(C-x means ctrl+x, M-x means alt+x)
The default prefix is C-b. If you (or your muscle memory) prefer C-a, you need to add this to ~/.tmux.conf
:
# remap prefix to Control + a
set -g prefix C-a
# bind 'C-a C-a' to type 'C-a'
bind C-a send-prefix
unbind C-b
I'm going to assume that C-a is your prefix.
Session is a set of windows, plus a notion of which window is current.
Window is a single screen covered with panes. (Once might compare it to a ‘virtual desktop’ or a ‘space’.)
Pane is a rectangular part of a window that runs a specific command, e.g. a shell.
Display a list of keyboard shortcuts:
C-a ?
Navigate using Vim or Emacs shortcuts, depending on the value of mode-keys
. Emacs is the default, and if you want Vim shortcuts for help and copy modes (e.g. j, k, C-u, C-d), add the following line to ~/.tmux.conf
:
setw -g mode-keys vi
Any command mentioned in this list can be executed as tmux something
or C-a :something
(or added to ~/.tmux.conf
).
Creating a session:
tmux new-session -s work
Create a new session that shares all windows with an existing session, but has its own separate notion of which window is current:
tmux new-session -s work2 -t work
Attach to a session:
tmux attach -t work
Detach from a session: C-a d
.
Switch between sessions:
C-a ( previous session
C-a ) next session
C-a L ‘last’ (previously used) session
C-a s choose a session from a list
Other:
C-a $ rename the current session
C-a
Create a window:
C-a c create a new window
Switch between windows:
C-a 1 ... switch to window 1, ..., 9, 0
C-a 9
C-a 0
C-a p previous window
C-a n next window
C-a l ‘last’ (previously used) window
C-a w choose window from a list
Switch between windows with a twist:
C-a M-n next window with a bell, activity or
content alert
C-a M-p previous such window
Other:
C-a , rename the current window
C-a & kill the current window
Creating a new pane by splitting an existing one:
C-a " split vertically (top/bottom)
C-a % split horizontally (left/right)
Switching between panes:
C-a left go to the next pane on the left
C-a right (or one of these other directions)
C-a up
C-a down
C-a o go to the next pane (cycle through all of them)
C-a ; go to the ‘last’ (previously used) pane
Moving panes around:
C-a { move the current pane to the previous position
C-a } move the current pane to the next position
C-a C-o rotate window ‘up’ (i.e. move all panes)
C-a M-o rotate window ‘down’
C-a ! move the current pane into a new separate
window (‘break pane’)
C-a :move-pane -t :3.2
split window 3's pane 2 and move the current pane there
Resizing panes:
C-a M-up, C-a M-down, C-a M-left, C-a M-right
resize by 5 rows/columns
C-a C-up, C-a C-down, C-a C-left, C-a C-right
resize by 1 row/column
Applying predefined layouts:
C-a M-1 switch to even-horizontal layout
C-a M-2 switch to even-vertical layout
C-a M-3 switch to main-horizontal layout
C-a M-4 switch to main-vertical layout
C-a M-5 switch to tiled layout
C-a space switch to the next layout
Other:
C-a x kill the current pane
C-a q display pane numbers for a short while
Force a reload of the config file on C-a r:
unbind r
bind r source-file ~/.tmux.conf
Some other settings that I use:
setw -g xterm-keys on
(I posted this message on another gist too), but I've recently written a book called The Tao of tmux and made it available for free to read online. It covers tmux by the way of its server, down to its sessions, window and panes. It also covers details on configuration and usage shortcuts. All are welcome to check it out!