Guide - tmux

Based on configuration: ~/.config/tmux/tmux.conf

Prefix

Key Action
C-Space Prefix — send commands to tmux
C-b Secondary prefix (falls through to tmux if first app doesn't consume it)
Prefix C-Space Send literal C-Space to the application inside the pane

After prefix, release both keys, then press the command key.

Pane management

Key Action
Prefix h Split vertically (pane below) — opens in same working directory
Prefix v Split horizontally (pane to the right) — opens in same working directory
Prefix x Kill current pane
Prefix z Zoom/unzoom pane (fullscreen toggle)
Prefix ; Jump to last active pane
Prefix o Cycle to next pane
Prefix { / } Swap pane with previous/next
Prefix Space Cycle through layouts
Prefix M-1 through M-7 Select preset layout (even-horizontal, even-vertical, main-horizontal, main-vertical, tiled, mirrored variants)
Prefix M-o Rotate window panes (backward)
Prefix C-o Rotate window (forward)
Prefix ! Break pane into its own window
Prefix q Display pane numbers (type number to select)

Direct pane navigation (no prefix needed)

Key Action
C-M-Left / Right / Up / Down Select pane in direction (no prefix)
C-M-S-Left / Right / Up / Down Resize pane by 5 cells in direction (no prefix)

Also works with Prefix + arrow keys (single-cell resize with C-arrow, 5-cell with M-arrow).

Window management

Key Action
Prefix c New window — opens in same working directory
Prefix k Kill current window
Prefix r Rename window — prompts for new name
Prefix l Jump to last window
Prefix n / p Next/previous window
Prefix 0–9 Select window by index (0-based)
Prefix , Rename window (via default binding; overridden to prompt form above)
Prefix w Interactive window tree — fuzzy-find and switch
Prefix & Confirm then kill window
Prefix . Move window to another index/session
Prefix f Find window by name — interactive search

Direct window navigation (no prefix needed)

Key Action
M-1 through M-9 Select window by index (1-based)
M-Left / M-Right Previous/next window
M-S-Left / M-S-Right Swap window with previous/next (moves window + selection)

Window menu (via Prefix <)

Right-click on status bar or press Prefix < to open a menu with: swap left/right, kill, respawn, mark, rename, new after, new at end.

Session management

Key Action
Prefix C New session — opens in same working directory
Prefix d Detach current client
Prefix K Kill current session
Prefix R Rename session
Prefix N / P Next/previous session
Prefix ( / ) Previous/next session
Prefix s Interactive session tree — fuzzy-find sessions, windows, panes
Prefix L Switch to last session
Prefix D Choose client to detach

Direct session navigation (no prefix needed)

Key Action
M-Up / M-Down Previous/next session

Copy mode

Enter with Prefix [. Vi-style keybindings (setw -g mode-keys vi).

Entering and exiting

Key Action
Prefix [ Enter copy mode
q / Escape / C-c Exit copy mode

Motion (vi-style)

Key Action
h j k l Cursor left/down/up/right
0 / $ Start/end of line
^ Back to indentation
w b e Next/previous/end of word
W B E Next/previous/end of space-delimited word
} { Next/previous paragraph
M-f M-b Next word end / previous word (emacs fallback)
% Matching bracket
C-M-f / C-M-b Next/previous matching bracket
g / G History top / bottom
H / L / M Top / bottom / middle of visible screen
M-< / M-> History top / bottom
C-Up / C-Down Scroll up/down (line)
M-Up / M-Down Scroll up/down (half page)
PPage / NPage Page up/down
Space / C-v Page down
M-v / C-b Page up

Searching

Key Action
/ Search forward (prompt at bottom)
? Search backward (prompt at bottom)
C-s Incremental search forward (live as you type)
C-r Incremental search backward (live as you type)
n / N Next / previous match
# / * Search backward/forward for word under cursor

Selection and copy

Key Action
v Begin selection (character-wise)
V / Space Select line (vi) / Begin selection (emacs)
C-Space Begin selection (emacs)
y / Enter Copy selection and exit copy mode
M-w / C-w Copy selection and exit (emacs)
D / C-k Copy to end of line and exit
C-g Clear selection
A Append selection to existing buffer and exit
X Set mark (for jump-back later)
M-x Jump to mark

Jumps

Key Action
f + char Jump forward to next occurrence of char
F + char Jump backward to previous occurrence of char
t + char Jump forward to before next occurrence of char
T + char Jump backward to before previous occurrence of char
; Repeat last jump
, Reverse last jump
o Jump to other end of selection

Rectangle (block) selection

Key Action
R / C-v Toggle rectangle mode — selection becomes columnar block

Scrolling with mouse

Action Behaviour
Scroll wheel Scroll up/down 5 lines at a time (auto-enters copy mode)
Drag select Select text and auto-copy on release
Double-click Select word and auto-copy
Triple-click Select line and auto-copy

Paste

Key Action
Prefix ] Paste from the tmux paste buffer
Prefix = Choose buffer interactively
Prefix # List buffers

Middle-click to paste wherever mouse is supported.

Mouse support

Mouse is on by default (set -g mouse on).

Action Behaviour
Click pane Select that pane
Click-drag pane border Resize pane interactively
Scroll wheel Scroll pane history (enters copy mode automatically)
Right-click pane Pane context menu — split, kill, swap, zoom, resize, search word, copy word/line/hyperlink
Right-click status bar (window) Window context menu — swap, kill, respawn, mark, rename, new after/before
Right-click status bar (left, session) Session context menu — switch, rename, renumber, new session/window
Click status bar (window name) Switch to that window

Status bar

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ [session]  1:~/project  2:~/docs                          ⚡ │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
Element Detail
Position Top of screen
Left Session name — #[fg=black,bg=blue,bold]
Center Window list — #I:#W (index:name), current in blue bold
Right Mode indicators + hostname — COPY PREFIX ZOOM shown when active
Interval Updates every 5 seconds
Window names Auto-renamed to basename of current working directory
Separator None (windows abut)
Scrollbar Click to scroll up/down

Status bar mode indicators

Indicator Meaning
PREFIX You've pressed the prefix key, waiting for command
COPY Currently in copy mode
ZOOM Current pane is zoomed (fullscreen)

General settings

Setting Value Effect
default-terminal tmux-256color True-colour-aware terminal type
terminal-overrides *,:RGB Enable RGB colour in all terminals
base-index 1 Windows start at index 1, not 0
pane-base-index 1 Panes start at index 1
renumber-windows on No gaps when windows are closed
history-limit 50000 50k lines of scrollback per pane
escape-time 0 No delay after Escape (vim-friendly)
focus-events on Pass focus events to applications (e.g. vim autowrite)
set-clipboard on Integrate with system clipboard
allow-passthrough on Allow OSC 52 sequences (e.g. remote clipboard via SSH)
aggressive-resize on Resize window to smallest attached client
detach-on-destroy off Don't detach when the last pane/window is killed
extended-keys on CSI-u extended key protocol (better modifier support)
mouse on Mouse support enabled

Configuration reload

Key Action
Prefix q Reload ~/.config/tmux/tmux.conf and show confirmation

Cheatsheet for tmux defaults (not in config but commonly useful)

Key Action
Prefix t Clock mode — shows a big clock in the pane
Prefix ~ Show messages — recent tmux messages/log
Prefix ? List all key bindings
Prefix : Command prompt — enter any tmux command
Prefix M-n / M-p Next/previous window with alert (activity/bell)
Prefix C-z Suspend tmux client