TMUX Reference

A quick reference for all the TMUX shortcuts.

Create new session

tmux
tmux new
tmux new-session
new

Create new session with name

tmux new-session -s NAME
new -s NAME

Create new session with session and window name

tmux new -s S_NAME -n W_NAME

Create or attach to session with name

tmux new-session -A -s NAME

Kill session

kill-session

Kill session by name

tmux kill-session -t NAME
tmux kill-ses -t NAME
kill-session -t NAME

Kill other sessions

tmux kill-session -a

Kill all sessions except

tmux kill-session -a -t NAME

List sessions

tmux ls
tmux list-sessions
ctrl + b,s

List sessions w/ windows

ctrl + b,w

Goto previous session

ctrl + b,(

Goto next session

For this to be helpful, you need to know what the next session is. That can be hard to find if you rename sessions because ctrl + b + s ‘s default order is by name.

To change the default order to be by index, you can use add this snippet to your ~/tmux.conf

bind s choose-tree -sZ -O index

From within the choose-tree menu, you can temporarily toggle through order with ctrl + b + shift + o.

ctrl + b,)

Goto last active session

ctrl + b,L

Attach to last session

tmux a
tmux at
tmux attach
tmux attach-session

Attach to session by NAME

tmux a -t NAME
tmux at -t NAME
tmux attach -t NAME
tmux attach-session -t NAME

Detach from session

ctrl + b,d

Detach others on the session (todo)

attach -d

Show list of sessions to detatch from

ctrl + b,D

Organization

Rename session

ctrl + b,$
rename-session NAME

Windows

Create and delete

Create window

ctrl + b,c

Kill window

ctrl + b,&

Search for window

ctrl + b,f

List windows

ctrl + b,w

Goto previous window

ctrl + b,p

Goto next window

ctrl + b,n

Goto prev/next window (VIM)

This requires updating your tmux.conf

bind -n M-H previous-window
bind -n M-L next-window

ctrl + shift + h
ctrl + shift + l

Goto last active window

ctrl + b,l

Switch window by number

ctrl + b,0 … 9

Organization

Rename current window

ctrl + b,,

Swap window order (absolute)

-s = source
-t = target

swap-window -s 2 -t

Swap window order (relative)

swap-window -t -1

Move window between sessions (by name)

movew -s foo:0 -t bar:9

Move window between sessions (by number)

movew -s 0:0 -t 1:9

Reposition window in the current Session (todo)

move-window -s S_NAME:W_NAME
movew -s 0:9

Renumber windows to remove gap in the sequence (todo)

move-window -r
movew -r

Misc

Display information about the current window

ctrl + b,i

Panes

Create and kill

Create horizontal split

ctrl + b,%
split-window -h

Create vertical split

ctrl + b,”
split-window -v

Kill pane

ctrl + b,x

Goto pane in direction

ctrl + b,↑
ctrl + b,→
ctrl + b,↓
ctrl + b,←

Goto pane in direction (VIM)

This requires updating your tmux.conf

bind h select-pane -L
bind j select-pane -D
bind k select-pane -U
bind l select-pane -R

ctrl + h
ctrl + j
ctrl + k
ctrl + l

Goto next pane

Fun fact: there is no builtin shortcut for going to prev pane.

ctrl + b,o

Goto last active pane

ctrl + b,;

Show pane numbers

ctrl + b,q

Switch/select pane by number

ctrl + b,0…9

Toggle pane zoom

ctrl + b,z

Organization

Resize current pane

Note: on MacOS you have to disable Mission Control keyboard shortcuts for these to work. (link)

ctrl + b + ↑
ctrl + b + →
ctrl + b + ↓
ctrl + b + ←
ctrl + b,ctrl + ↑
ctrl + b,ctrl + →
ctrl + b,ctrl + ↓
ctrl + b,ctrl + ←

Spread panes out evenly

ctrl + b,E

Swap current pane with prev

ctrl + b,{

Swap current pane with next

ctrl + b,}

Rotate panes clockwise

ctrl + b,ctrl + o

Rotate panes counter clockwise

ctrl + b,option + o

Rearrange panes in 1 of 7 layout presets

ctrl + b,option + 0…7

Cycle through layout presets

ctrl + b,space

Window

Join two windows as panes (Merge window 2 to window 1 as panes) ????

join-pane -s 2 -t 1

Move pane from one window to another

The example moves pane 1 in window 2 to window 1 right after the 3rd pane.

join-pane -s 2.1 -t 1.3

Toggle synchronize-panes

Setting this option on will send the same command to each pane.

setw synchronize-panes

Convert pane into a window

ctrl + b,!

Copy Buffer

Aside from entering copy mode and pasting your most recent buffer, all these commands assume that you are already in copy mode.

Unless specified VIM keybindings are enable with set -g mode-keys vi. This section assumes you have this enabled. I would recommend adding this to your ~/.tmux.conf file.

