Tmux Cheat Sheet

At some point, every engineer or researcher needs to work in the command line.

Tmux makes that work easier by keeping sessions alive, organizing multiple tasks, and letting you reconnect without losing progress. It is especially useful for remote servers, long-running jobs, and multitasking in a terminal.

Below is a concise and practical tmux cheat sheet covering the most useful commands for daily terminal workflows, session management, window navigation, and productivity.

Tmux is a terminal multiplexer that helps you manage multiple tasks and workflows.

With tmux, you can:

• Sessions: Preserve your work and keep tasks running, even if you log out or disconnect.
• Windows: Create separate workspaces for different projects or tools within the same session.
• Panes: Split a window into multiple views so you can monitor and interact with several processes side by side.

Installing tmux

Linux

Often pre-installed.

macOS

Install Tmux using Homebrew:

brew install tmux

Windows

Install Tmux via WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux):

sudo apt update
sudo apt install tmux

Tmux sessions

Start a default session

tmux

Start a named session

tmux new -s <session-name>

List sessions

tmux ls

Attach to a session

tmux attach -t <session-name>

tmux a -t <session-name>

Kill a session

tmux kill-session -t <session-name>

Kill all sessions

tmux kill-server

Rename current session

Ctrl-b   $

Choose a session from a list

Ctrl-b   s

Detach from a session

Leave the current tmux session running in the background so you can come back to it later.

Ctrl-b   d

Close a session

Ctrl-d

Tmux windows

Create a new window

Ctrl-b   c

Rename a window

Ctrl-b   ,

List windows

Ctrl-b   w

Move between windows

Ctrl-b   n
Ctrl-b   p

Go to a specific window

Ctrl-b   0
Ctrl-b   ...
Ctrl-b   9

Close window

Ctrl-b   &

Tmux panes

Split vertically

Ctrl-b   %

Split horizontally

Ctrl-b   "

Move between panes

Ctrl-b   ← ↓ ↑ →

Resize a pane

Ctrl-b   hold Ctrl   ← ↓ ↑ →

macOS only:

Ctrl-b   hold Shift + Option   ← ↓ ↑ →

Maximize/minimize a pane

Ctrl-b   z

Change layout

Ctrl-b   Space

Close a pane

Ctrl-d

Searching in tmux

You can search through your tmux history using copy mode. This allows you to scroll back and find specific text in the buffer.

1. Enter tmux copy mode:

   Ctrl-b   [

2. Start a search:

   Search downwards:

   Ctrl-s

   Search upwards:

   Ctrl-r

3. Type your search term and press Enter.

4. Navigate through matches:

   Press n to jump to the next occurrence.

   Press N to jump to the previous occurrence.

5. Exit copy mode:

   Press q or Escape twice to exit copy mode.

Searching for a window in tmux

When you have multiple windows open, you can quickly jump to one based on text currently displayed inside it.

1. Open the find-window prompt:

   Ctrl-b   f

2. Type your search term and press Enter.

3. Select the matching window:

   If there’s only one match, tmux will switch to it automatically.

   If multiple windows match, you’ll see a list and can choose the one you want.

This is just the beginning

We’ve demystified the essential tmux shortcuts you need to manage sessions, switch between windows, and stay organized while working in the terminal.

With these foundations in place, you’re ready to build a faster, more efficient command-line workflow using tmux every day.

This is just the beginning of your journey. May the Force be with you!