tmux 3.8 is out: movable floating panes, built-in themes →

tmux: the terminal multiplexer that keeps your work running

tmux is a free and open-source terminal multiplexer for Unix-like operating systems that lets you create, access and control many terminal sessions from a single screen. Sessions keep running after you disconnect, which makes tmux the standard tool for remote servers, long-running jobs and AI coding agents. It is released under the ISC license and runs on Linux, macOS and Windows (via WSL).

Try it in your browser → Install tmux Cheat sheet

3.8latest release, 8 Oct 2026
2007created by Nicholas Marriott
ISCfree, open-source license

dev@tmux.app — tmuxCtrl+b is the prefix

Click the terminal, press Ctrl+b, let go, then press the next key. On a phone, tap Prefix then a key.

What is tmux?

tmux (short for terminal multiplexer) is a command-line program that lets you run several programs in one terminal, detach from them while they keep running in the background, and reattach later, from the same machine or a different one. Unlike a normal terminal session, a tmux session survives a dropped SSH connection or a closed laptop lid.

When the connection drops, only the tmux client dies. The server, the session and every program in it keep running.

◷

Session persistence

Start a build, a migration or an AI agent on a server, detach with Ctrl+b d, close your laptop, and pick it up later with tmux attach.

◫

Split panes and windows

Divide one terminal into panes, and keep sets of panes in windows that work like browser tabs. Logs, editor and tests, all in view.

❯

Scriptable

Every action is a command, so a shell script can build your whole workspace, and other programs can drive tmux.

Watch: tmux explained in 4 minutes. Sessions, windows, panes, and why your work survives a dropped SSH connection.

How tmux organizes your work

One background server holds every session. A session contains windows (the tabs you see in the status line), and each window is split into panes, each running its own shell. Clients, the terminals you type into, attach to a session and can come and go.

Here is the same structure on a real terminal: one window split into three panes, a second window named tests, and three sessions listed by tmux ls.

A real tmux 3.8 window with three panes: system stats on the left, tmux -V and tmux ls on the top right, pane sizes on the bottom right, and the yellow-green status bar listing windows editor and tests. — Three panes, two windows and three sessions in a real tmux 3.8 server.
How this was captured
Captured 2026-10-28 17:56 UTC from a real xterm window running tmux 3.8 on Ubuntu 24.04. Nothing is mocked up. The commands that set up the screen:
tmux new-session -d -s work -n editor -x 110 -y 29 tmux new-session -d -s api -n server tmux new-session -d -s logs tmux split-window -h -t work:editor tmux split-window -v -t work:editor.1 tmux new-window -d -t work -n tests tmux send-keys -t work:editor.0 'clear; uptime -p; nproc; echo; df -h / | column -t; echo; ps -o pid,comm' Enter tmux send-keys -t work:editor.1 'clear; tmux -V; tmux ls' Enter tmux send-keys -t work:editor.2 'clear; tmux list-panes -F '"'"'#{pane_index}: #{pane_width}x#{pane_height}'"'"'' Enter tmux select-pane -t work:editor.1

Install

Install tmux

tmux is in every major package manager, and its source code and release tarballs are on GitHub (tmux/tmux). Pick your system; the tab for the one you are on opens by default.

shell

$ brew install tmux
$ tmux -V
tmux 3.8

Homebrew and MacPorts (sudo port install tmux) both ship tmux 3.8. No Homebrew yet? Install it from brew.sh first. Full tmux macOS install guide: Homebrew, MacPorts, source, clipboard and iTerm2 →

Distribution	Command	Version you get
Ubuntu / Debian	`sudo apt install tmux`	3.4 (Ubuntu 24.04), 3.6a (26.04), 3.5a (Debian 13)
Fedora / RHEL	`sudo dnf install tmux`	3.8 (Fedora 44)
Arch Linux	`sudo pacman -S tmux`	3.8
Alpine	`apk add tmux`	3.8 (edge)
openSUSE	`sudo zypper install tmux`	varies by release

LTS releases ship older versions. If you need 3.8 features such as movable floating panes, build from source in about a minute. Full Ubuntu and Linux tmux install guide →

tmux is a Unix program, so on Windows you have two good options:

Recommended

WSL2 + real tmux

Run the actual tmux inside Linux on Windows. In PowerShell as administrator:

PowerShell

wsl --install

Restart, open Ubuntu, then run sudo apt install tmux.

