diff --git a/src/SessionController.cpp b/src/SessionController.cpp
--- a/src/SessionController.cpp
+++ b/src/SessionController.cpp
@@ -990,9 +990,7 @@
 }
 void SessionController::selectAll()
 {
-    ScreenWindow * screenWindow = _view->screenWindow();
-    screenWindow->setSelectionByLineRange(0, _session->emulation()->lineCount());
-    _view->copyToX11Selection();
+    _view->selectAll();
 }
 void SessionController::selectLine()
 {
diff --git a/src/TerminalDisplay.h b/src/TerminalDisplay.h
--- a/src/TerminalDisplay.h
+++ b/src/TerminalDisplay.h
@@ -528,6 +528,11 @@
     // Select the current line.
     void selectCurrentLine();
 
+    /**
+     * Selects everything in the terminal
+     */
+    void selectAll();
+
     void printContent(QPainter &painter, bool friendly);
 
     /**
diff --git a/src/TerminalDisplay.cpp b/src/TerminalDisplay.cpp
--- a/src/TerminalDisplay.cpp
+++ b/src/TerminalDisplay.cpp
@@ -380,7 +380,7 @@
     , _actSel(0)
     , _wordSelectionMode(false)
     , _lineSelectionMode(false)
-    , _preserveLineBreaks(false)
+    , _preserveLineBreaks(true)
     , _columnSelectionMode(false)
     , _autoCopySelectedText(false)
     , _copyTextAsHTML(true)
@@ -3076,6 +3076,17 @@
     selectLine(cursorPosition(), true);
 }
 
+void TerminalDisplay::selectAll()
+{
+    if (_screenWindow.isNull()) {
+        return;
+    }
+
+    _preserveLineBreaks = true;
+    _screenWindow->setSelectionByLineRange(0, _screenWindow->lineCount());
+    copyToX11Selection();
+}
+
 bool TerminalDisplay::focusNextPrevChild(bool next)
 {
     // for 'Tab', always disable focus switching among widgets