tmux Cheatsheet

Power user.

Sessions

Sessions are the unit of long-lived work. Create a named session per project, detach when you walk away, and reattach from any new SSH connection. The session keeps running between attaches.

• tmux new -s name Create a named session; one per project keeps work organised across reboots and SSH sessions.
• Ctrl-b d Detach the current session; the session keeps running on the host after SSH drops.
• tmux ls List active sessions on the host; the first command after reconnecting.
• tmux a -t name Attach to a named session; resumes exactly where you left off.
• tmux kill-session -t name Explicit cleanup when you are done with a project; sessions otherwise persist until the host reboots.

Windows

Windows are tabs inside a session. One window per concern, named so the window list reads like a meaningful agenda rather than a numbered grid.

• Ctrl-b c Create a new window inside the session; one per task or service.
• Ctrl-b n / Ctrl-b p Next and previous window; linear walk through the agenda.
• Ctrl-b , Rename the current window; named windows beat numbered ones every time.
• Ctrl-b w Interactive window picker; useful when the window list is long.
• Ctrl-b 0-9 Jump directly to a numbered window; the fastest navigation when you know the index.

Panes

Panes are splits inside a window for adjacent views: logs next to commands, tail next to edit. The right split layout halves the time spent context-switching between terminals.

• Ctrl-b % Vertical split (side-by-side); good for logs alongside commands.
• Ctrl-b " Horizontal split (stacked); good for editor on top, shell below.
• Ctrl-b arrows Move focus between panes; the daily navigation.
• Ctrl-b z Toggle pane zoom (full-screen the current pane); back to the layout with the same key.
• Ctrl-b x Close the current pane; confirm prompt prevents accidents.
• Ctrl-b ! Promote the current pane to its own window; useful when a pane has outgrown its split.

Scrollback and copy

Scrollback is how you read the past inside tmux; copy mode is how you grab a chunk of it without leaving the terminal.

• Ctrl-b [ Enter copy mode; arrows or vim-style keys (with the right config) navigate.
• Space Start a selection in copy mode; visual selection of the region to copy.
• Enter Copy the selection to the tmux buffer; the buffer is paste source for any pane.
• Ctrl-b ] Paste from the current tmux buffer; survives across panes and windows.
• Ctrl-b = Choose from the buffer list; tmux keeps multiple buffers, this is how to pick one.

Config and prefix

The default prefix Ctrl-b is awkward; most operators rebind to Ctrl-a. Keep the rebind and other tweaks in ~/.tmux.conf so every shell inherits the same setup.

• set -g prefix C-a Rebind the prefix to Ctrl-a; the muscle-memory standard.
• set -g mouse on Enable mouse support; modern terminals make this safe and useful.
• set -g history-limit 50000 Larger scrollback than the default; investigations frequently need more than 2000 lines.
• bind r source-file ~/.tmux.conf Live-reload binding; iterate on config without restarting tmux.