TMUX(1) BSD General Commands Manual TMUX(1)
NAME
tmux -- terminal multiplexer
SYNOPSIS
tmux [-28lquvV] [-c shell-command] [-f file] [-L socket-name] [-S socket-path] [command [flags]]
DESCRIPTION
tmux is a terminal multiplexer: it enables a number of terminals to be created, accessed, and controlled from a single screen. tmux may be
detached from a screen and continue running in the background, then later reattached.
When tmux is started it creates a new session with a single window and displays it on screen. A status line at the bottom of the screen
shows information on the current session and is used to enter interactive commands.
A session is a single collection of pseudo terminals under the management of tmux. Each session has one or more windows linked to it. A
window occupies the entire screen and may be split into rectangular panes, each of which is a separate pseudo terminal (the pty(4) manual
page documents the technical details of pseudo terminals). Any number of tmux instances may connect to the same session, and any number of
windows may be present in the same session. Once all sessions are killed, tmux exits.
Each session is persistent and will survive accidental disconnection (such as ssh(1) connection timeout) or intentional detaching (with the
'C-b d' key strokes). tmux may be reattached using:
$ tmux attach
In tmux, a session is displayed on screen by a client and all sessions are managed by a single server. The server and each client are sepa-
rate processes which communicate through a socket in /tmp.
The options are as follows:
-2 Force tmux to assume the terminal supports 256 colours.
-8 Like -2, but indicates that the terminal supports 88 colours.
-c shell-command
Execute shell-command using the default shell. If necessary, the tmux server will be started to retrieve the default-shell
option. This option is for compatibility with sh(1) when tmux is used as a login shell.
-f file Specify an alternative configuration file. By default, tmux loads the system configuration file from /etc/tmux.conf, if
present, then looks for a user configuration file at ~/.tmux.conf. The configuration file is a set of tmux commands which are
executed in sequence when the server is first started.
If a command in the configuration file fails, tmux will report an error and exit without executing further commands.
-L socket-name
tmux stores the server socket in a directory under /tmp (or TMPDIR if set); the default socket is named default. This option
allows a different socket name to be specified, allowing several independent tmux servers to be run. Unlike -S a full path is
not necessary: the sockets are all created in the same directory.
If the socket is accidentally removed, the SIGUSR1 signal may be sent to the tmux server process to recreate it.
-l Behave as a login shell. This flag currently has no effect and is for compatibility with other shells when using tmux as a
login shell.
-q Set the quiet server option to prevent the server sending various informational messages.
-S socket-path
Specify a full alternative path to the server socket. If -S is specified, the default socket directory is not used and any -L
flag is ignored.
-u tmux attempts to guess if the terminal is likely to support UTF-8 by checking the first of the LC_ALL, LC_CTYPE and LANG envi-
ronment variables to be set for the string "UTF-8". This is not always correct: the -u flag explicitly informs tmux that UTF-8
is supported.
If the server is started from a client passed -u or where UTF-8 is detected, the utf8 and status-utf8 options are enabled in
the global window and session options respectively.
-v Request verbose logging. This option may be specified multiple times for increasing verbosity. Log messages will be saved
into tmux-client-PID.log and tmux-server-PID.log files in the current directory, where PID is the PID of the server or client
process.
-V Report the tmux version.
command [flags]
This specifies one of a set of commands used to control tmux, as described in the following sections. If no commands are spec-
ified, the new-session command is assumed.
KEY BINDINGS
tmux may be controlled from an attached client by using a key combination of a prefix key, 'C-b' (Ctrl-b) by default, followed by a command
key.
The default command key bindings are:
C-b Send the prefix key (C-b) through to the application.
C-o Rotate the panes in the current window forwards.
C-z Suspend the tmux client.
! Break the current pane out of the window.
" Split the current pane into two, top and bottom.
# List all paste buffers.
$ Rename the current session.
% Split the current pane into two, left and right.
& Kill the current window.
' Prompt for a window index to select.
, Rename the current window.
- Delete the most recently copied buffer of text.
