<C-x>- hold thecontrol keyand pressx<M-x>- hold themeta keyand pressx(usually meta is thealtkey)<prefix>- initiate the tmux prefix (default it<C-b>some people like<C-a>)
The default prefix is C-b. If you (or your muscle memory) prefers 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
A session is a set of windows, plus a notion of which window is current.
A window is a single screen covered with panes. (Once might compare it to a ‘virtual desktop’ or a ‘space’.)
A pane is a rectangular part of a window that runs a specific command, e.g. a shell.
Display a list of keyboard shortcuts:
<prefix> ?
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 <prefix> :something (or added to ~/.tmux.conf).
Creating a session:
tmux
Creating a named 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
List all sessions:
tmux ls # or
tmux list-sessions
Attach to a session:
tmux attach -t work
Detach from a session: <prefix> d.
Kill a session:
tmux kill-session -t myname
Kill all the tmux sessions:
tmux ls | grep : | cut -d. -f1 | awk '{print substr($1, 0, length($1)-1)}' | xargs kill
Sessions Operations:
<prefix> s list sessions
<prefix> $ rename the current session
<prefix> :new<CR> new session
<prefix> ( previous session
<prefix> ) next session
<prefix> L ‘last’ (previously used) session
<prefix> s choose a session from a list
Common window Operations:
<prefix> c create window
<prefix> w list windows
<prefix> n next window
<prefix> p previous window
<prefix> f find window
<prefix> , name window
<prefix> & kill window
Switch between windows:
<prefix> 1 ... switch to window 1, ..., 9, 0
<prefix> 9
<prefix> 0
<prefix> p previous window
<prefix> n next window
<prefix> l ‘last’ (previously used) window
<prefix> w choose window from a list
Switch between windows with a twist:
<prefix> M-n next window with a bell, activity or content alert
<prefix> M-p previous such window
Creating a new pane by splitting an existing one:
<prefix> " split vertically (top/bottom)
<prefix> % split horizontally (left/right)
Switching between panes:
<prefix> left go to the next pane on the left
<prefix> right (or one of these other directions)
<prefix> up
<prefix> down
<prefix> o go to the next pane (cycle through all of them)
<prefix> q Show pane numbers, when the numbers show up type the key to goto that pane
<prefix> ; go to the ‘last’ (previously used) pane
<prefix> q show pane numbers
Moving panes around:
<prefix> { move the current pane to the previous position
<prefix> } move the current pane to the next position
<prefix> C-o rotate window ‘up’ (i.e. move all panes)
<prefix> M-o rotate window ‘down’
<prefix> ! move the current pane into a new separate window (‘break pane’)
<prefix> :move-pane -t :3.2 split window 3's pane 2 and move the current pane there
Manipulating panes:
<prefix> x kill pane
<prefix> + break pane into window (e.g. to select text by mouse to copy)
<prefix> - restore pane from window
<prefix> ⍽ space - toggle between layouts
<prefix> z toggle pane zoom
Resizing panes:
<prefix> M-up, <prefix> M-down, <prefix> M-left, <prefix> M-right
resize by 5 rows/columns
<prefix> C-up, <prefix> C-down, <prefix> C-left, <prefix> C-right
resize by 1 row/column
Applying predefined layouts:
<prefix> M-1 switch to even-horizontal layout
<prefix> M-2 switch to even-vertical layout
<prefix> M-3 switch to main-horizontal layout
<prefix> M-4 switch to main-vertical layout
<prefix> M-5 switch to tiled layout
<prefix> space switch to the next layout
TODO Add sections around joining and breaking
join-pane [-dhv] [-l size | -p percentage] [-s src-pane] [-t dst-pane]
(alias: joinp)
Like split-window, but instead of splitting dst-pane and creating
a new pane, split it and move src-pane into the space. This can
be used to reverse break-pane.
You can do this by switching to the appropriate window, typing your Tmux prefix (commonly Ctrl-B or Ctrl-A) and then a colon to bring up a Tmux command line, and typing:
:setw synchronize-panes
You can optionally add on or off to specify which state you want; otherwise the option is simply toggled. This option is specific to one window, so it won’t change the way your other sessions or windows operate. When you’re done, toggle it off again by repeating the command. tip source
You can also resize panes if you don’t like the layout defaults. I personally rarely need to do this, though it’s handy to know how. Here is the basic syntax to resize panes:
PREFIX : resize-pane -D (Resizes the current pane down)
PREFIX : resize-pane -U (Resizes the current pane upward)
PREFIX : resize-pane -L (Resizes the current pane left)
PREFIX : resize-pane -R (Resizes the current pane right)
PREFIX : resize-pane -D 20 (Resizes the current pane down by 20 cells)
PREFIX : resize-pane -U 20 (Resizes the current pane upward by 20 cells)
PREFIX : resize-pane -L 20 (Resizes the current pane left by 20 cells)
PREFIX : resize-pane -R 20 (Resizes the current pane right by 20 cells)
PREFIX : resize-pane -t 2 20 (Resizes the pane with the id of 2 down by 20 cells)
PREFIX : resize-pane -t -L 20 (Resizes the pane with the id of 2 left by 20 cells)
Pressing PREFIX [ places us in Copy mode. We can then use our movement keys to move our cursor around the screen. By default, the arrow keys work. we set our configuration file to use Vim keys for moving between windows and resizing panes so we wouldn’t have to take our hands off the home row. tmux has a vi mode for working with the buffer as well. To enable it, add this line to .tmux.conf:
setw -g mode-keys vi
With this option set, we can use h, j, k, and l to move around our buffer.
To get out of Copy mode, we just press the ENTER key. Moving around one character at a time isn’t very efficient. Since we enabled vi mode, we can also use some other visible shortcuts to move around the buffer.
For example, we can use "w" to jump to the next word and "b" to jump back one word. And we can use "f", followed by any character, to jump to that character on the same line, and "F" to jump backwards on the line.
Function vi emacs
Back to indentation ^ M-m
Clear selection Escape C-g
Copy selection Enter M-w
Cursor down j Down
Cursor left h Left
Cursor right l Right
Cursor to bottom line L
Cursor to middle line M M-r
Cursor to top line H M-R
Cursor up k Up
Delete entire line d C-u
Delete to end of line D C-k
End of line $ C-e
Goto line : g
Half page down C-d M-Down
Half page up C-u M-Up
Next page C-f Page down
Next word w M-f
Paste buffer p C-y
Previous page C-b Page up
Previous word b M-b
Quit mode q Escape
Scroll down C-Down or J C-Down
Scroll up C-Up or K C-Up
Search again n n
Search backward ? C-r
Search forward / C-s
Start of line 0 <prefix>
Start selection Space C-Space
Transpose chars C-t
d detach
t big clock
? list shortcuts
: prompt
Force a reload of the config file on r:
unbind r
bind r source-file ~/.tmux.conf
Some other settings that I use:
setw -g xterm-keys on
Additional Configurations:
# Mouse support - set to on if you want to use the mouse
* setw -g mode-mouse off
* set -g mouse-select-pane off
* set -g mouse-resize-pane off
* set -g mouse-select-window off
# Set the default terminal mode to 256color mode
set -g default-terminal "screen-256color"
# enable activity alerts
setw -g monitor-activity on
set -g visual-activity on
# Center the window list
set -g status-justify centre
# Maximize and restore a pane
unbind Up bind Up new-window -d -n tmp \; swap-pane -s tmp.1 \; select-window -t tmp
unbind Down
bind Down last-window \; swap-pane -s tmp.1 \; kill-window -t tmp
This Cheat Sheet is originally based on: