TMUX Command Reference

🚀 Quick Start

SSH to your server

ssh user@server

Start a new session

tmux new -s mysession

Do your work Split panes, run tasks, tail logs…

Detach (leave session running)

Ctrl-y d

Reattach later

tmux attach -t mysession

TIP (Mac): Install tmux via Homebrew: brew install tmux

⊡ Session Management (CLI)

Command	Description
tmux new -s <name>	Create new session with name
tmux new -s <name> -d	Create new session (detached)
tmux ls	List sessions
tmux a -t <name>	Attach to session
tmux attach -t <name>	Attach (same as above)
tmux a	Attach to last session
tmux kill-session -t <name>	Kill session by name
tmux kill-server	Kill all sessions (careful!)
tmux rename-session <new>	Rename current session
tmux switch -t <name>	Switch client to session
tmux list-sessions	Alias of tmux ls

TIP: Use descriptive session names per project or task.

🔗 Attach / Detach

Inside tmux

Shortcut	Action
`Ctrl-y` `d`	Detach (session keeps running)

From Shell

Command	Description
tmux attach -t <name>	Attach to named session
tmux a -t <name>	Attach (short form)
tmux a	Attach to last session

☆

Why detach?
Your processes keep running even after closing the SSH connection.

🖥 Windows (Tabs)

Shortcut	Action
`Ctrl-y` `c`	Create new window
`Ctrl-y` `n`	Next window
`Ctrl-y` `p`	Previous window
`Ctrl-y` `0–9`	Go to window by number
`Ctrl-y` `,`	Rename current window
`Ctrl-y` `w`	List windows (choose)
`Ctrl-y` `&`	Close current window

Windows are like tabs. Keep related workloads separate.

▦ Panes (Splits)

Shortcut	Action
`Ctrl-y` `%`	Split pane vertically
`Ctrl-y` `"`	Split pane horizontally
`Ctrl-y` `o`	Next pane
`Ctrl-y` `;`	Previous pane
`Ctrl-y` `{`	Swap pane with previous
`Ctrl-y` `x`	Close current pane
`Ctrl-y` `!`	Break pane to new window
`Ctrl-y` `z`	Toggle pane zoom (max/min)

Pane zoom is great for focusing on one task.

✈ Navigation & Misc

Shortcut	Action
`Ctrl-y` `← ↑ ↓ →`	Move between panes
`Ctrl-y` `q`	Show pane numbers
`Ctrl-y` `t`	Show clock
`Ctrl-y` `Space`	Cycle layouts
`Ctrl-y` `?`	List all key bindings
`Ctrl-y` `:`	Command prompt
`Ctrl-y` `~`	Show previous messages

Use Ctrl-y : to run any tmux command.

📋 Copy Mode (Scroll & Copy)

Shortcut	Action
`Ctrl-y` `[`	Enter copy mode
`Space` / `Enter`	Start selection
`↑ ↓ ← →`	Move cursor
`PgUp / PgDn`	Scroll up/down
`Ctrl-y` `]`	Paste buffer
`q / Esc`	Exit copy mode

Copy mode works like less. Scroll, select, copy, then paste with Ctrl-y ].

🔍 Search

Shortcut	Action
`Ctrl-y` `/`	Search forward
`Ctrl-y` `?`	Search backward
`n`	Next match
`N`	Previous match
`Enter`	Jump to match
`q / Esc`	Exit search

Search happens in copy mode. Use / or ? to find text in the scrollback.

↔ Resizing

Shortcut / Command	Action
`Ctrl-y` `:`	Enter command prompt
resize-pane -L 10	Shrink pane left by 10
resize-pane -R 10	Shrink pane right by 10
resize-pane -U 5	Shrink pane up by 5
resize-pane -D 5	Shrink pane down by 5
`Ctrl-y` `← ↑ ↓ →`	Resize pane (1 cell)
`Ctrl-y` `Alt+← ↑ ↓ →`	Resize pane (5 cells)

Hold Option (Alt) on Mac for bigger steps.

↺ Config Reloading

Command	Description
`Ctrl-y` `:`	Open command prompt
source-file ~/.tmux.conf	Reload config file
show-options -g	Show global options
show-options	Show current options
display-message "ok"	Test command execution

After editing ~/.tmux.conf run:

Ctrl-y : source-file ~/.tmux.conf

⊡ Useful tmux CLI Commands

Command	Description
tmux list-panes	List panes in session
tmux list-windows	List windows
tmux list-clients	List attached clients
tmux info	Show tmux info
tmux show-buffer	Show paste buffer
tmux save-buffer -b <file>	Save buffer to file
tmux show-history	Show command history
tmux capture-pane -p	Print pane content
tmux pipe-pane -o 'cat >> out.log'	Pipe pane output to cmd

Combine tmux with scripts and logs for automation.

🛡 SSH Survival Workflow

Start tmux right after SSH.

tmux new -s work

Run long tasks inside tmux panes.

docker logs -f … make build …

Detach before disconnecting.

Ctrl-y d

Disconnect SSH (Wi-Fi drop, laptop sleep, etc.)

Reconnect & reattach later.

tmux a -t work

Your processes are still running!

★

tmux = your safety net for remote work.

⬛ Workflow at a Glance

①

💻

SSH to Server

ssh user@server

→

②

⊡

Start tmux

tmux new -s work

→

③

▦

Do Your Work

split, run, monitor

→

④

⏏

Detach

Ctrl-y d

→

⑤

⊗

Disconnect Safely

close terminal / drop

→

⑥

💻

Reconnect Later

ssh user@server

→

⑦

🔗

Reattach

tmux a -t work

TMUX COMMAND REFERENCE