. Prompt for an index to move the current window.
0 to 9 Select windows 0 to 9.
: Enter the tmux command prompt.
; Move to the previously active pane.
= Choose which buffer to paste interactively from a list.
? List all key bindings.
D Choose a client to detach.
[ Enter copy mode to copy text or view the history.
] Paste the most recently copied buffer of text.
c Create a new window.
d Detach the current client.
f Prompt to search for text in open windows.
i Display some information about the current window.
l Move to the previously selected window.
n Change to the next window.
o Select the next pane in the current window.
p Change to the previous window.
q Briefly display pane indexes.
r Force redraw of the attached client.
s Select a new session for the attached client interactively.
L Switch the attached client back to the last session.
t Show the time.
w Choose the current window interactively.
x Kill the current pane.
{ Swap the current pane with the previous pane.
} Swap the current pane with the next pane.
~ Show previous messages from tmux, if any.
Page Up Enter copy mode and scroll one page up.
Up, Down
Left, Right
Change to the pane above, below, to the left, or to the right of the current pane.
M-1 to M-5 Arrange panes in one of the five preset layouts: even-horizontal, even-vertical, main-horizontal, main-vertical, or tiled.
M-n Move to the next window with a bell or activity marker.
M-o Rotate the panes in the current window backwards.
M-p Move to the previous window with a bell or activity marker.
C-Up, C-Down
C-Left, C-Right
Resize the current pane in steps of one cell.
M-Up, M-Down
M-Left, M-Right
Resize the current pane in steps of five cells.
Key bindings may be changed with the bind-key and unbind-key commands.
COMMANDS
This section contains a list of the commands supported by tmux. Most commands accept the optional -t argument with one of target-client,
target-session target-window, or target-pane. These specify the client, session, window or pane which a command should affect.
target-client is the name of the pty(4) file to which the client is connected, for example either of /dev/ttyp1 or ttyp1 for the client
attached to /dev/ttyp1. If no client is specified, the current client is chosen, if possible, or an error is reported. Clients may be
listed with the list-clients command.
target-session is either the name of a session (as listed by the list-sessions command) or the name of a client with the same syntax as
target-client, in which case the session attached to the client is used. When looking for the session name, tmux initially searches for an
exact match; if none is found, the session names are checked for any for which target-session is a prefix or for which it matches as an
fnmatch(3) pattern. If a single match is found, it is used as the target session; multiple matches produce an error. If a session is omit-
ted, the current session is used if available; if no current session is available, the most recently used is chosen.
target-window specifies a window in the form session:window. session follows the same rules as for target-session, and window is looked for
in order: as a window index, for example mysession:1; as an exact window name, such as mysession:mywindow; then as an fnmatch(3) pattern or
the start of a window name, such as mysession:mywin* or mysession:mywin. An empty window name specifies the next unused index if appropriate
(for example the new-window and link-window commands) otherwise the current window in session is chosen. The special character '!' uses the
last (previously current) window, or '+' and '-' are the next window or the previous window by number. When the argument does not contain a
colon, tmux first attempts to parse it as window; if that fails, an attempt is made to match a session.
target-pane takes a similar form to target-window but with the optional addition of a period followed by a pane index, for example: myses-
sion:mywindow.1. If the pane index is omitted, the currently active pane in the specified window is used. If neither a colon nor period
appears, tmux first attempts to use the argument as a pane index; if that fails, it is looked up as for target-window. A '+' or '-' indicate
the next or previous pane index, respectively. One of the strings top, bottom, left, right, top-left, top-right, bottom-left or bottom-right
may be used instead of a pane index.
