` Our second terminal is now in the *screen* session. Our first terminal shows a warning and is back at the terminal: ``` [remote power detached]Copy ``` Now we can use *exit* as shown in the previous section. ## 4\. Kill a *screen* Session Without Attaching As an alternative to attaching to a session to end it, let’s look at a couple of ways to end a *screen* session without attaching. First, let’s create a couple of sessions to kill: ``` Copy ``` Our two sessions are now created: ``` Copy ``` We can now **use the *screen* command argument *\-X* to send a command to a running *screen* session**. The *\-S* will allow us to specify the session that will receive the command. So, to send a *quit* command to *my\_session\_4*, we would use: ``` % screen -S my_session_4 -X quitCopy ``` The *screen -list* shows our current sessions: ``` Copy ``` Lastly, we can always **kill a *screen* session via OS commands**. The numbers prepending the name are the PID of the *screen* session. To kill our last session, we can use [*kill*](https://www.man7.org/linux/man-pages/man1/kill.1.html): ``` % kill 19671Copy ``` Checking our *screen* sessions now, we’ll see: ``` Copy ``` ## 5\. 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## 1\. Overview **When using [GNU *screen*](https://www.baeldung.com/linux/screen-command), we can sometimes end up with detached sessions that need cleanup.** In this quick tutorial, we’ll walk through a few options for killing a detached *screen* session. ## 2\. Listing Sessions Before we start discussing how to end existing sessions, let’s first go through listing existing sessions. First, let’s set up a couple of sample screen sessions. In a bash shell, let’s type: ``` % screen -dmS my_session_1 % screen -dmS my_session_2 ``` This will create two sessions named *my\_session\_1* and *my\_session\_2*. Notice we are not attached to either (thanks to the *\-d* option). Now, let’s take a look at the sessions we created: ``` % screen -list ``` Our two sessions show up: ``` There are screens on: 84581.my_session_1 (Detached) 76340.my_session_2 (Detached) ``` Next, let’s talk about how to kill these sessions. ## 3\. Attach and Kill a *screen* Session One way we can kill a *screen* session is to attach and then kill it. So, let’s attach to the first session we created above: ``` % screen -r my_session_1 ``` Our command prompt is now inside our session. So we can just type: ``` % exit ``` The session will end, and we should see: ``` [screen is terminating] ``` Now we only have one session left: ``` % screen -list There is a screen on: 76340.my_session_2 (Detached) ``` **If the *screen* session had more than one window, we’d have to type *exit* (or *CTRL+a k*) at every window before the *screen* session would end**. An easier alternative is the [*quit* command](https://www.gnu.org/software/screen/manual/screen.html#Quit): ``` CTRL+a \ ``` (Note: you need to hold CTRL+a while hitting the *\\* key.) This prompts us with a confirmation: ``` Really quit and kill all your windows [y/n] ``` We choose to close all session windows to end the *screen* session. The above-attached scenario is straightforward because we created the *screen* session in the same window. Now, **if there’s another terminal or user attached to the session we want to kill, we need a different command to attach**. In our current terminal window, create a new session: ``` % screen -S my_session_3 ``` The *\-S* will create the session and attach it to it. Now, let’s open a second terminal window and list our *screen* sessions: ``` % screen -list There is a screen on: 19643.my_session_3 (Attached) ``` Notice this is now “Attached” because we are attached in our first terminal. In our second terminal, we’re going to force the session to detach from the first terminal window and attach to the second terminal. In the second terminal, type: ``` % screen -D -R my_session_3 ``` Our second terminal is now in the *screen* session. Our first terminal shows a warning and is back at the terminal: ``` [remote power detached] ``` Now we can use *exit* as shown in the previous section. ## 4\. Kill a *screen* Session Without Attaching As an alternative to attaching to a session to end it, let’s look at a couple of ways to end a *screen* session without attaching. First, let’s create a couple of sessions to kill: ``` % screen -dmS my_session_4 % screen -dmS my_session_5 ``` Our two sessions are now created: ``` % screen -list There are screens on: 19665.my_session_4 (Detached) 19671.my_session_5 (Detached) ``` We can now **use the *screen* command argument *\-X* to send a command to a running *screen* session**. The *\-S* will allow us to specify the session that will receive the command. So, to send a *quit* command to *my\_session\_4*, we would use: ``` % screen -S my_session_4 -X quit ``` The *screen -list* shows our current sessions: ``` % screen -list There is a screen on: 19671.my_session_5 (Detached) ``` Lastly, we can always **kill a *screen* session via OS commands**. The numbers prepending the name are the PID of the *screen* session. To kill our last session, we can use [*kill*](https://www.man7.org/linux/man-pages/man1/kill.1.html): ``` % kill 19671 ``` Checking our *screen* sessions now, we’ll see: ``` % screen -list No Sockets found in /var/folders/wr/129xvd3dfecl/T/.screen. ``` ## 5\. Conclusion In this article, we walked through various ways to kill a detached *screen* session.