tmux Cheatsheet

Terminal multiplexer: persistent sessions, split panes, and scriptable layouts. The backbone of SSH/VPS work — sessions survive disconnects.

What Is tmux?
Prefix Key
Sessions
Windows (tabs)
Panes (splits)
Copy Mode (scrollback)
Mouse Mode (select, scroll, copy)
Buffers (clipboard)
Command Mode
Synchronize Panes
Scripting tmux (automation)
tmux Bash Script Template
~/.tmux.conf (Config)
Plugins (TPM)
Common Workflows
Quick Reference: Key Bindings

WHAT IS TMUX?

tmux = terminal multiplexer. Run multiple terminal sessions inside one window. Survives SSH disconnects — sessions persist on the server.

sudo apt install tmux    # Ubuntu/Debian
sudo pacman -S tmux      # Arch
brew install tmux        # macOS

PREFIX KEY

Default prefix: Ctrl+b (press, release, then press the next key). All tmux commands start with the prefix unless run via CLI. Change prefix to Ctrl+a (screen-style) — see Config.

SESSIONS

CLI (outside tmux)

tmux                             → Start new unnamed session
tmux new -s mysession            → Start named session
tmux ls                          → List all sessions
tmux attach                      → Attach to last session
tmux attach -t mysession         → Attach to named session
tmux kill-session -t mysession   → Kill named session
tmux kill-server                 → Kill ALL sessions

Inside tmux (prefix commands)

prefix + $   → Rename current session
prefix + d   → Detach (session stays alive)
prefix + s   → Interactive session list
prefix + (   → Switch to previous session
prefix + )   → Switch to next session
prefix + L   → Switch to last (most recent) session

WINDOWS (tabs)

prefix + c     → Create new window
prefix + ,     → Rename current window
prefix + &     → Kill current window (confirm)
prefix + w     → Interactive window list
prefix + n     → Next window
prefix + p     → Previous window
prefix + l     → Last (most recently used) window
prefix + 0-9   → Switch to window by number
prefix + .     → Move window (enter new index)
prefix + f     → Find window by name

PANES (splits)

prefix + %   → Split vertically (left | right)
prefix + "   → Split horizontally (top / bottom)
prefix + x   → Kill current pane (confirm)
prefix + z   → Zoom/unzoom pane (toggle fullscreen)
prefix + !   → Break pane into its own window
prefix + {   → Swap pane with previous
prefix + }   → Swap pane with next
prefix + q   → Show pane numbers (press number to jump)
prefix + o   → Cycle through panes
prefix + ;   → Toggle to last active pane

Resize panes

prefix + arrow key   → Resize by 1 cell
prefix + Ctrl+arrow  → Resize by 5 cells
# Or hold prefix and tap arrow repeatedly

Pane layouts (preset)

prefix + Space   → Cycle through layouts
prefix + Alt+1   → Even horizontal
prefix + Alt+2   → Even vertical
prefix + Alt+3   → Main horizontal
prefix + Alt+4   → Main vertical
prefix + Alt+5   → Tiled

Navigate panes

prefix + arrow key   → Move to pane in direction
# With vim-style nav (add to config — see below):
prefix + h/j/k/l     → Left/down/up/right

COPY MODE (scrollback)

prefix + [                → Enter copy mode
q                         → Exit copy mode
Arrow keys / PgUp / PgDn  → Scroll
/ then text               → Search forward
? then text               → Search backward
n / N                     → Next / previous match

Vi-style copy (add to config: `setw -g mode-keys vi`)

Space        → Start selection
Enter        → Copy selection (to tmux buffer)
prefix + ]   → Paste tmux buffer

Vi navigation inside copy mode

g / G             → Jump to top / bottom of history
Ctrl+u / Ctrl+d   → Half-page up / down
Ctrl+b / Ctrl+f   → Full page up / down
w / b             → Next / previous word
0 / $             → Start / end of line

Mouse scroll

Scroll wheel scrolls through history if mouse is enabled — see Mouse Mode.

