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Tmux Keybindings

April 05, 2024

Tmux commands typically start with a “prefix key”, which is Ctrl-b by default, followed by a command key. Here are some commonly used tmux keybindings:

Creating and Managing Windows and Panes:

  • Ctrl-b c: Creates a new window within tmux.
  • Ctrl-b ,: Rename the current window; useful for keeping track of multiple windows.
  • Ctrl-b %: Splits the current pane vertically into two panes.
  • Ctrl-b ": Splits the current pane horizontally.
  • Ctrl-b o: Cycles through panes within the current window.
  • Ctrl-b x: Closes the current pane.
  • Ctrl-b n: Moves to the next window.
  • Ctrl-b p: Moves to the previous window.
  • Ctrl-b [0-9]: Switches to a window by its index number.

Detaching and Re-attaching:

  • Ctrl-b d: Detaches the current session (leaving it running in the background).
  • Reattach to a session with tmux attach-session -t [session name].

Scrolling and Copy Mode:

Ctrl-b [: Enters the copy mode, which allows for scrolling and copying text. You can navigate using the arrow keys or vim-like keys (j, k, h, l).

Tmux Configuration File

Changing the Prefix Key:

  • unbind C-b: Removes the default binding for Ctrl-b.
  • set-option -g prefix C-a: Changes the prefix to Ctrl-a.

Improving Pane Navigation:

  • bind-key -n C-h select-pane -L: Move to the left pane using Ctrl-h.
  • bind-key -n C-j select-pane -D: Move to the bottom pane using Ctrl-j.
  • bind-key -n C-k select-pane -U: Move to the top pane using Ctrl-k.
  • bind-key -n C-l select-pane -R: Move to the right pane using Ctrl-l.

Automatically Renaming Windows:

set-option -g automatic-rename on: Automatically renames windows to reflect the current application in use.

After editing ~/.tmux.conf, you can apply the changes by either restarting tmux or by executing tmux source-file ~/.tmux.conf within a tmux session.