The special characters '+' and '-' may be followed by an offset, for example:
select-window -t:+2
When dealing with a session that doesn't contain sequential window indexes, they will be correctly skipped.
tmux also gives each pane created in a server an identifier consisting of a '%' and a number, starting from zero. A pane's identifier is
unique for the life of the tmux server and is passed to the child process of the pane in the TMUX_PANE environment variable. It may be used
alone to target a pane or the window containing it.
shell-command arguments are sh(1) commands. These must be passed as a single item, which typically means quoting them, for example:
new-window 'vi /etc/passwd'
command [arguments] refers to a tmux command, passed with the command and arguments separately, for example:
bind-key F1 set-window-option force-width 81
Or if using sh(1):
$ tmux bind-key F1 set-window-option force-width 81
Multiple commands may be specified together as part of a command sequence. Each command should be separated by spaces and a semicolon; com-
mands are executed sequentially from left to right and lines ending with a backslash continue on to the next line. A literal semicolon may
be included by escaping it with a backslash (for example, when specifying a command sequence to bind-key).
Example tmux commands include:
refresh-client -t/dev/ttyp2
rename-session -tfirst newname
set-window-option -t:0 monitor-activity on
new-window ; split-window -d
bind-key R source-file ~/.tmux.conf ;
display-message "source-file done"
Or from sh(1):
$ tmux kill-window -t :1
$ tmux new-window ; split-window -d
$ tmux new-session -d 'vi /etc/passwd' ; split-window -d ; attach
CLIENTS AND SESSIONS
The tmux server manages clients, sessions, windows and panes. Clients are attached to sessions to interact with them, either when they are
created with the new-session command, or later with the attach-session command. Each session has one or more windows linked into it. Win-
dows may be linked to multiple sessions and are made up of one or more panes, each of which contains a pseudo terminal. Commands for creat-
ing, linking and otherwise manipulating windows are covered in the WINDOWS AND PANES section.
The following commands are available to manage clients and sessions:
attach-session [-dr] [-t target-session]
(alias: attach)
If run from outside tmux, create a new client in the current terminal and attach it to target-session. If used from inside, switch
the current client. If -d is specified, any other clients attached to the session are detached. -r signifies the client is read-
only (only keys bound to the detach-client or switch-client commands have any effect)
If no server is started, attach-session will attempt to start it; this will fail unless sessions are created in the configuration
file.
The target-session rules for attach-session are slightly adjusted: if tmux needs to select the most recently used session, it will
prefer the most recently used unattached session.
detach-client [-P] [-s target-session] [-t target-client]
(alias: detach)
Detach the current client if bound to a key, the client specified with -t, or all clients currently attached to the session specified
by -s. If -P is given, send SIGHUP to the parent process of the client, typically causing it to exit.
has-session [-t target-session]
(alias: has)
Report an error and exit with 1 if the specified session does not exist. If it does exist, exit with 0.
kill-server
Kill the tmux server and clients and destroy all sessions.
kill-session [-t target-session]
Destroy the given session, closing any windows linked to it and no other sessions, and detaching all clients attached to it.
list-clients [-F format] [-t target-session]
(alias: lsc)
List all clients attached to the server. For the meaning of the -F flag, see the FORMATS section. If target-session is specified,
list only clients connected to that session.
list-commands
(alias: lscm)
List the syntax of all commands supported by tmux.
list-sessions [-F format]
(alias: ls)
List all sessions managed by the server. For the meaning of the -F flag, see the FORMATS section.
lock-client [-t target-client]
(alias: lockc)
Lock target-client, see the lock-server command.
lock-session [-t target-session]
(alias: locks)
Lock all clients attached to target-session.
new-session [-d] [-n window-name] [-s session-name] [-t target-session] [-x width] [-y height] [shell-command]
(alias: new)
Create a new session with name session-name.
The new session is attached to the current terminal unless -d is given. window-name and shell-command are the name of and shell com-
mand to execute in the initial window. If -d is used, -x and -y specify the size of the initial window (80 by 24 if not given).
If run from a terminal, any termios(4) special characters are saved and used for new windows in the new session.
If -t is given, the new session is grouped with target-session. This means they share the same set of windows - all windows from
target-session are linked to the new session and any subsequent new windows or windows being closed are applied to both sessions.
