Cheat Sheet for tmux

A brief overview and cheat sheet for the tmux terminal multiplexer program.
created: updated: status: complete tags:
  1. Cheat Sheet
    1. Session Control
    2. Pane Control
    3. Window Control
    4. Copy-Mode (vi)
    5. Copy-Mode (Emacs)

This post discusses tmux, a terminal multiplexer for Unix-like operating systems. It allows multiple terminal sessions to be run simultaneously in a single window.
Other uses include executing remote commands in a session on a server through an SSH connection, disconnecting, and later returning to the session to see the command output.

Tmux is a rewrite of GNU Screen.

First thing is first- add this to your ~/.tmux.conf

setw -g mode-keys vi
set -g history-limit 10000

# bind-key -T copy-mode-vi Enter send-keys -X copy-pipe-and-cancel 'xclip -se c -i' # linux
bind-key -T copy-mode-vi Enter send-keys -X copy-pipe-and-cancel 'pbcopy' # mac

Cheat Sheet

A printable version of this cheat sheet is available here.

Session Control

Session Control (from the command line) Description
tmux Start a new session
tmux new -s <session-name> Start a new session with the name chosen
tmux ls List all sessions
tmux attach -t <target-session> Re-attach a detached session
tmux attach -d -t <target-session> Re-attach a detached session (and detach it from elsewhere)
tmux kill-session -t <target-session> Delete session

Pane Control

Pane Control Description
Ctrl b, " Split pane horizontally
Ctrl b, % Split pane vertically
Ctrl b, o Next pane
Ctrl b, ; Previous pane
Ctrl b, q Show pane numbers
Ctrl b, z Toggle pane zoom
Ctrl b, ! Convert pane into a window
Ctrl b, x Kill current pane
Ctrl b, Ctrl O Swap panes
Ctrl b, t Display clock
Ctrl b, q Transpose two letters (delete and paste)
Ctrl b, { Move to the previous pane
Ctrl b, } Move to the next pane
Ctrl b, Space Toggle between pane layouts
Ctrl b, ↑ Resize pane (make taller)
Ctrl b, ↓ Resize pane (make smaller)
Ctrl b, ← Resize pane (make wider)
Ctrl b, → Resize pane (make narrower)

Window Control

Window Control Description
Ctrl b, c Create new window
Ctrl b, d Detach from session
Ctrl b, , Rename current window
Ctrl b, & Close current window
Ctrl b, w List windows
Ctrl b, p Previous window
Ctrl b, n Next window

Copy-Mode (vi)

Copy-Mode (vi) Description
Ctrl b, [ Enter copy mode
Ctrl b, G Bottom of history
Ctrl b, g Top of history
Ctrl b, Enter Copy selection
Ctrl b, p Paste selection
Ctrl b, k Cursor Up
Ctrl b, j Cursor Down
Ctrl b, h Cursor Left
Ctrl b, l Cursor Right

Copy-Mode (Emacs)

Copy-Mode (Emacs) Description
Ctrl b, [ Enter copy mode
Ctrl b, M-< Bottom of history
Ctrl b, M-> Top of history
Ctrl b, M-m Back to indentation
Ctrl b, M-w Copy selection
Ctrl b, M-y Paste selection
Ctrl b, Ctrl g Clear selection
Ctrl b, M-R Cursor to top line
Ctrl b, M-r Cursor to middle line
Ctrl b, ↑ Cursor Up
Ctrl b, ↓ Cursor Down
Ctrl b, ← Cursor Left
Ctrl b, → Cursor Right