Native alternative

psmux

A separate, tmux-compatible multiplexer written in Rust for PowerShell and cmd. It reads your .tmux.conf but it is not the official tmux.

PowerShell

winget install psmux

MSYS2 (pacman -S tmux) and Cygwin also package tmux. Full Windows tmux install guide: WSL2, psmux, MSYS2, Cygwin and Windows Terminal →

Getting started

How to use tmux in five minutes

These are the commands you will use every day. Everything after the first step is a key press: hold Ctrl, press b, let go, then press the next key.

Start a named session
shell
```
$ tmux new -s work
```
A status line appears at the bottom (yellow-green in tmux 3.8, green in older versions): you are inside tmux. Naming sessions makes them easy to find later.
Split the screen
Ctrl+b % splits left and right, Ctrl+b " splits top and bottom. Move with Ctrl+b ← and the other arrows, or just click: the mouse is on by default in tmux 3.8.
Open another window
Ctrl+b c creates a window, Ctrl+b n and Ctrl+b p move between windows, and Ctrl+b 0 to Ctrl+b 9 jump straight to one.
Detach and walk away
Ctrl+b d detaches. Your programs keep running, even if you log out or SSH drops.
Reattach later
shell
```
$ tmux ls
work: 2 windows (created Tue Oct 28 09:14:02 2026)
$ tmux attach -t work
```
To close a session for good, type exit in every pane, or run tmux kill-session -t work. More on sessions →

Shortcuts

tmux shortcuts

The most used default key bindings. Each one is prefix (Ctrl+b) followed by the key.

Ctrl+b dDetach from the session

Ctrl+b %Split into left and right panes

Ctrl+b "Split into top and bottom panes

Ctrl+b ←Move to the pane on the left (any arrow)

Ctrl+b zZoom the pane to full screen and back

Ctrl+b xClose the pane (asks first)

Ctrl+b cCreate a new window

Ctrl+b ,Rename the window

Ctrl+b wPick a window or session from a tree

Ctrl+b [Scroll back (copy mode); q to leave

Ctrl+b TabFuzzy window switcher new in 3.8

Ctrl+b ?List every key binding

Full cheat sheet and PDF → All commands

What's new

What's new in tmux 3.8

tmux 3.8 was tagged on 8 October 2026. It is the biggest release in years: 2026 already has more commits than any year since 2009.

❐Floating panes grow upFloating panes (added in 3.7) can now be moved and resized from the keyboard, tiled with @, swapped, and made modal with new-pane -O.→ ◐Built-in light and dark themesA new theme option follows your terminal's light or dark mode. The default status line is now yellow-green on 256-color terminals.→ ⇥Fuzzy switcherCtrl+b Tab finds a window, Ctrl+b Shift+Tab finds a session, from a pop-up list you can type into.→ 🖱Mouse on by defaultYou no longer need set -g mouse on. Plus event-based hooks, auto-hiding scrollbars and copy mode that refreshes live.→