The current and previous window and any session options remain independent and either session may be killed without affecting the
other. Giving -n or shell-command are invalid if -t is used.
refresh-client [-S] [-t target-client]
(alias: refresh)
Refresh the current client if bound to a key, or a single client if one is given with -t. If -S is specified, only update the
client's status bar.
rename-session [-t target-session] new-name
(alias: rename)
Rename the session to new-name.
show-messages [-t target-client]
(alias: showmsgs)
Any messages displayed on the status line are saved in a per-client message log, up to a maximum of the limit set by the
message-limit session option for the session attached to that client. This command displays the log for target-client.
source-file path
(alias: source)
Execute commands from path.
start-server
(alias: start)
Start the tmux server, if not already running, without creating any sessions.
suspend-client [-t target-client]
(alias: suspendc)
Suspend a client by sending SIGTSTP (tty stop).
switch-client [-lnpr] [-c target-client] [-t target-session]
(alias: switchc)
Switch the current session for client target-client to target-session. If -l, -n or -p is used, the client is moved to the last,
next or previous session respectively. -r toggles whether a client is read-only (see the attach-session command).
WINDOWS AND PANES
A tmux window may be in one of several modes. The default permits direct access to the terminal attached to the window. The other is copy
mode, which permits a section of a window or its history to be copied to a paste buffer for later insertion into another window. This mode
is entered with the copy-mode command, bound to '[' by default. It is also entered when a command that produces output, such as list-keys,
is executed from a key binding.
The keys available depend on whether emacs or vi mode is selected (see the mode-keys option). The following keys are supported as appropri-
ate for the mode:
Function vi emacs
Back to indentation ^ M-m
Bottom of history G M-<
Clear selection Escape C-g
Copy selection Enter M-w
Cursor down j Down
Cursor left h Left
Cursor right l Right
Cursor to bottom line L
Cursor to middle line M M-r
Cursor to top line H M-R
Cursor up k Up
Delete entire line d C-u
Delete/Copy to end of line D C-k
End of line $ C-e
Go to line : g
Half page down C-d M-Down
Half page up C-u M-Up
Jump forward f f
Jump to forward t
Jump backward F F
Jump to backward T
Jump again ; ;
Jump again in reverse , ,
Next page C-f Page down
Next space W
Next space, end of word E
Next word w
Next word end e M-f
Paste buffer p C-y
Previous page C-b Page up
Previous word b M-b
Previous space B
Quit mode q Escape
Rectangle toggle v R
Scroll down C-Down or C-e C-Down
Scroll up C-Up or C-y C-Up
Search again n n
Search again in reverse N N
Search backward ? C-r
Search forward / C-s
Start of line 0 C-a
Start selection Space C-Space
Top of history g M->
Transpose chars C-t
The next and previous word keys use space and the '-', '_' and '@' characters as word delimiters by default, but this can be adjusted by set-
ting the word-separators session option. Next word moves to the start of the next word, next word end to the end of the next word and previ-
ous word to the start of the previous word. The three next and previous space keys work similarly but use a space alone as the word separa-
tor.
The jump commands enable quick movement within a line. For instance, typing 'f' followed by '/' will move the cursor to the next '/' charac-
ter on the current line. A ';' will then jump to the next occurrence.
Commands in copy mode may be prefaced by an optional repeat count. With vi key bindings, a prefix is entered using the number keys; with
emacs, the Alt (meta) key and a number begins prefix entry. For example, to move the cursor forward by ten words, use 'M-1 0 M-f' in emacs
mode, and '10w' in vi.
When copying the selection, the repeat count indicates the buffer index to replace, if used.
Mode key bindings are defined in a set of named tables: vi-edit and emacs-edit for keys used when line editing at the command prompt;
vi-choice and emacs-choice for keys used when choosing from lists (such as produced by the choose-window command); and vi-copy and emacs-copy
used in copy mode. The tables may be viewed with the list-keys command and keys modified or removed with bind-key and unbind-key.
The paste buffer key pastes the first line from the top paste buffer on the stack.
The synopsis for the copy-mode command is:
copy-mode [-u] [-t target-pane]
Enter copy mode. The -u option scrolls one page up.
