How to copy path of a file in emacs helm-mode

Question

I'm using helm-mode in emacs to open files. However, when I try to copy the path of a file (say /home/user1/Documents/file1.txt) through mouse left-click and hold to paste it in terminal, I get a message saying

<down-mouse-1> is undefined

I guess helm does not support mouse operations as described here, in which case how can I copy path of a file from emacs (in helm-mode) to paste it in terminal

Answer 1

The answer given in this other thread may seem more straightforward.

In short: with the file selected in the minibuffer use C-u C-c C-k. This invokes helm-kill-selection-and-quit. The file's full path is copied to the kill ring and can be pasted in Emacs or elsewhere.

Answer 2

I guess you want to copy from Minibuffer to your system clipboard. Minibuffer keybinding isn't different from other buffers. If in other buffers you use M-w to copy the region, it should also work in Minibuffer. Note that if you niled x-select-enable-clipboard you need to enable it first. I have the following functions in my init.el

(defun copy-to-clipboard()
  (interactive)
  (setq x-select-enable-clipboard t)
  (kill-ring-save (region-beginning) (region-end))
  (setq x-select-enable-clipboard nil))

and

(defun paste-from-clipboard ()
  (interactive)
  (setq x-select-enable-clipboard t)
  (yank)
  (setq x-select-enable-clipboard nil))

Unfortunately you can't use your mouse to select the texts (ie. to make a region) in helm-mode; you need to set-mark-command (by default C-SPC or C-@) and move your point (ie. cursor). Or just hold the shift and move the point like most other text editors. There is also a mark-word command (by default M-@) that expands the region word by word.

I also recorded an asciinema (because they're fun 🙂) that you can watch it here