tmux 3 Cheatsheet

Sessions

• Start a named session — Create a new session called work.
• List sessions — Show the running sessions.
• Attach to a session — Reconnect to a running session.
• Detach from the session — Leave tmux running in the background. Press the prefix, then d.
• Switch sessions — Choose a session from an interactive list.
• Rename the session — Change the current session's name.
• Run a command in a background session — Start a session that runs a command without attaching to it.
• Kill a session — End a session and everything running in it.
• Kill all sessions — Stop the tmux server and every session.

Windows

• Create a window — Open a new window in the current session.
• Next or previous window — Move to the next or previous window.
• Go to a window by number — Jump straight to window number 2.
• Choose a window from a list — Show all windows and pick one.
• Rename the window — Change the current window's name.
• Close the window — Kill the current window after confirmation.

Panes

• Split side by side — Split the pane into left and right panes.
• Split top and bottom — Split the pane into upper and lower panes.
• Move between panes — Move to the pane in a direction using the arrow keys, or to the next pane with o.
• Zoom a pane — Toggle the current pane between full window and its normal size.
• Resize a pane — Resize towards a direction. Hold Ctrl after the prefix to resize in larger steps.
• Rearrange panes — Cycle through the preset layouts.
• Close the pane — Kill the current pane after confirmation.
• Break a pane into its own window — Move the current pane into a new window.

Copy mode and scrolling

• Scroll back through output — Enter copy mode to scroll with the arrow keys or Page Up. Press q to leave.
• Search the scrollback — In copy mode, search backward with ? or forward with /.
• Paste the copied text — Paste the most recent tmux buffer.
• Use vi keys in copy mode — Set the copy-mode key bindings to vi style in ~/.tmux.conf.

Commands and configuration

• Open the command prompt — Type any tmux command, such as new-window.
• Send keys to another pane — Type a command into a session's pane from a script.
• Show all key bindings — Show the key bindings in a searchable list.
• Reload the configuration — Apply changes to ~/.tmux.conf without restarting tmux.
• Turn on mouse support — Click to select panes and windows, drag borders and scroll. Add it to ~/.tmux.conf.
• Change the prefix to Ctrl-a — Replace the default prefix in ~/.tmux.conf.
• Number windows from 1 — Start window and pane numbering at 1 so the keys match the keyboard row.

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