Each window displayed by tmux may be split into one or more panes; each pane takes up a certain area of the display and is a separate termi-
nal. A window may be split into panes using the split-window command. Windows may be split horizontally (with the -h flag) or vertically.
Panes may be resized with the resize-pane command (bound to 'C-up', 'C-down' 'C-left' and 'C-right' by default), the current pane may be
changed with the select-pane command and the rotate-window and swap-pane commands may be used to swap panes without changing their position.
Panes are numbered beginning from zero in the order they are created.
A number of preset layouts are available. These may be selected with the select-layout command or cycled with next-layout (bound to 'Space'
by default); once a layout is chosen, panes within it may be moved and resized as normal.
The following layouts are supported:
even-horizontal
Panes are spread out evenly from left to right across the window.
even-vertical
Panes are spread evenly from top to bottom.
main-horizontal
A large (main) pane is shown at the top of the window and the remaining panes are spread from left to right in the leftover space at
the bottom. Use the main-pane-height window option to specify the height of the top pane.
main-vertical
Similar to main-horizontal but the large pane is placed on the left and the others spread from top to bottom along the right. See
the main-pane-width window option.
tiled Panes are spread out as evenly as possible over the window in both rows and columns.
In addition, select-layout may be used to apply a previously used layout - the list-windows command displays the layout of each window in a
form suitable for use with select-layout. For example:
$ tmux list-windows
0: ksh [159x48]
layout: bb62,159x48,0,0{79x48,0,0,79x48,80,0}
$ tmux select-layout bb62,159x48,0,0{79x48,0,0,79x48,80,0}
tmux automatically adjusts the size of the layout for the current window size. Note that a layout cannot be applied to a window with more
panes than that from which the layout was originally defined.
Commands related to windows and panes are as follows:
break-pane [-d] [-t target-pane]
(alias: breakp)
Break target-pane off from its containing window to make it the only pane in a new window. If -d is given, the new window does not
become the current window.
capture-pane [-b buffer-index] [-E end-line] [-S start-line] [-t target-pane]
(alias: capturep)
Capture the contents of a pane to the specified buffer, or a new buffer if none is specified.
-S and -E specify the starting and ending line numbers, zero is the first line of the visible pane and negative numbers are lines in
the history. The default is to capture only the visible contents of the pane.
choose-client [-t target-window] [template]
Put a window into client choice mode, allowing a client to be selected interactively from a list. After a client is chosen, '%%' is
replaced by the client pty(4) path in template and the result executed as a command. If template is not given, "detach-client -t
'%%'" is used. This command works only from inside tmux.
choose-session [-t target-window] [template]
Put a window into session choice mode, where a session may be selected interactively from a list. When one is chosen, '%%' is
replaced by the session name in template and the result executed as a command. If template is not given, "switch-client -t '%%'" is
used. This command works only from inside tmux.
choose-window [-t target-window] [template]
Put a window into window choice mode, where a window may be chosen interactively from a list. After a window is selected, '%%' is
replaced by the session name and window index in template and the result executed as a command. If template is not given, "select-
window -t '%%'" is used. This command works only from inside tmux.
display-panes [-t target-client]
(alias: displayp)
Display a visible indicator of each pane shown by target-client. See the display-panes-time, display-panes-colour, and
display-panes-active-colour session options. While the indicator is on screen, a pane may be selected with the '0' to '9' keys.
find-window [-t target-window] match-string
(alias: findw)
Search for the fnmatch(3) pattern match-string in window names, titles, and visible content (but not history). If only one window is
matched, it'll be automatically selected, otherwise a choice list is shown. This command only works from inside tmux.
join-pane [-dhv] [-l size | -p percentage] [-s src-pane] [-t dst-pane]
(alias: joinp)
Like split-window, but instead of splitting dst-pane and creating a new pane, split it and move src-pane into the space. This can be
used to reverse break-pane.
kill-pane [-a] [-t target-pane]
(alias: killp)
Destroy the given pane. If no panes remain in the containing window, it is also destroyed. The -a option kills all but the pane
given with -t.