Enter copy mode

ctrl + b,]

Exit copy mode

ctrl + b,esc
ctrl + b,q (VIM)

Navigate in copy mode

ctrl + ↑
ctrl + →
ctrl + ↓
ctrl + ←
h (VIM)
j (VIM)
k (VIM)
l (VIM)

Start selection

This VIM keybinding is custom and can be bound with

bind-key -T copy-mode-vi 'v' send -X begin-selection

(Link)

space
v (VIM)

Copy selection

This VIM keybinding is custom and can be bound with

bind-key -T copy-mode-vi 'y' send -X copy-selection-and-cancel

(Link)

enter
y (VIM)

Search window history

?
/ (VIM)

Goto top of history

Goto bottom of history

Goto next search result

Goto previous search result

Paste most recent buffer

ctrl + b,]

Open copy history to paste

ctrl + b,=

General

List all keybindings

ctrl + b,?

Show the time

ctrl + b,t

Show previous messages from TMUX

ctrl + b,~

Clearing window history

You can also bing this to a specific key with something like ctrl + l.

bind-key -n C-l send-keys C-l \; send-keys -R \; clear-history

(link)

tmux clear-history
clear-history
ctrl + b,ctrl + l (w/ config)

Sourcing your tmux.conf

(link)

tmux source-file ~/.tmux.conf
tmux set -g prefix C-a
source-file ~/.tmux.conf
set -g prefix C-a

This section is included last because the purpose of this site is to help you remember how to do things you know. I’m not a TMUX expert too, so I was hesitant to include my config as I’m not an authority on TMUX. That said I want to help you learn if I can. If you have tips for making this section better, email me. If in doubt, getting started official guide is probably a good place to start.

Config

# Remove the ugly green default background.
set -g status-style bg=default

# Move the status bar to the top, since my nvim status bar is usually at the bottom.
set-option -g status-position top

# Enable mouse pane navigation and resizing.
set -g mouse on

# Set window and pane indexes. They default is 0.
# Jokes aside this is easier for navigation since 0 is on the other side of your keyboard.
set -g base-index 1
set-window-option -g pane-base-index 1

# Enable window renumbering. Deleting windows can leave gaps in the indexes.
# This option occationally adjusts window numbers so there are no gaps.
# Panes renumber automatically. `prefix + q` to see pane numbers.
set-option -g renumber-windows on

# Set new panes to open in current directory
bind c new-window -c "#{pane_current_path}"
bind '"' split-window -c "#{pane_current_path}"
bind % split-window -h -c "#{pane_current_path}"

# Change default options for choose-tree (`prefix + s`) to use index ordering.
# This is helpful for knowing the order of your sessions,
# which is used for going to the next/prev session.
bind s choose-tree -sZ -O index

Keybindings

# Setup `ctrl + b, r` to reload tmux config.
unbind r
bind r source-file ~/.tmux.conf

# Clear buffer history.
bind-key -n C-l send-keys C-l ; send-keys -R ; clear-history

# Vim navigation ----------------------------------------------------

# Enable vi like keybindings for navigating the buffer of a window.
set-window-option -g mode-keys vi

# Configure `v` and `y` to start and capture selection in copy mode.
bind-key -T copy-mode-vi 'v' send -X begin-selection
bind-key -T copy-mode-vi 'y' send -X copy-selection-and-cancel

# Setup vim style pane selection (prefix + h/j/k/l).
bind h select-pane -L
bind j select-pane -D
bind k select-pane -U
bind l select-pane -R

# Setup vim style windows selection (atl + shift + right/left).
bind -n M-H previous-window
bind -n M-L next-window

# Arrow bindings (an alternative to vim) ----------------------------

# Use Alt-arrow keys without prefix key (-n) to switch panes.
bind M-Left select-pane -L
bind M-Right select-pane -R
bind M-Up select-pane -U
bind M-Down select-pane -D

# Use Shift-arrow keys without prefix (-n) key to switch windows.
bind -n S-Left previous-window
bind -n S-Right next-window

Plugins

Follow the installation guide for TMUX Plugin Manager.

set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tpm'

# A sensible default package widely used by the community.
set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tmux-sensible'

# Vim style `ctrl + h/j/k/l` navigation that works seemlessly between vim and tmux.
set -g @plugin 'christoomey/vim-tmux-navigator'

# Improved copying from within TMUX
# Not totally sure what all this one does, but it will escape ansi code.
set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tmux-yank'

# Save and restore your session through system restarts.
set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tmux-resurrect'

# Configure and use a great minimal status bar.
bind-key b set-option status
set -g @minimal-tmux-status "top"
set -g @plugin 'niksingh710/minimal-tmux-status'

# Initialize TMUX plugin manager (keep this line at the very bottom of tmux.conf).
run '~/.tmux/plugins/tpm/tpm'

TMUX Reference

Sessions

Create and delete

Navigation

Organization

Windows

Create and delete

Navigation

Organization

Misc

Panes

Create and kill

Navigation

Organization

Window

Copy Buffer

General

Getting Started

Config

Keybindings

Plugins