diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@
     "d3": "^5.8.2",
     "datatables.net-bs4": "^1.10.19",
     "ejs": "^2.6.1",
+    "elementsfrompoint-polyfill": "^1.0.0",
     "eslint": "^5.15.1",
     "eslint-loader": "^2.1.2",
     "eslint-plugin-import": "^2.16.0",
diff --git a/swh/web/assets/src/bundles/vendors/index.js b/swh/web/assets/src/bundles/vendors/index.js
--- a/swh/web/assets/src/bundles/vendors/index.js
+++ b/swh/web/assets/src/bundles/vendors/index.js
@@ -8,10 +8,11 @@
 // vendors bundles centralizing assets used in all swh-web applications
 
 // polyfills in order to use advanced js features (like Promise or fetch)
-// in older browsers
+// in browsers that do not support them
 import '@babel/polyfill';
 import 'whatwg-fetch/dist/fetch.umd';
 import 'url-search-params-polyfill';
+import 'elementsfrompoint-polyfill';
 
 // jquery and bootstrap
 import 'jquery';
diff --git a/swh/web/assets/src/bundles/webapp/webapp-utils.js b/swh/web/assets/src/bundles/webapp/webapp-utils.js
--- a/swh/web/assets/src/bundles/webapp/webapp-utils.js
+++ b/swh/web/assets/src/bundles/webapp/webapp-utils.js
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import objectFitImages from 'object-fit-images';
 import {Layout} from 'admin-lte';
+import {selectText} from 'utils/functions';
 
 let collapseSidebar = false;
 let previousSidebarState = localStorage.getItem('swh-sidebar-collapsed');
@@ -80,6 +81,35 @@
   // reparent the modals to the top navigation div in order to be able
   // to display them
   $('.swh-browse-top-navigation').append($('.modal'));
+
+  let selectedCode = null;
+
+  // click handler to set focus on code block for copy
+  $(document).click(e => {
+    let elts = document.elementsFromPoint(e.clientX, e.clientY);
+    selectedCode = null;
+    for (let elt of elts) {
+      if (elt.nodeName === 'CODE' || elt.nodeName === 'PRE') {
+        selectedCode = elt;
+        break;
+      }
+    }
+  });
+
+  // select the whole text of focused code block when user hits Ctrl+A
+  $(document).keydown(e => {
+    if ((e.ctrlKey || e.metaKey) && e.key === 'a') {
+      if (selectedCode) {
+        let hljsLnCodeElts = $(selectedCode).find('.hljs-ln-code');
+        if (hljsLnCodeElts.length) {
+          selectText(hljsLnCodeElts[0], hljsLnCodeElts[hljsLnCodeElts.length - 1]);
+        } else {
+          selectText(selectedCode.firstChild, selectedCode.lastChild);
+        }
+        e.preventDefault();
+      }
+    }
+  });
 });
 
 export function initPage(page) {
diff --git a/swh/web/assets/src/utils/functions.js b/swh/web/assets/src/utils/functions.js
--- a/swh/web/assets/src/utils/functions.js
+++ b/swh/web/assets/src/utils/functions.js
@@ -47,3 +47,16 @@
 export function removeUrlFragment() {
   history.replaceState('', document.title, window.location.pathname + window.location.search);
 }
+
+export function selectText(startNode, endNode) {
+  let selection = window.getSelection();
+  selection.removeAllRanges();
+  let range = document.createRange();
+  range.setStart(startNode, 0);
+  if (endNode.nodeName !== '#text') {
+    range.setEnd(endNode, endNode.childNodes.length);
+  } else {
+    range.setEnd(endNode, endNode.textContent.length);
+  }
+  selection.addRange(range);
+}
diff --git a/yarn.lock b/yarn.lock
--- a/yarn.lock
+++ b/yarn.lock
@@ -2941,6 +2941,11 @@
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/electron-to-chromium/-/electron-to-chromium-1.3.113.tgz#b1ccf619df7295aea17bc6951dc689632629e4a9"
   integrity sha512-De+lPAxEcpxvqPTyZAXELNpRZXABRxf+uL/rSykstQhzj/B0l1150G/ExIIxKc16lI89Hgz81J0BHAcbTqK49g==
 
+elementsfrompoint-polyfill@^1.0.0:
+  version "1.0.0"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/elementsfrompoint-polyfill/-/elementsfrompoint-polyfill-1.0.0.tgz#045291ca64fa4236e8edc01fdfe395ffc5613659"
+  integrity sha512-hw+c1PUOkZ5B8ulcIuwNH0rHLGL9tOKOjazS+jFWpoRC3we68fYEuQ+ap70CMd778iHfe+3lSEbElz0t6Y0yvw==
+
 elliptic@^6.0.0:
   version "6.4.1"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/elliptic/-/elliptic-6.4.1.tgz#c2d0b7776911b86722c632c3c06c60f2f819939a"