kill-window [-t target-window]
(alias: killw)
Kill the current window or the window at target-window, removing it from any sessions to which it is linked.
last-pane [-t target-window]
(alias: lastp)
Select the last (previously selected) pane.
last-window [-t target-session]
(alias: last)
Select the last (previously selected) window. If no target-session is specified, select the last window of the current session.
link-window [-dk] [-s src-window] [-t dst-window]
(alias: linkw)
Link the window at src-window to the specified dst-window. If dst-window is specified and no such window exists, the src-window is
linked there. If -k is given and dst-window exists, it is killed, otherwise an error is generated. If -d is given, the newly linked
window is not selected.
list-panes [-as] [-F format] [-t target]
(alias: lsp)
If -a is given, target is ignored and all panes on the server are listed. If -s is given, target is a session (or the current ses-
sion). If neither is given, target is a window (or the current window). For the meaning of the -F flag, see the FORMATS section.
list-windows [-a] [-F format] [-t target-session]
(alias: lsw)
If -a is given, list all windows on the server. Otherwise, list windows in the current session or in target-session. For the mean-
ing of the -F flag, see the FORMATS section.
move-window [-dk] [-s src-window] [-t dst-window]
(alias: movew)
This is similar to link-window, except the window at src-window is moved to dst-window.
new-window [-adkP] [-n window-name] [-t target-window] [shell-command]
(alias: neww)
Create a new window. With -a, the new window is inserted at the next index up from the specified target-window, moving windows up if
necessary, otherwise target-window is the new window location.
If -d is given, the session does not make the new window the current window. target-window represents the window to be created; if
the target already exists an error is shown, unless the -k flag is used, in which case it is destroyed. shell-command is the command
to execute. If shell-command is not specified, the value of the default-command option is used.
When the shell command completes, the window closes. See the remain-on-exit option to change this behaviour.
The TERM environment variable must be set to ``screen'' for all programs running inside tmux. New windows will automatically have
``TERM=screen'' added to their environment, but care must be taken not to reset this in shell start-up files.
The -P option prints the location of the new window after it has been created.
next-layout [-t target-window]
(alias: nextl)
Move a window to the next layout and rearrange the panes to fit.
next-window [-a] [-t target-session]
(alias: next)
Move to the next window in the session. If -a is used, move to the next window with a bell, activity or content alert.
pipe-pane [-o] [-t target-pane] [shell-command]
(alias: pipep)
Pipe any output sent by the program in target-pane to a shell command. A pane may only be piped to one command at a time, any exist-
ing pipe is closed before shell-command is executed. The shell-command string may contain the special character sequences supported
by the status-left option. If no shell-command is given, the current pipe (if any) is closed.
The -o option only opens a new pipe if no previous pipe exists, allowing a pipe to be toggled with a single key, for example:
bind-key C-p pipe-pane -o 'cat >>~/output.#I-#P'
previous-layout [-t target-window]
(alias: prevl)
Move to the previous layout in the session.
previous-window [-a] [-t target-session]
(alias: prev)
Move to the previous window in the session. With -a, move to the previous window with a bell, activity or content alert.
rename-window [-t target-window] new-name
(alias: renamew)
Rename the current window, or the window at target-window if specified, to new-name.
resize-pane [-DLRU] [-t target-pane] [adjustment]
(alias: resizep)
Resize a pane, upward with -U (the default), downward with -D, to the left with -L and to the right with -R. The adjustment is given
in lines or cells (the default is 1).
respawn-pane [-k] [-t target-pane] [shell-command]
(alias: respawnp)
Reactivate a pane in which the command has exited (see the remain-on-exit window option). If shell-command is not given, the command
used when the pane was created is executed. The pane must be already inactive, unless -k is given, in which case any existing com-
mand is killed.
respawn-window [-k] [-t target-window] [shell-command]
(alias: respawnw)
Reactivate a window in which the command has exited (see the remain-on-exit window option). If shell-command is not given, the com-
mand used when the window was created is executed. The window must be already inactive, unless -k is given, in which case any exist-
ing command is killed.
