Tmux Cheat Sheet

🎫 Content is validated at 2023-05-01 for

✅ Ubuntu 22.04

✅ Debian 11.6

✅ CentOS 7.9

✅ MacOS 13.2

This cheat sheet provides a quick reference for the most commonly used tmux commands. All commands require the prefix key (by default Ctrl+b) to be pressed first, followed by the command key.

Session Management

Command	Description
tmux	Start a new tmux session
tmux new -s name	Start a new named session
tmux ls	List all sessions
tmux attach -t name	Attach to a named session
tmux kill-session -t name	Kill a named session
tmux kill-server	Kill all sessions and the tmux server

Prefix Key Combinations

All the following commands require pressing the prefix key (Ctrl+b by default) first:

Session Commands

Key	Description
d	Detach from current session
s	List sessions
$	Rename session
(	Switch to previous session
)	Switch to next session

Window Commands

Key	Description
c	Create new window
n	Next window
p	Previous window
w	List windows
,	Rename current window
&	Close current window
0-9	Switch to window number

Pane Commands

Key	Description
%	Split pane vertically
"	Split pane horizontally
o	Switch to next pane
;	Switch to last active pane
x	Close current pane
z	Toggle pane zoom
{	Move current pane left
}	Move current pane right
space	Toggle between pane layouts
q	Show pane numbers
Up/Down/Left/Right	Switch to pane in specified direction (with mouse mode)

Copy Mode

Key	Description
[	Enter copy mode
]	Paste copied text
PgUp/PgDn	Page up/down in copy mode
/	Search forward
?	Search backward

Advanced Pane Management

Command	Description
Ctrl+b Ctrl+o	Rotate panes forward
Ctrl+b !	Convert pane to window
Ctrl+b Ctrl+Left/Right/Up/Down	Resize pane
Ctrl+b Alt+1	Evenly distribute panes
Ctrl+b q	Show pane numbers (temporarily)

Copy Mode Navigation (Vim Style)

When in copy mode (Ctrl+b [), you can use vim-style navigation:

Key	Description
h/j/k/l	Move left/down/up/right
w/W	Move to next word/start of next word
b/B	Move to previous word/start of previous word
0/^	Move to beginning of line
$	Move to end of line
H/M/L	Move to top/middle/bottom of screen
gg/G	Move to top/bottom of buffer
Ctrl+u/d	Move half page up/down
Ctrl+b/f	Move page up/down

Copy Mode Operations

Key	Description
Space	Start selection
Enter	Copy selection
Esc	Clear selection
v	Start selecting in character mode
V	Start selecting in line mode
Ctrl+v	Start selecting in block mode

Customization Tips

Change Prefix Key

To change the prefix key from Ctrl+b to Ctrl+a (like GNU Screen), add this to ~/.tmux.conf:

unbind C-b
set -g prefix C-a
bind C-a send-prefix

Enable Mouse Support

set -g mouse on

Reload Configuration

After modifying ~/.tmux.conf:

Ctrl+b : source-file ~/.tmux.conf

Status Bar Customization

Common status bar customizations for ~/.tmux.conf:

# Change status bar colors
set -g status-style bg=blue,fg=white

# Show system stats
set -g status-right "#[fg=white,bg=black] #H #[fg=white,bg=blue] %H:%M %d-%b-%y "

# Show window list with better formatting
set -g status-justify centre
setw -g window-status-format "#I:#W#F"
setw -g window-status-current-format "#I:#W#F"

Quick Reference Summary

• Prefix key: Ctrl+b (default)
• Create session: tmux new -s session_name
• Detach: Ctrl+b d
• Reattach: tmux attach -t session_name
• New window: Ctrl+b c
• Split pane: Ctrl+b % (vertical) or Ctrl+b " (horizontal)
• Switch panes: Ctrl+b o or arrow keys (with mouse mode)
• Copy mode: Ctrl+b [
• Paste: Ctrl+b ]

This cheat sheet covers the most essential tmux commands. With these, you'll be able to efficiently manage multiple terminal sessions and workflows.