Appendix: Cheatsheets
These are taken directly from tmux’s manual pages, tabled and organized by hand into sections for convenience.
Commands
Session
| Command | Action |
|---|---|
| no command | Short-cut for new-session
|
attach-session |
Attach or switch to a session |
choose-session |
Put a window into session choice mode |
has-session |
Check and report if a session exists on the server |
kill-session |
Destroy a given session |
list-sessions |
List sessions managed by server |
lock-session |
Lock all clients attached to a session |
new-session |
Create a new session |
rename-session |
Rename a session |
Window
| Command | Action |
|---|---|
choose-window |
Put a window into window choice |
find-window |
Search for a pattern in windows |
kill-window |
Destroy a given window |
last-window |
Select the previously selected |
link-window |
Link a window to another |
list-windows |
List windows of a session |
move-window |
Move a window to another |
new-window |
Create a new window |
next-window |
Move to the next window in a sesssion |
previous-window |
Move to the previous window in session |
rename-window |
Rename a window |
respawn-window |
Reuse a window in which a command has exited |
rotate-window |
Rotate positions of panes in a window |
select-window |
Select a window |
set-window-option |
Set a window option |
show-window-options |
Show window options |
split-window |
Splits a pane into two |
swap-window |
Swap two windows |
unlink-window |
Unlink a window |
Pane
| Command | Action |
|---|---|
break-pane |
Break a pane from an existing into a new window |
capture-pane |
Capture the contents of a pane to a buffer |
display-panes |
Display an indicator for each visible pane |
join-pane |
Split a pane and move an existing one into the new space |
kill-pane |
Destroy a given pane |
last-pane |
Select the previously selected pane |
list-panes |
List panes of a window |
move-pane |
Move a pane into a new space |
pipe-pane |
Pipe output from a pane to a shell command |
resize-pane |
Resize a pane |
respawn-pane |
Reuse a pane in which a command has exited |
select-pane |
Make a pane the active one in the window |
swap-pane |
Swap two panes |
Keybindings
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
C-b |
Send the prefix key (C-b) through to the |
| application. |
Miscellaneous
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
C-z |
Suspend the tmux client. |
r |
Force redraw of the attached client. |
t |
Show the time. |
~ |
Show previous messages from tmux, if any. |
f |
Prompt to search for text in open windows. |
d |
Detach the current client. |
D |
Choose a client to detach. |
? |
List all key bindings. |
: |
Enter the tmux command prompt. |
Copy/Paste
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
# |
List all paste buffers. |
[ |
Enter copy mode to copy text or view the history. |
] |
Paste the most recently copied buffer of text. |
Page Up |
Enter copy mode and scroll one page up. |
= |
Choose which buffer to paste interactively from a |
| list. | |
- |
Delete the most recently copied buffer of text. |
Session
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
$ |
Rename the current session. |
Session Traversal
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
L |
Switch the attached client back to the last |
| session. | |
s |
Select a new session for the attached client |
| interactively. |
Window
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
c |
Create a new window. |
& |
Kill the current window. |
i |
Display some information about the current window. |
, |
Rename the current window. |
Window Traversal
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
0 to 9 |
Select windows 0 to 9. |
w |
Choose the current window interactively. |
M-n |
Move to the next window with a bell or activity |
| marker. | |
M-p |
Move to the previous window with a bell or activity |
| marker. | |
p |
Change to the previous window. |
n |
Change to the next window. |
l |
Move to the previously selected window. |
' |
Prompt for a window index to select. |
Window Moving
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
. |
Prompt for an index to move the current window |
Pane
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
x |
Kill the current pane. |
q |
Briefly display pane indexes. |
% |
Split the current pane into two, left and right. |
" |
Split the current pane into two, top and bottom. |
Pane Traversal
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
; |
Move to the previously active pane. |
Up, Down |
Change to the pane above, below, to the left, or to |
Left, Right |
the right of the current pane. |
o |
Select the next pane in the current window. |
Pane Moving
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
C-o |
Rotate the panes in the current window forwards. |
M-o |
Rotate the panes in the current window backwards. |
{ |
Swap the current pane with the previous pane. |
} |
Swap the current pane with the next pane. |
! |
Break the current pane out of the window. |
Pane Resizing
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
M-1 to M-5 |
Arrange panes in one of the five preset layouts: |
| even-horizontal, even-vertical, main-horizontal, | |
