Reference · Shortcuts · Printable

The Ultimate tmux Cheat Sheet & Shortcuts

A comprehensive visual guide to all tmux shortcuts and commands. Organized by category for speed, every key binding dynamically updates to match your preferred prefix modifier.

Verified for tmux v3.6a · macOS Sonoma/Sequoia, Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, Windows WSL2
Full Explanations →
Select Your Prefix Key:

Currently displaying shortcuts with prefix: Ctrl+b. Click any option above to dynamically update the entire reference.

📁 Sessions

New session
tmux
New named session
tmux new -s [name]
List all sessions
tmux ls
Attach last session
tmux a
Attach named session
tmux a -t [name]
Detach from session
Ctrl+b d
Detach other clients
Ctrl+b D
Previous session
Ctrl+b (
Next session
Ctrl+b )
Rename current session
Ctrl+b $
Interactive session list
Ctrl+b s
Kill specific session
tmux kill-session -t [name]
Kill ALL sessions (Server)
tmux kill-server

🪟 Windows

Create window
Ctrl+b c
Rename window
Ctrl+b ,
Next window
Ctrl+b n
Previous window
Ctrl+b p
Last (toggled) window
Ctrl+b l
Select by number
Ctrl+b 0-9
Window list (interactive)
Ctrl+b w
Find window
Ctrl+b f
Swap windows
tmux swap-window -s 2 -t 1
Renumber windows
tmux move-window -r
Kill window
Ctrl+b &
Move window
Ctrl+b .

⬛ Panes

Split horizontally
Ctrl+b %
Split vertically
Ctrl+b "
Toggle last active pane
Ctrl+b ;
Navigate panes
Ctrl+b ↑↓←→
Select next pane
Ctrl+b o
Select pane by number
Ctrl+b q 0-9
Show pane numbers
Ctrl+b q
Toggle zoom (fullscreen)
Ctrl+b z
Kill pane
Ctrl+b x
Swap pane (forward)
Ctrl+b }
Swap pane (backward)
Ctrl+b {
Break pane to window
Ctrl+b !
Resize pane (hold keys)
Ctrl+b Ctrl+↑↓←→
Synchronize panes
setw synchronize-panes
Cycle pane layouts
Ctrl+b Space

📋 Copy Mode (Scroll)

Enter copy mode (Scroll Up)
Ctrl+b [
Scroll Up / Down
PgUp / PgDn
Paste buffer
Ctrl+b ]
List buffers
Ctrl+b =
Navigate (vi)
h j k l
Line Start / End
0 $
Search forward / back
/ / ?
Next / prev match
n / N
Move word (vi)
w / b
Jump Top / Bottom
g G
Page Up / Down
Ctrl+b Ctrl+f
Start selection
v / Space
Copy selection
y / Enter
Exit copy mode
q Esc

⌨️ Command Mode

Open command prompt
Ctrl+b :
List all key bindings
Ctrl+b ?
Reload config
Ctrl+b : source ~/.tmux.conf
tmux version
tmux -V
Server info
tmux info
Show all options
tmux show-options -g

🔧 Miscellaneous

Enter command mode
Ctrl+b :
List key bindings
Ctrl+b ?
Reload config
Ctrl+b : source ~/.tmux.conf
Set option (all sessions)
tmux set-option -g OPTION
Set option (all windows)
tmux set-window-option -g OPTION
Enable mouse mode
set -g mouse on
Refresh client
Ctrl+b r
Clock mode
Ctrl+b t
Detach other clients
Ctrl+b D
Suspend client
Ctrl+b Ctrl+z
Send prefix to nested tmux
Ctrl+b Ctrl+b
Production Knowledge

Engineering Workflows & Battle-Tested Pro-Tips

Real-world practices, gotcha fixes, and performance tuning from senior DevOps engineers.

⚡ Zero-Latency Vim / Neovim Switching

By default, tmux enforces a 500ms delay after receiving an Esc keypress to determine if it belongs to an escape sequence. This creates noticeable mode-switching lag inside Vim/Neovim.

The Fix: Add this to your ~/.tmux.conf to eliminate the delay immediately:

set -s escape-time 0
⚠️ Native Mouse Copy vs. Scroll Freeze

When mouse mode (set -g mouse on) is enabled, dragging to select text causes tmux to copy to its internal buffer and immediately snap back to the bottom prompt.

Pro-Tip: Hold Shift (Linux/WSL) or Option / Fn (macOS) while dragging your mouse to temporarily bypass tmux and use your native terminal emulator's OS clipboard directly.

🏗️ The Golden 3-Pane Developer Layout

When developing full-stack web applications, standardizing your workspace layout drastically increases productivity:

  • Left Pane (60% width): Neovim / Code Editor (Ctrl+b %)
  • Top Right Pane: Live Dev Server & Hot-Reload logs
  • Bottom Right Pane: Git CLI, Tests & Scratch REPL (Ctrl+b ")

Need full command explanations with flags and examples?

The /commands/ page goes deep: every command documented with all options, use cases, and copy-ready examples.

Full Command Reference → Configure tmux →