tmux Cheat Sheet

The default prefix key is Ctrl+b (shown as C-b below).

Lesson Plan

Looking to learn this topic step by step? See the tmux Lesson Plan.

Sessions

Command Line

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

Inside tmux

Keybinding	Description
C-b d	Detach from session
C-b $	Rename session
C-b s	List/switch sessions
C-b (	Previous session
C-b )	Next session
C-b L	Last (previous) session

Windows (Tabs)

Keybinding	Description
C-b c	Create new window
C-b ,	Rename current window
C-b &	Close current window
C-b w	List windows (interactive)
C-b n	Next window
C-b p	Previous window
C-b l	Last (toggle) window
C-b 0-9	Switch to window 0-9
C-b '	Switch to window by number
C-b .	Move window to another index
C-b f	Find window by name

Panes (Splits)

Creating Panes

Keybinding	Description
C-b %	Split horizontally (left/right)
C-b "	Split vertically (top/bottom)

Navigating Panes

Keybinding	Description
C-b ←↑↓→	Move to pane in direction
C-b o	Cycle through panes
C-b ;	Toggle last active pane
C-b q	Show pane numbers
C-b q 0-9	Switch to pane by number

Resizing Panes

Keybinding	Description
C-b C-←↑↓→	Resize pane (small increment)
C-b M-←↑↓→	Resize pane (large increment)
C-b z	Toggle pane zoom (fullscreen)
C-b !	Convert pane to window

Pane Layouts

Keybinding	Description
C-b Space	Cycle through layouts
C-b M-1	Even horizontal
C-b M-2	Even vertical
C-b M-3	Main horizontal
C-b M-4	Main vertical
C-b M-5	Tiled

Other Pane Operations

Keybinding	Description
C-b x	Kill pane (with confirmation)
C-b {	Swap pane with previous
C-b }	Swap pane with next
C-b C-o	Rotate panes forward
C-b M-o	Rotate panes backward

Copy Mode

Keybinding	Description
C-b [	Enter copy mode
C-b ]	Paste buffer
C-b =	Choose buffer to paste
C-b #	List buffers
q	Exit copy mode

In Copy Mode (vi keys)

Keybinding	Description
Space	Start selection
Enter	Copy selection and exit
Escape	Clear selection
v	Begin selection (if vi-copy)
y	Yank selection (if vi-copy)
/	Search forward
?	Search backward
n	Next search result
N	Previous search result
g	Go to top
G	Go to bottom
h j k l	Move cursor
w b	Word forward/backward
0 $	Start/end of line
C-u C-d	Half page up/down
C-b C-f	Full page up/down

Command Mode

Keybinding	Description
C-b :	Enter command mode

Useful Commands

# In command mode (C-b :)
source-file ~/.tmux.conf      # Reload config
list-keys                     # List all keybindings
list-commands                 # List all commands
display-message "text"        # Show message
set -g option value           # Set global option
setw -g option value          # Set window option

# Pane operations
swap-pane -s 0 -t 1           # Swap panes
join-pane -s 1 -t 0           # Join pane from window 1
break-pane                    # Move pane to new window

# Sync panes (type in all panes simultaneously)
setw synchronize-panes on
setw synchronize-panes off

Configuration (~/.tmux.conf)

# Change prefix to C-a
unbind C-b
set -g prefix C-a
bind C-a send-prefix

# Enable mouse
set -g mouse on

# Start windows and panes at 1
set -g base-index 1
setw -g pane-base-index 1

# Vi mode
setw -g mode-keys vi

# Better splits (| and -)
bind | split-window -h -c "#{pane_current_path}"
bind - split-window -v -c "#{pane_current_path}"

# Vim-style pane navigation
bind h select-pane -L
bind j select-pane -D
bind k select-pane -U
bind l select-pane -R

# Resize panes with vim keys
bind -r H resize-pane -L 5
bind -r J resize-pane -D 5
bind -r K resize-pane -U 5
bind -r L resize-pane -R 5

# Quick reload
bind r source-file ~/.tmux.conf \; display "Reloaded!"

# Don't rename windows automatically
set -g allow-rename off

# Increase history limit
set -g history-limit 50000

# Faster escape time (for vim)
set -sg escape-time 0

# 256 color support
set -g default-terminal "screen-256color"
set -ga terminal-overrides ",*256col*:Tc"

# Status bar
set -g status-position top
set -g status-style 'bg=#333333 fg=#ffffff'
set -g status-left '#[fg=green]#S '
set -g status-right '%H:%M %d-%b'

# Active window
setw -g window-status-current-style 'fg=black bg=white'

# Pane borders
set -g pane-border-style 'fg=#444444'
set -g pane-active-border-style 'fg=#00ff00'

Scripting

Create session with windows and panes

#!/bin/bash
SESSION="dev"

# Create session with first window
tmux new-session -d -s $SESSION -n "editor"

# Create additional windows
tmux new-window -t $SESSION -n "server"
tmux new-window -t $SESSION -n "logs"

# Split the editor window
tmux select-window -t $SESSION:editor
tmux split-window -h
tmux split-window -v

# Run commands in panes
tmux send-keys -t $SESSION:editor.0 'nvim' C-m
tmux send-keys -t $SESSION:server 'npm run dev' C-m
tmux send-keys -t $SESSION:logs 'tail -f /var/log/app.log' C-m

# Attach to session
tmux attach -t $SESSION

Targeting windows and panes

# Format: session:window.pane
tmux send-keys -t mysession:0.1 'ls' C-m
tmux select-window -t mysession:editor
tmux select-pane -t mysession:0.2

Useful Tricks

Send command to all panes

# Toggle sync
C-b : setw synchronize-panes on
# Type command (appears in all panes)
# Toggle off
C-b : setw synchronize-panes off

Save pane output to file

C-b : capture-pane -S -3000
C-b : save-buffer ~/tmux.log

Pipe pane output

C-b : pipe-pane -o 'cat >> ~/output.log'

Clear pane history

C-b : clear-history

Show all keybindings

tmux list-keys
tmux list-keys | grep split  # Filter

Quick Reference

Task	Command
New session	tmux new -s name
Attach	tmux attach -t name
Detach	C-b d
New window	C-b c
Split horizontal	C-b %
Split vertical	C-b "
Navigate panes	C-b arrows
Zoom pane	C-b z
Kill pane	C-b x
Copy mode	C-b [
Paste	C-b ]
Command mode	C-b :
List sessions	C-b s
List windows	C-b w

See Also

• tmux Lesson Plan — 8 lessons from basics to scripting
• Terminal Emulators — iTerm2 vs Ghostty, tmux -CC integration
• Agent Orchestration — tmux for multi-agent sessions
• Shell — Scripting patterns for tmux automation
• Neovim Commands (LazyVim)
• CLI-First