rotate-window [-DU] [-t target-window]
(alias: rotatew)
Rotate the positions of the panes within a window, either upward (numerically lower) with -U or downward (numerically higher).
select-layout [-np] [-t target-window] [layout-name]
(alias: selectl)
Choose a specific layout for a window. If layout-name is not given, the last preset layout used (if any) is reapplied. -n and -p
are equivalent to the next-layout and previous-layout commands.
select-pane [-lDLRU] [-t target-pane]
(alias: selectp)
Make pane target-pane the active pane in window target-window. If one of -D, -L, -R, or -U is used, respectively the pane below, to
the left, to the right, or above the target pane is used. -l is the same as using the last-pane command.
select-window [-lnp] [-t target-window]
(alias: selectw)
Select the window at target-window. -l, -n and -p are equivalent to the last-window, next-window and previous-window commands.
split-window [-dhvP] [-l size | -p percentage] [-t target-pane] [shell-command]
(alias: splitw)
Create a new pane by splitting target-pane: -h does a horizontal split and -v a vertical split; if neither is specified, -v is
assumed. The -l and -p options specify the size of the new pane in lines (for vertical split) or in cells (for horizontal split), or
as a percentage, respectively. All other options have the same meaning as for the new-window command.
swap-pane [-dDU] [-s src-pane] [-t dst-pane]
(alias: swapp)
Swap two panes. If -U is used and no source pane is specified with -s, dst-pane is swapped with the previous pane (before it numeri-
cally); -D swaps with the next pane (after it numerically). -d instructs tmux not to change the active pane.
swap-window [-d] [-s src-window] [-t dst-window]
(alias: swapw)
This is similar to link-window, except the source and destination windows are swapped. It is an error if no window exists at
src-window.
unlink-window [-k] [-t target-window]
(alias: unlinkw)
Unlink target-window. Unless -k is given, a window may be unlinked only if it is linked to multiple sessions - windows may not be
linked to no sessions; if -k is specified and the window is linked to only one session, it is unlinked and destroyed.
KEY BINDINGS
tmux allows a command to be bound to most keys, with or without a prefix key. When specifying keys, most represent themselves (for example
'A' to 'Z'). Ctrl keys may be prefixed with 'C-' or '^', and Alt (meta) with 'M-'. In addition, the following special key names are
accepted: Up, Down, Left, Right, BSpace, BTab, DC (Delete), End, Enter, Escape, F1 to F20, Home, IC (Insert), NPage/PageDown/PgDn,
PPage/PageUp/PgUp, Space, and Tab. Note that to bind the '"' or ''' keys, quotation marks are necessary, for example:
bind-key '"' split-window
bind-key "'" new-window
Commands related to key bindings are as follows:
bind-key [-cnr] [-t key-table] key command [arguments]
(alias: bind)
Bind key key to command. By default (without -t) the primary key bindings are modified (those normally activated with the prefix
key); in this case, if -n is specified, it is not necessary to use the prefix key, command is bound to key alone. The -r flag indi-
cates this key may repeat, see the repeat-time option.
If -t is present, key is bound in key-table: the binding for command mode with -c or for normal mode without. To view the default
bindings and possible commands, see the list-keys command.
list-keys [-t key-table]
(alias: lsk)
List all key bindings. Without -t the primary key bindings - those executed when preceded by the prefix key - are printed. Keys
bound without the prefix key (see bind-key -n) are marked with '(no prefix)'.
With -t, the key bindings in key-table are listed; this may be one of: vi-edit, emacs-edit, vi-choice, emacs-choice, vi-copy or
emacs-copy.
send-keys -R [-t target-pane] key ...
(alias: send)
Send a key or keys to a window. Each argument key is the name of the key (such as 'C-a' or 'npage' ) to send; if the string is not
recognised as a key, it is sent as a series of characters. All arguments are sent sequentially from first to last. The -R flag
causes the terminal state to be reset.
send-prefix [-2] [-t target-pane]
Send the prefix key, or with -2 the secondary prefix key, to a window as if it was pressed.
unbind-key [-acn] [-t key-table] key
(alias: unbind)
Unbind the command bound to key. Without -t the primary key bindings are modified; in this case, if -n is specified, the command
bound to key without a prefix (if any) is removed. If -a is present, all key bindings are removed.
