diff --git a/src/client/TerminalView.tsx b/src/client/TerminalView.tsx
index 5c476047..34c8b57e 100644
--- a/src/client/TerminalView.tsx
+++ b/src/client/TerminalView.tsx
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ import { api, type SessionScope, type TerminalDepsStatus } from './api.ts'
 import { agentUuidOf, isAgentTabId, type SidebarStore } from './state.ts'
 import { isDarkScheme, subscribeColorScheme, effectiveTokenValue, tokenValue } from './theme.ts'
 import { resolveTerminalFont } from './terminal-font.ts'
+import { handleTerminalCopyKeyEvent } from './terminal-keybindings.ts'
 import {
   buildTerminalLinks,
   shouldActivateTerminalLink,
@@ -135,6 +136,13 @@ export function TerminalView(props: { scope: SessionScope; tabId: string; store:
     })
     const fit = new FitAddon()
     term.loadAddon(fit)
+    // Match native terminal ergonomics on Windows/Linux: Ctrl+C copies an
+    // active selection, but remains ETX/SIGINT when nothing is selected.
+    // Ctrl+Shift+C cannot serve as the browser fallback because Chromium
+    // reserves it for DevTools before xterm receives the event.
+    term.attachCustomKeyEventHandler(event => (
+      handleTerminalCopyKeyEvent(event, term, writeClipboard)
+    ))
     // Ctrl+Click (Cmd+Click on mac) opens http(s) URLs printed in the
     // pty stream — a plain click is left for xterm's text-selection
     // gesture. Only http(s) is dispatched; file:// / mailto: / etc. are
diff --git a/src/client/terminal-keybindings.ts b/src/client/terminal-keybindings.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..28336e0d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/client/terminal-keybindings.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+/**
+ * Terminal keyboard overrides kept outside TerminalView so their modifier
+ * gates and side effects can be unit-tested without mounting xterm.
+ */
+
+/** The subset of xterm used by the selection-copy shortcut. */
+export interface TerminalSelectionSource {
+  hasSelection(): boolean
+  getSelection(): string
+}
+
+/** Clipboard writer shape shared with dsh-client-ui-primitives. */
+export type ClipboardWriter = (text: string) => Promise<boolean>
+
+/**
+ * Copy an active terminal selection on plain Ctrl+C.
+ *
+ * Returning false tells xterm not to translate the key into ETX/SIGINT. When
+ * there is no selection (or another modifier is present), returning true
+ * preserves the terminal's normal key handling.
+ */
+export function handleTerminalCopyKeyEvent(
+  event: KeyboardEvent,
+  terminal: TerminalSelectionSource,
+  writeClipboard: ClipboardWriter,
+): boolean {
+  const isCopy = event.type === 'keydown'
+    && event.ctrlKey
+    && !event.shiftKey
+    && !event.altKey
+    && !event.metaKey
+    && event.key.toLowerCase() === 'c'
+    && terminal.hasSelection()
+
+  if (!isCopy) return true
+
+  event.preventDefault()
+  event.stopPropagation()
+  void writeClipboard(terminal.getSelection())
+  return false
+}
diff --git a/tests/terminal-keybindings.spec.ts b/tests/terminal-keybindings.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c54fa3c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/terminal-keybindings.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+/**
+ * Terminal Ctrl+C selection-copy regression tests (issue #465): copying an
+ * active selection must not send ETX to the shell, while every non-matching
+ * key path remains under xterm's normal handling.
+ */
+import { describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest'
+import {
+  handleTerminalCopyKeyEvent,
+  type TerminalSelectionSource,
+} from '../src/client/terminal-keybindings.ts'
+
+function keyboardEvent(overrides: Partial<KeyboardEvent> = {}): KeyboardEvent {
+  return {
+    type: 'keydown',
+    key: 'c',
+    ctrlKey: true,
+    shiftKey: false,
+    altKey: false,
+    metaKey: false,
+    preventDefault: vi.fn(),
+    stopPropagation: vi.fn(),
+    ...overrides,
+  } as unknown as KeyboardEvent
+}
+
+function terminal(selected: boolean, text = 'selected output'): TerminalSelectionSource {
+  return {
+    hasSelection: vi.fn(() => selected),
+    getSelection: vi.fn(() => text),
+  }
+}
+
+describe('handleTerminalCopyKeyEvent', () => {
+  it.each(['c', 'C'])('copies an active selection for Ctrl+%s and prevents xterm from sending ETX', (key) => {
+    const event = keyboardEvent({ key })
+    const source = terminal(true)
+    const writeClipboard = vi.fn(async () => true)
+
+    expect(handleTerminalCopyKeyEvent(event, source, writeClipboard)).toBe(false)
+    expect(writeClipboard).toHaveBeenCalledWith('selected output')
+    expect(event.preventDefault).toHaveBeenCalledOnce()
+    expect(event.stopPropagation).toHaveBeenCalledOnce()
+  })
+
+  it('leaves Ctrl+C to xterm when there is no selection', () => {
+    const event = keyboardEvent()
+    const source = terminal(false)
+    const writeClipboard = vi.fn(async () => true)
+
+    expect(handleTerminalCopyKeyEvent(event, source, writeClipboard)).toBe(true)
+    expect(writeClipboard).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+    expect(event.preventDefault).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+    expect(event.stopPropagation).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+  })
+
+  it.each([
+    ['keyup', { type: 'keyup' }],
+    ['missing Ctrl', { ctrlKey: false }],
+    ['Shift', { shiftKey: true }],
+    ['Alt', { altKey: true }],
+    ['Meta', { metaKey: true }],
+    ['another key', { key: 'v' }],
+  ] satisfies Array<[string, Partial<KeyboardEvent>]>)('does not intercept %s', (_name, overrides) => {
+    const event = keyboardEvent(overrides)
+    const source = terminal(true)
+    const writeClipboard = vi.fn(async () => true)
+
+    expect(handleTerminalCopyKeyEvent(event, source, writeClipboard)).toBe(true)
+    expect(writeClipboard).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+  })
+})