Tmux Cheat Sheet & Quick Reference

Sessions

• tmux
• tmux new
• tmux new-session
• new — start a new session
• tmux new-session -A -s mysession — start or attach to a session named mysession
• tmux new -s mysession — start a new session named mysession
• : kill-session — kill/delete the current session
• tmux kill-ses -t mysession / tmux kill-session -t mysession — kill session mysession
• tmux kill-session -a — kill all sessions but the current
• tmux kill-session -a -t mysession — kill all sessions except mysession
• Ctrl + b $ — rename session
• Ctrl + b d — detach from session
• : attach -d — detach other clients on the session
• tmux ls / tmux list-sessions
• Ctrl + b s — show all sessions
• tmux a / tmux at / tmux attach / tmux attach-session — attach to the last session
• tmux a -t mysession / tmux attach -t mysession — attach to mysession
• Ctrl + b w — session and window preview
• Ctrl + b ( — move to previous session
• Ctrl + b ) — move to next session

Windows

• tmux new -s mysession -n mywindow — start session mysession with window mywindow
• Ctrl + b c — create a new window
• Ctrl + b , — rename current window
• Ctrl + b & — close current window
• Ctrl + b w — list windows
• Ctrl + b p — go to previous window
• Ctrl + b n — go to next window
• Ctrl + b 0 … Ctrl + b 9 — switch/select window by number
• Ctrl + b l — toggle last active window
• : swap-window -s 2 -t 1 — reorder windows (swap 2 with 1)
• : swap-window -t -1 — move current window left by one
• : move-window -s src_ses:src_win -t target_ses:target_win — move a window across sessions
• : movew -s foo:0 -t bar:9 / : movew -s 0:0 -t 1:9 — reposition window
• : move-window -r / : movew -r — renumber windows to close gaps

Panes

• Ctrl + b ; — toggle last active pane
• : split-window -h
• Ctrl + b % — split the current pane with vertical line (i.e. vertical split)
• : split-window -v
• Ctrl + b " — split current pane horizontally
• : join-pane -s 2 -t 1 — join two windows as panes
• : join-pane -s 2.1 -t 1.0 — move a pane between windows
• Ctrl + b { — move current pane left
• Ctrl + b } — move current pane right
• Ctrl + b + (or other arrow key combinations) — resize current pane (width/height)
• Ctrl + b o — switch to next pane
• Ctrl + b q — show pane numbers
• Ctrl + b q + 0 … 9 — switch to a pane by number
• Ctrl + b z — toggle pane zoom
• Ctrl + b ! — convert a pane into its own window
• Ctrl + b Ctrl + … — resize current pane (alternate method)
• Ctrl + b x — close current pane

Copy Mode

• : setw -g mode-keys vi — use vi keys in copy mode
• Ctrl + b [ — enter copy mode
• Ctrl + b PgUp — enter copy mode and scroll one page up
• q — quit copy mode
• g — go to top line
• G — go to bottom line
• h / j / k / l — move left, down, up, right
• w / b — move forward / backward one word
• / — search forward
• ? — search backward
• n / N — next / previous search occurrence
• Spacebar — start selection
• Esc — clear selection
• Enter — copy selection
• Ctrl + b ] — paste contents of buffer_0
• : show-buffer — display buffer_0 contents
• : capture-pane — copy visible pane contents to buffer
• : list-buffers — show all buffers
• : choose-buffer — show buffers and paste selected
• : save-buffer buf.txt — save buffer to file
• : delete-buffer -b 1 — delete buffer 1

Misc

• Ctrl + b : — enter command mode
• : set -g OPTION — set global option
• : setw -g OPTION — set window-level option
• : set mouse on — enable mouse support

Help & Info

• tmux list-keys / : list-keys — list all key bindings
• Ctrl + b ? — show key bindings
• tmux info — show details about all sessions, windows, panes, etc

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This cheat sheet is adapted from tmuxcheatsheet.com.