Every tmux release since 2019Hover a dot for the version and date

201920202021202220232024202520262027

3.03.23.43.63.73.8

Source: git tag dates in github.com/tmux/tmux

Show the data

Version	Tagged	Highlights
2.9	2019-04-24	Old -fg / -bg / -attr options removed in favour of -style options
2.9a	2019-05-01
3.0	2019-06-14	New {} brace syntax for commands in the config file
3.0a	2019-12-01
3.1	2020-02-04	~/.config/tmux/tmux.conf supported as a config location
3.1a	2020-04-27
3.1b	2020-04-30
3.1c	2020-10-30
3.2	2021-04-13	display-popup (popups); $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/tmux/tmux.conf searched; extended-keys option
3.2a	2021-06-10
3.3	2022-06-01	Popup borders, styles and titles; Builds pick tmux-256color as default-terminal when available
3.3a	2022-06-09
3.4	2024-02-13	OSC 8 hyperlinks; SIXEL images (with --enable-sixel); menu-style and menu-border-style
3.5	2024-09-27	Default escape-time reduced from 500 ms to 10 ms; prefix-timeout option; Mirrored main-horizontal / main-vertical layouts; Extended keys revamp
3.5a	2024-10-05
3.6	2025-11-26	Pane scrollbars (pane-scrollbars); Nicer default second and third status lines; tiled-layout-max-columns; Case-insensitive search in modes
3.6a	2025-12-05
3.6b	2026-05-20
3.7	2026-06-26	Floating panes: new-pane, bound to Prefix *; Copy-mode line numbers; message-format option; list-keys -O sorting
3.7a	2026-07-01
3.7b	2026-07-01
3.7c	2026-08-17
3.8	2026-10-08	Floating panes can be moved, resized, tiled and swapped; modal panes (new-pane -O); Built-in light and dark themes (theme option); switch-mode fuzzy switcher on Prefix Tab / Prefix S-Tab; mouse now defaults to on; Event-based hooks and monitors (set-hook -B); Layout strings use a JSON subset; clear-on-attach option, copy-mode auto refresh, capture-pane -I

Alternatives

tmux alternatives

GNU Screen is older and simpler, Zellij is friendlier out of the box, Byobu is a ready-made setup that runs on top of tmux, and terminals such as WezTerm and Ghostty can split panes locally. tmux remains the one that is installed almost everywhere, survives disconnects on servers and can be scripted completely.

Feature	tmux	GNU Screen	Zellij	Byobu
Latest release	3.8 (Oct 2026)	5.0.2 (Jul 2026)	0.45.1 (Aug 2026)	wraps tmux or Screen
Detach and reattach	Yes	Yes	Yes	Via tmux
Splits and floating panes	Both	Splits only	Both	Via tmux
Scripting	Every action is a command	Basic	CLI actions, plugins	Via tmux
Plugins	TPM, shell based	None	WebAssembly	Limited
Learning curve	Moderate	Moderate	Gentle (on-screen hints)	Gentle
Native Windows	WSL2 (or psmux)	Cygwin	Yes, since 0.44 (2026)	WSL2

Compare all tmux alternatives →

Head-to-head: Zellij vs tmux · Screen vs tmux · cmux vs tmux

Plugins

The tmux plugin ecosystem

The tmux plugin manager (TPM) installs community plugins from one line each in your ~/.tmux.conf. Three lines get you started:

Install TPM

$ git clone https://github.com/tmux-plugins/tpm ~/.tmux/plugins/tpm
# add to the bottom of ~/.tmux.conf:
#   set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tpm'
#   run '~/.tmux/plugins/tpm/tpm'
$ tmux source ~/.tmux.conf
# then press prefix + I (capital i) to install plugins

The most-starred tmux add-ons on GitHubStars as shown on each repository page, 28 October 2026

Oh my tmux! (gpakosz/.tmux)25.5k

tpm15.1k

tmuxinator13.7k

tmux-resurrect13.1k

vim-tmux-navigator6.3k

tmux-continuum4.1k

catppuccin/tmux3.2k

tmux-yank3.1k

sesh2.9k

tmux-sensible2.2k

Source: github.com repository pages, 2026-10-28

Show the data

Repository	Stars
Oh my tmux! (gpakosz/.tmux)	25.5k
tpm	15.1k
tmuxinator	13.7k
tmux-resurrect	13.1k
vim-tmux-navigator	6.3k
tmux-continuum	4.1k
catppuccin/tmux	3.2k
tmux-yank	3.1k
sesh	2.9k
tmux-sensible	2.2k

Plugins guide and TPM reference → Oh my tmux!

