Bjarne Verschorre

What is tmux?

According to the tmux^↗ on their wiki:

tmux is a terminal multiplexer. It lets you switch easily between several programs in one terminal, detach them (they keep running in the background) and reattach them to a different terminal.

Keybinds

The default keybind for tmux is CTRL+B.

Sessions

• tmux [new -s <session-name>]: Create a new session (with a name)
• tmux ls: List all sessions
• tmux a[ttach] [-t <session-name>]: Attach to a session (by name)
• tmux kill-sess[ion] [-t <session-name>]: Kill a session (by name), if no name is provided, it will kill the most recent session
• tmux kill-sess[ion] -a: Kill all sessions

When in a sessin you can use CTRL+B d to detach from the session.

Windows

When you’re in a session:

• CTRL+B c: Create a new window
• CTRL+B n: Go to the next window
• CTRL+B p: Go to the previous window
• CTRL+B <window-number>: Go to a specific window
• CTRL+B ,: Rename the current window
• CTRL+B w: List all windows (use arrow keys and enter),
• CTRL+B &: Close the current window

Panes

When you’re in a window:

• CTRL+B %: Split the current pane vertically
• CTRL+B ": Split the current pane horizontally
• CTRL+B <arrow-key>: Go to the pane in the direction of the arrow key
• CTRL+B o: Go to the next pane
• CTRL+B x: Close the current pane
• CTRL+B z: Max/minimize the current pane
• CTRL+B !: Move the current pane to a new window
• CTRL+B {: Move the current pane to the left
• CTRL+B }: Move the current pane to the right
• CTRL+B q: Show pane numbers (use the number to go to that pane)
• CTRL+B space: Cycle through pane layouts
• CTRL+B ;: Toggle between the current and previous pane
• CTRL+B CTRL+<arrow-key>: Resize the pane in the direction of the arrow key
• CTRL+B [: Enter copy mode, “q” to exit

Conclusion

The shortcuts listed above are the ones I mostly use. It might feel daunting at first, I recommend using it with a list like this on your second monitor, the shortcuts are pretty intuitive so you’ll get the hang of it in no time.