Tmux is a powerful terminal multiplexer that allows you to manage multiple terminal sessions, windows, and panes within a single terminal window. This cheatsheet provides essential Tmux commands to enhance your command-line productivity.

Tmux Session Management

Manage your Tmux sessions efficiently with these commands.

# To start a new tmux session:
tmux

# To list all active tmux sessions:
tmux ls

# To attach to the most recently used session:
tmux attach

# To detach from the current session (leaves it running):
Ctrl-b d

# To detach an already attached session (useful for moving between devices):
tmux attach -d

# To rename the current session:
Ctrl-b $

# To switch between sessions:
Ctrl-b s

# To start a shared session (multiple users can connect):
tmux -S /tmp/your_shared_session
chmod 777 /tmp/your_shared_session

Tmux Window Navigation and Management

Navigate and manage windows within your Tmux sessions.

# To create a new window:
Ctrl-b c

# To go to the next window:
Ctrl-b n

# To go to the previous window:
Ctrl-b p

# To destroy the current window:
Ctrl-b x

# To switch to a specific window by number:
Ctrl-b [0-9]

# To switch between windows using arrow keys (after splitting):
Ctrl-b Arrows

Tmux Pane Management

Split your terminal into multiple panes for better workflow.

# To split the current pane horizontally:
Ctrl-b %

# To split the current pane vertically:
Ctrl-b "

# To swap the current pane with another:
Ctrl-b :swap-pane -s [source_pane] -t [target_pane]

Tmux Help and Configuration

Access help and reload your Tmux configuration.

# To display the Tmux command help (press Q to quit):
Ctrl-b ?

# To scroll within a pane (enter copy mode):
Ctrl-b [

# Use PageUp/PageDown to scroll:
PageUp/PageDown

# To reload the Tmux configuration file:
Ctrl-b : source-file ~/.tmux.conf

External Resources

• Tmux Manual Page
• Tmux Resurrect Plugin
• r/tmux on Reddit