MOUSE MODE (select, scroll, copy)

Enable in ~/.tmux.conf, then reload (prefix + : → source-file ~/.tmux.conf, or prefix + r if bound):

set -g mouse on    # Enables scroll, drag-select, pane click, border resize

Scroll wheel        → Auto-enters copy mode, scrolls history (q to exit)
Left-click + drag   → Select text (enters copy mode)
Release drag        → Copies selection to tmux buffer + exits copy mode
prefix + ]          → Paste the selection
Middle-click        → Paste most recent tmux buffer
Double-click        → Select word (tmux 3.2+)
Triple-click        → Select line (tmux 3.2+)
Click a pane        → Make it active
Click window name   → Switch window (status bar)
Drag pane border    → Resize panes
Right-click         → Context menu (tmux 3.0+)

Get selections into the SYSTEM clipboard (not just the tmux buffer)

# Option A — OSC 52: clipboard passes through SSH. Best for VPS work.
# Requires a terminal that supports OSC 52 (kitty, alacritty, WezTerm,
# iTerm2, foot). GNOME Terminal only supports it on VTE 0.76+.
set -g set-clipboard on

# Option B — pipe to a clipboard tool (local sessions only):
bind -T copy-mode-vi MouseDragEnd1Pane send-keys -X copy-pipe-and-cancel "xclip -selection clipboard -in"   # X11
# Wayland: swap the xclip command for "wl-copy"

# Option C — tmux-yank plugin (see PLUGINS) auto-detects the right tool.

Gotchas

# Releasing a drag auto-copies AND snaps you back to the bottom of
# scrollback. To keep the selection highlighted and yank manually with y:
unbind -T copy-mode-vi MouseDragEnd1Pane

# Shift + drag bypasses tmux entirely → terminal-native select/copy.
# Useful escape hatch, but it grabs pane-border characters if the
# selection crosses a split.

# Mouse selection copies to the TMUX buffer by default — if paste into
# your browser/editor does nothing, you're missing Option A/B/C above.

BUFFERS (clipboard)

prefix + ]   → Paste most recent buffer
prefix + =   → List all buffers (interactive)
prefix + -   → Delete most recent buffer

CLI buffer commands

tmux list-buffers          → Show all buffers
tmux show-buffer           → Print most recent buffer
tmux save-buffer file.txt  → Save buffer to file
tmux load-buffer file.txt  → Load file into buffer
tmux set-buffer "text"     → Set buffer manually
tmux paste-buffer          → Paste in current pane

COMMAND MODE

prefix + : → Enter tmux command prompt

Useful commands in command mode

:new-window                   → New window
:split-window -h              → Vertical split
:split-window -v              → Horizontal split
:resize-pane -D 10            → Resize pane down 10
:setw synchronize-panes on    → Type in ALL panes simultaneously
:setw synchronize-panes off   → Turn off sync
:source-file ~/.tmux.conf     → Reload config without restart
:kill-session                 → Kill current session
:display-message "hello"      → Show message in status bar
:clock-mode                   → Display clock in pane

SYNCHRONIZE PANES

Send the same command to ALL panes in a window — useful for multi-server ops.

prefix + :setw synchronize-panes on
# Run your command (e.g. uptime, git pull) — it types into every pane
prefix + :setw synchronize-panes off

SCRIPTING TMUX (automation)

Start a session with named windows automatically

tmux new-session -d -s dev -n editor
tmux new-window -t dev -n terminal
tmux new-window -t dev -n monitoring
tmux send-keys -t dev:editor "vim ." Enter
tmux send-keys -t dev:monitoring "htop" Enter
tmux attach -t dev

Split and run commands in panes

tmux new-session -d -s ops
tmux split-window -h -t ops
tmux split-window -v -t ops
tmux send-keys -t ops:0.0 "ssh server1" Enter
tmux send-keys -t ops:0.1 "ssh server2" Enter
tmux send-keys -t ops:0.2 "tail -f /var/log/syslog" Enter
tmux attach -t ops

Run one-off command in background session

tmux new-session -d -s bg -x 220 -y 50
tmux send-keys -t bg "bash long_script.sh" Enter
# Detach and check later:
tmux attach -t bg

TMUX BASH SCRIPT TEMPLATE

#!/bin/bash
SESSION="dev"

tmux has-session -t $SESSION 2>/dev/null

if [ $? != 0 ]; then
    tmux new-session -d -s $SESSION -n editor
    tmux new-window -t $SESSION -n shell
    tmux new-window -t $SESSION -n logs
    tmux send-keys -t $SESSION:editor "cd ~/projects && vim" Enter
    tmux send-keys -t $SESSION:shell "cd ~/projects" Enter
    tmux send-keys -t $SESSION:logs "journalctl -f" Enter
    tmux select-window -t $SESSION:editor
fi

tmux attach -t $SESSION

~/.tmux.conf (CONFIG)

Reload config: prefix + :source-file ~/.tmux.conf — or add prefix + r (see keybinding below).

