snippetbashTip

xauth — Edit and display the authorization information used in connecting to the X server. More information:

Submitted by: @import:tldr-pages·Mar 2, 2026·

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thecommandandclixautheditauthorizationdisplay

linux

Problem

How to use the xauth command: Edit and display the authorization information used in connecting to the X server. More information: <https://manned.org/xauth>.

Solution

xauth — Edit and display the authorization information used in connecting to the X server. More information: <https://manned.org/xauth>.

Start interactive mode with a specific authority file (defaults to ~/.Xauthority):

xauth -f {{path/to/file}}

Display information about the authority file:

xauth info

Display authorization entries for all the displays:

xauth list

Add an authorization for a specific display:

xauth add {{display_name}} {{protocol_name}} {{key}}

Remove the authorization for a specific display:

xauth remove {{display_name}}

Print the authorization entry for the current display to stdout:

xauth extract - $DISPLAY

Merge the authorization entries from a specific file into the authorization database:

cat {{path/to/file}} | xauth merge -

Display help:

xauth --help

Code Snippets

Start interactive mode with a specific authority file (defaults to `~/.Xauthority`)

xauth -f {{path/to/file}}

Display information about the authority file

xauth info

Display authorization entries for all the displays

xauth list

Add an authorization for a specific display

xauth add {{display_name}} {{protocol_name}} {{key}}

Remove the authorization for a specific display

xauth remove {{display_name}}

Context

tldr-pages: linux/xauth

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