Tmux Common Commands

July 26, 2022 · 1 min read

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A tmux instance can contain multiple sessions, a session can contain multiple windows, a window can contain multiple panes, and a shell dialog is opened in each pane.

• Press ctrl + b and release it, then press %: split the current pane into two panes side by side.
• Press ctrl + b and release it, then press ": split the current pane into two panes stacked vertically.
• Ctrl + d: close the current pane; if all panes in the current window are closed, the window closes automatically; if all windows in the current session are closed, the session closes automatically.
• Click with the mouse to select a pane. (Set up yourself)
• Press ctrl + b and release it, then press an arrow key: select an adjacent pane.
• Drag the divider between panes with the mouse to resize it. (Set up yourself)
• Hold ctrl + b while pressing an arrow key to resize the divider between panes.
• Press ctrl + b and release it, then press z: maximize/restore the current pane.
• Press ctrl + b and release it, then press d: detach the current session.
• tmux a: reopen a previously detached session. (You can also use the full command tmux attach)
• Press ctrl + b and release it, then press s: select another session.
  • Up arrow: select the previous session/window/pane
  • Down arrow: select the next session/window/pane
  • Right arrow: expand the current session/window
  • Left arrow: collapse the current session/window
• Press ctrl + b and release it, then press c: create a new window in the current session.
• Press ctrl + b and release it, then press w: select another window, using the same method as for sessions. (The difference is that the unit is a window)
• Press ctrl + b and release it, then press PageUp: scroll through the content of the current pane.
• Mouse wheel: scroll through the content of the current pane.
• When selecting text in tmux, hold down the shift key. (Only supported on Windows and Linux, not Mac, but this operation is not necessary, so it does not matter much)
• The general way to copy/paste text in tmux:
  • Press ctrl + b and release it, then press [
  • Select text with the mouse; the selected text is automatically copied to the tmux clipboard
  • Press ctrl + b and release it, then press ]; the contents of the clipboard will be pasted at the cursor

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