Config generator

Build your `.tmux.conf` visually

Pick a prefix key, a theme, vi keys and plugins, watch a live preview of the status line, then copy or download a commented config that works on your tmux version.

Open the config generator → Every option explained

Explore all tmux guides

tmux user guidetmux docs: the documentation hub, start to finish. Scroll and copy modeScroll back, search and copy text. Config referenceEvery option, with 3.8 defaults. Plugins and TPMtmux sensible, resurrect, continuum, yank and more. ReleasesLatest version and how to update tmux. TroubleshootingColors, delays, frozen panes, errors. Claude Code + tmuxRun AI agents that survive disconnects. Neovim + tmuxSeamless navigation and true color. iTerm2 and tmux -CCNative tmux windows on macOS. Ghostty + tmuxTerminfo, true color and clipboard. man tmux, explainedThe tmux(1) manual section by section. Pair programmingShare one tmux session over SSH.

Frequently asked questions

What is tmux and what is it used for?

tmux is a free and open-source terminal multiplexer for Unix-like systems. It lets you switch between several programs in one terminal, detach them so they keep running in the background, and reattach them later. Developers, sysadmins and DevOps engineers use it to keep remote work alive over SSH, split a terminal into panes, and build scriptable workspaces.

How do I install tmux on macOS?

Install it with Homebrew: brew install tmux. Check it with tmux -V, which prints tmux 3.8 today. MacPorts users can run sudo port install tmux. See the macOS install guide.

Does tmux work on Windows?

Not natively. The usual way is to install WSL2 (wsl --install) and run sudo apt install tmux inside Ubuntu. psmux is a separate tmux-compatible program that runs natively in PowerShell, and MSYS2 and Cygwin also package tmux. See tmux on Windows.

How do I exit tmux?

To leave tmux but keep everything running, detach with Ctrl+b then d. To end it, type exit in each pane, or run tmux kill-session -t name (or tmux kill-server to stop every session).

What is the difference between tmux and GNU Screen?

Both keep sessions alive after you disconnect. tmux has a client-server design with many clients per session, far more scripting through its command set, a plugin ecosystem (TPM), floating panes and faster development. Screen is older, simpler and still maintained. See Screen vs tmux.

What is TPM (Tmux Plugin Manager) and how do I install it?

TPM is the standard plugin manager for tmux. Install it with git clone https://github.com/tmux-plugins/tpm ~/.tmux/plugins/tpm, add set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tpm' and run '~/.tmux/plugins/tpm/tpm' to the end of ~/.tmux.conf, reload, and press prefix then I to install plugins.

How do I check my tmux version?

Run tmux -V (capital V). The latest release is 3.8, tagged on 8 October 2026. Inside tmux you can also run tmux display -p '#{version}'.

What does tmux -CC do?

tmux -CC starts tmux in control mode, which iTerm2 on macOS uses to show tmux windows and panes as native iTerm2 tabs and splits. In a normal terminal it prints control-mode messages instead of drawing tmux. See iTerm2 and tmux -CC.

Is tmux free?

Yes. tmux is open source under the ISC license, free for any use, and maintained by Nicholas Marriott and contributors at github.com/tmux/tmux.

tmux: the terminal multiplexer that keeps your work running

What is tmux?

Session persistence

Split panes and windows

Scriptable

How tmux organizes your work

Install tmux

WSL2 + real tmux

psmux

How to use tmux in five minutes

Start a named session

Split the screen

Open another window

Detach and walk away

Reattach later

tmux shortcuts

What's new in tmux 3.8

tmux alternatives

The tmux plugin ecosystem

Build your .tmux.conf visually

Explore all tmux guides

Frequently asked questions

What is tmux and what is it used for?

How do I install tmux on macOS?

Does tmux work on Windows?

How do I exit tmux?

What is the difference between tmux and GNU Screen?

What is TPM (Tmux Plugin Manager) and how do I install it?

How do I check my tmux version?

What does tmux -CC do?

Is tmux free?

Build your `.tmux.conf` visually