| main-vertical, or tiled. | |
C-Up, C-Down |
Resize the current pane in steps of one cell. |
C-Left, C-Right |
|
M-Up, M-Down |
Resize the current pane in steps of five cells. |
M-Left, M-Right |
Formats
Copy / paste
| Variable name | Description |
|---|---|
| buffer_name | Name of buffer |
| buffer_sample | Sample of start of buffer |
| buffer_size | Size of the specified buffer in bytes |
Clients
| Variable name | Description |
|---|---|
| client_activity | Integer time client last had activity |
| client_created | Integer time client created |
| client_control_mode | 1 if client is in control mode |
| client_height | Height of client |
| client_key_table | Current key table |
| client_last_session | Name of the client’s last session |
| client_pid | PID of client process |
| client_prefix | 1 if prefix key has been pressed |
| client_readonly | 1 if client is readonly |
| client_session | Name of the client’s session |
| client_termname | Terminal name of client |
| client_tty | Pseudo terminal of client |
| client_utf8 | 1 if client supports utf8 |
| client_width | Width of client |
| line | Line number in the list |
Panes
| Variable name | Description |
|---|---|
| alternate_on | If pane is in alternate screen |
| alternate_saved_x | Saved cursor X in alternate screen |
| alternate_saved_y | Saved cursor Y in alternate screen |
| cursor_flag | Pane cursor flag |
| cursor_x | Cursor X position in pane |
| cursor_y | Cursor Y position in pane |
| insert_flag | Pane insert flag |
| keypad_cursor_flag | Pane keypad cursor flag |
| keypad_flag | Pane keypad flag |
| mouse_any_flag | Pane mouse any flag |
| mouse_button_flag | Pane mouse button flag |
| mouse_standard_flag | Pane mouse standard flag |
| pane_active | 1 if active pane |
| pane_bottom | Bottom of pane |
| pane_current_command | Current command if available |
| pane_current_path | Current path if available |
| pane_dead | 1 if pane is dead |
| pane_dead_status | Exit status of process in dead pane |
| pane_height | Height of pane |
| pane_id | Unique pane ID (Alias: #D) |
| pane_in_mode | If pane is in a mode |
| pane_input_off | If input to pane is disabled |
| pane_index | Index of pane (Alias: #P) |
| pane_left | Left of pane |
| pane_pid | PID of first process in pane |
| pane_right | Right of pane |
| pane_start_command | Command pane started with |
| pane_synchronized | If pane is synchronized |
| pane_tabs | Pane tab positions |
| pane_title | Title of pane (Alias: #T) |
| pane_top | Top of pane |
| pane_tty | Pseudo terminal of pane |
| pane_width | Width of pane |
| scroll_region_lower | Bottom of scroll region in pane |
| scroll_region_upper | Top of scroll region in pane |
| scroll_position | Scroll position in copy mode |
| wrap_flag | Pane wrap flag |
Sessions
| Variable name | Description |
|---|---|
| session_alerts | List of window indexes with alerts |
| session_attached | Number of clients session is attached to |
| session_activity | Integer time of session last activity |
| session_created | Integer time session created |
| session_last_attached | Integer time session last attached |
| session_group | Number of session group |
| session_grouped | 1 if session in a group |
| session_height | Height of session |
| session_id | Unique session ID |
| session_many_attached | 1 if multiple clients attached |
| session_name | Name of session (Alias: #S) |
| session_width | Width of session |
| session_windows | Number of windows in session |
Windows
| Variable name | Description |
|---|---|
| history_bytes | Number of bytes in window history |
| history_limit | Maximum window history lines |
| history_size | Size of history in bytes |
| window_activity | Integer time of window last activity |
| window_activity_flag | 1 if window has activity |
| window_active | 1 if window active |
| window_bell_flag | 1 if window has bell |
| window_find_matches | Matched data from the find-window |
| window_flags | Window flags (Alias: #F) |
| window_height | Height of window |
| window_id | Unique window ID |
| window_index | Index of window (Alias: #I) |
| window_last_flag | 1 if window is the last used |
| window_layout | Window layout description, ignoring zoomed |
| window panes | |
| window_linked | 1 if window is linked across sessions |
| window_name | Name of window (Alias: #W) |
| window_panes | Number of panes in window |
| window_silence_flag | 1 if window has silence alert |
| window_visible_layout | Window layout description, respecting |
| zoomed window panes | |
| window_width | Width of window |
| window_zoomed_flag | 1 if window is zoomed |
Servers
| Variable name | Description |
|---|---|
| host | Hostname of local host (alias: #H) |
| host_short | Hostname of local host (no domain name) |
| (alias: #h) | |
| socket_path | Server socket path |
| start_time | Server start time |
| pid | Server PID |
Commands
For $ tmux list-commands.
| Variable name | Description |
|---|---|
| command_hooked | Name of command hooked, if any |
| command_name | Name of command in use, if any |
| command_list_name | Command name if listing commands |
| command_list_alias | Command alias if listing commands |
| command_list_usage | Command usage if listing commands |