# --- Prefix ---
unbind C-b
set-option -g prefix C-a          # Change prefix to Ctrl+a
bind-key C-a send-prefix

# --- General ---
set -g history-limit 50000        # Scrollback buffer size (default 2000 is tiny for log work)
set -g base-index 1               # Windows start at 1 (not 0)
setw -g pane-base-index 1         # Panes start at 1
set -g renumber-windows on        # Auto-renumber on close
set -s escape-time 0              # Remove Esc key delay
set -g display-time 2000          # Status messages linger 2s
set -g focus-events on

# --- Terminal / colors ---
set -g default-terminal "tmux-256color"          # Proper color + italics support
set -ga terminal-overrides ",xterm-256color:Tc"  # True color (24-bit) passthrough

# --- Mouse ---
set -g mouse on                   # Enable mouse (click, scroll, resize) — see MOUSE MODE section

# --- Vi mode ---
setw -g mode-keys vi              # Vi keys in copy mode
bind-key -T copy-mode-vi v send-keys -X begin-selection
# NOTE: y is bound ONCE, in the clipboard section below. A plain
# copy-selection-and-cancel binding here would be silently overridden.

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

# --- Splits (more intuitive) ---
bind | split-window -h -c "#{pane_current_path}"
bind - split-window -v -c "#{pane_current_path}"
unbind '"'
unbind %

# --- Reload config ---
bind r source-file ~/.tmux.conf \; display "Config reloaded!"

# --- Resize panes ---
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

# --- Status bar ---
set -g status-position bottom
set -g status-style bg=colour235,fg=colour136
set -g status-left "#[fg=colour226][#S] "
set -g status-right "#[fg=colour39]%Y-%m-%d %H:%M"
set -g status-right-length 50
set -g status-left-length 30
setw -g window-status-current-style fg=colour166,bold

# --- Copy to system clipboard ---
# Option A — OSC 52: works over SSH (see MOUSE MODE section for terminal support)
set -g set-clipboard on

# Option B — pipe to clipboard tool (Linux X11 with xclip):
bind-key -T copy-mode-vi y send-keys -X copy-pipe-and-cancel "xclip -selection clipboard -in"
# Wayland: swap the xclip command for "wl-copy"

# macOS:
# bind-key -T copy-mode-vi y send-keys -X copy-pipe-and-cancel "pbcopy"

PLUGINS (TPM — Tmux Plugin Manager)

Install TPM

git clone https://github.com/tmux-plugins/tpm ~/.tmux/plugins/tpm

Add to ~/.tmux.conf

set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tpm'
set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tmux-sensible'
set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tmux-resurrect'   # Save/restore sessions
set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tmux-continuum'   # Auto-save sessions
set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tmux-yank'        # System clipboard copy

run '~/.tmux/plugins/tpm/tpm'   # Must be LAST line

Plugin management

prefix + I       → Install plugins
prefix + U       → Update plugins
prefix + Alt+u   → Remove plugins

tmux-resurrect usage

prefix + Ctrl+s   → Save session
prefix + Ctrl+r   → Restore session

COMMON WORKFLOWS

SSH + tmux (survive disconnects)

ssh user@host
tmux new -s work        # Start session on remote
# ... work ...
# Connection drops — SSH back in:
ssh user@host
tmux attach -t work     # Everything still running

Multi-server monitoring

tmux new -s infra
tmux split-window -h
tmux split-window -v
tmux select-pane -t 0
tmux split-window -v
# Now 4 panes — SSH into different servers in each

Log watching across services

tmux new -s logs
tmux split-window -h
tmux send-keys "journalctl -fu nginx" Enter
tmux select-pane -t 1
tmux send-keys "journalctl -fu postgresql" Enter

QUICK REFERENCE: KEY BINDINGS

Action	Key
New window	prefix + c
Split vertical	prefix + %
Split horizontal	prefix + "
Kill pane	prefix + x
Zoom pane	prefix + z
Detach session	prefix + d
Session list	prefix + s
Window list	prefix + w
Copy mode	prefix + [
Paste buffer	prefix + ]
Rename window	prefix + ,
Rename session	prefix + $
Command prompt	prefix + :
Show pane numbers	prefix + q
Next window	prefix + n
Previous window	prefix + p
Reload config*	prefix + r

*requires bind r in ~/.tmux.conf

Last Updated: 2026-07

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