Complete tmux keyboard shortcuts reference — 73 shortcuts across 7 categories. Quick reference cheat sheet for Windows & Mac.
Every tmux shortcut starts with the prefix, Ctrl + B by default, followed by one more key — the table writes each as a sequence. The tool is worth the learning curve for one reason: a session survives your SSH connection dropping, and a single Ctrl + B, D detaches while everything keeps running.
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Ctrl + B, D | Detach client |
| Ctrl + B, $ | Rename session |
| Ctrl + B, S | Choose session |
| Ctrl + B, ( | Previous session |
| Ctrl + B, ) | Next session |
| Ctrl + B, Shift + L | Last session |
| Ctrl + B, Shift + D | Choose client to detach |
| Ctrl + B, Ctrl + Z | Suspend client |
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Ctrl + B, C | New window |
| Ctrl + B, & | Kill window |
| Ctrl + B, , | Rename window |
| Ctrl + B, N | Next window |
| Ctrl + B, P | Previous window |
| Ctrl + B, L | Last window |
| Ctrl + B, 0-9 | Select window by number |
| Ctrl + B, ' | Select window by index |
| Ctrl + B, W | Choose window |
| Ctrl + B, . | Move window |
| Ctrl + B, F | Find window |
| Ctrl + B, I | Window info |
| Ctrl + B, Alt + N | Next window with activity |
| Ctrl + B, Alt + P | Previous window with activity |
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Ctrl + B, % | Split left and right |
| Ctrl + B, " | Split top and bottom |
| Ctrl + B, X | Kill pane |
| Ctrl + B, O | Next pane |
| Ctrl + B, ; | Last pane |
| Ctrl + B, ↑/↓/←/→ | Select pane by direction |
| Ctrl + B, Q | Show pane numbers |
| Ctrl + B, Z | Zoom pane |
| Ctrl + B, { | Swap with previous pane |
| Ctrl + B, } | Swap with next pane |
| Ctrl + B, Ctrl + O | Rotate panes forwards |
| Ctrl + B, Alt + O | Rotate panes backwards |
| Ctrl + B, ! | Break pane to window |
| Ctrl + B, M | Mark pane |
| Ctrl + B, Shift + M | Clear marked pane |
| Ctrl + B, Space | Next layout |
| Ctrl + B, Alt + 1-7 | Preset layouts |
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Ctrl + B, Ctrl + ↑/↓/←/→ | Resize pane by one cell |
| Ctrl + B, Alt + ↑/↓/←/→ | Resize pane by five cells |
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Ctrl + B, [ | Enter copy mode |
| Ctrl + B, ] | Paste buffer |
| Ctrl + B, Page Up | Copy mode and scroll up |
| Ctrl + B, # | List paste buffers |
| Ctrl + B, = | Choose buffer to paste |
| Ctrl + B, - | Delete buffer |
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Q | Exit copy mode |
| Space | Begin selection |
| Enter | Copy selection and exit |
| V | Rectangle selection |
| Shift + V | Select line |
| / | Search forward |
| ? | Search backward |
| N | Repeat search |
| Shift + N | Repeat search reversed |
| G | Top of history |
| Shift + G | Bottom of history |
| Ctrl + U | Half page up |
| Ctrl + D | Half page down |
| Ctrl + B | Page up |
| Ctrl + F | Page down |
| 0 | Start of line |
| $ | End of line |
| W | Next word |
| B | Previous word |
| % | Matching bracket |
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Ctrl + B, : | Command prompt |
| Ctrl + B, ? | List key bindings |
| Ctrl + B, T | Show clock |
| Ctrl + B, R | Redraw client |
| Ctrl + B, ~ | Show messages |
| Ctrl + B, Ctrl + B | Send prefix |
Start work in a session, detach with Ctrl + B, D, close the laptop, and reattach later with tmux attach to find every shell exactly where it was. Ctrl + B, $ renames the session to something you will recognise in a week, Ctrl + B, S opens a picker to switch between sessions, and Ctrl + B, ( and Ctrl + B, ) cycle through them. Running a long job inside a session is the habit that ends "the connection dropped and the build died".
Ctrl + B, C creates a window (a tab), Ctrl + B, N and Ctrl + B, P move between them, and Ctrl + B, 0-9 jumps by number; Ctrl + B, , renames the current one. Within a window, Ctrl + B, % splits into left and right panes and Ctrl + B, " into top and bottom. Ctrl + B, ↑/↓/←/→ moves focus by direction, Ctrl + B, Z zooms a pane to fill the window and back, and Ctrl + B, X kills the pane. Ctrl + B, ! promotes a pane to its own window when a split has outgrown its space.
A terminal inside tmux does not scroll with the mouse wheel until you enter copy mode with Ctrl + B, [; then the vi keys apply — Ctrl + U and Ctrl + D for half pages, / and ? to search, G for the top of the scrollback. Space begins a selection, Enter copies it and leaves copy mode, and Ctrl + B, ] pastes. Q exits copy mode without copying. Copy mode uses emacs keys by default unless mode-keys vi is set in ~/.tmux.conf, which the table assumes.
Ctrl + B, ? lists every binding in the running tmux, including any you have customised, and Ctrl + B, : opens a command prompt where any tmux command can be typed — kill-session, resize-pane -L 10, source-file ~/.tmux.conf. If the display becomes garbled after a resize, Ctrl + B, R redraws it.
The prefix is Ctrl + B by default. Many people rebind it to Ctrl + A in ~/.tmux.conf with set -g prefix C-a; every shortcut here then starts with that instead.
Enter copy mode with Ctrl + B, [ and use the arrow keys or Page Up; press Q to leave. Enabling mouse mode in ~/.tmux.conf lets the wheel scroll directly.
A window is a full-screen tab within the session; a pane is a split inside a window. Ctrl + B, C makes a window, Ctrl + B, % or " makes a pane.
Run tmux attach, or tmux attach -t name if there is more than one session. tmux ls lists them.
Open your assistant with this page preloaded as the source — great for follow-up questions like "which of these work in other apps?"