If -t is present, key in key-table is unbound: the binding for command mode with -c or for normal mode without.
OPTIONS
The appearance and behaviour of tmux may be modified by changing the value of various options. There are three types of option: server
options, session options and window options.
The tmux server has a set of global options which do not apply to any particular window or session. These are altered with the set-option -s
command, or displayed with the show-options -s command.
In addition, each individual session may have a set of session options, and there is a separate set of global session options. Sessions
which do not have a particular option configured inherit the value from the global session options. Session options are set or unset with
the set-option command and may be listed with the show-options command. The available server and session options are listed under the
set-option command.
Similarly, a set of window options is attached to each window, and there is a set of global window options from which any unset options are
inherited. Window options are altered with the set-window-option command and can be listed with the show-window-options command. All window
options are documented with the set-window-option command.
Commands which set options are as follows:
set-option [-agsuw] [-t target-session | target-window] option value
(alias: set)
Set a window option with -w (equivalent to the set-window-option command), a server option with -s, otherwise a session option.
If -g is specified, the global session or window option is set. With -a, and if the option expects a string, value is appended to
the existing setting. The -u flag unsets an option, so a session inherits the option from the global options. It is not possible to
unset a global option.
Available window options are listed under set-window-option.
Available server options are:
buffer-limit number
Set the number of buffers; as new buffers are added to the top of the stack, old ones are removed from the bottom if neces-
sary to maintain this maximum length.
escape-time time
Set the time in milliseconds for which tmux waits after an escape is input to determine if it is part of a function or meta
key sequences. The default is 500 milliseconds.
exit-unattached [on | off]
If enabled, the server will exit when there are no attached clients.
quiet [on | off]
Enable or disable the display of various informational messages (see also the -q command line flag).
set-clipboard [on | off]
Attempt to set the terminal clipboard content using the e]52;... 07 xterm(1) escape sequences. This option is on by
default if there is an Ms entry in the terminfo(5) description for the client terminal. Note that this feature needs to be
enabled in xterm(1) by setting the resource:
disallowedWindowOps: 20,21,SetXprop
Or changing this property from the xterm(1) interactive menu when required.
Available session options are:
base-index index
Set the base index from which an unused index should be searched when a new window is created. The default is zero.
bell-action [any | none | current]
Set action on window bell. any means a bell in any window linked to a session causes a bell in the current window of that
session, none means all bells are ignored and current means only bell in windows other than the current window are ignored.
bell-on-alert [on | off]
If on, ring the terminal bell when an activity, content or silence alert occurs.
default-command shell-command
Set the command used for new windows (if not specified when the window is created) to shell-command, which may be any sh(1)
command. The default is an empty string, which instructs tmux to create a login shell using the value of the default-shell
option.
default-path path
Set the default working directory for new panes. If empty (the default), the working directory is determined from the
process running in the active pane, from the command line environment or from the working directory where the session was
created. If path is "$HOME" or "~", the value of the HOME environment variable is used. If path is ".", the working direc-
tory when tmux was started is used.
default-shell path
Specify the default shell. This is used as the login shell for new windows when the default-command option is set to empty,
and must be the full path of the executable. When started tmux tries to set a default value from the first suitable of the
SHELL environment variable, the shell returned by getpwuid(3), or /bin/sh. This option should be configured when tmux is
used as a login shell.
default-terminal terminal
Set the default terminal for new windows created in this session - the default value of the TERM environment variable. For
tmux to work correctly, this must be set to 'screen' or a derivative of it.
destroy-unattached [on | off]
If enabled and the session is no longer attached to any clients, it is destroyed.
detach-on-destroy [on | off]
If on (the default), the client is detached when the session it is attached to is destroyed. If off, the client is switched
to the most recently active of the remaining sessions.
display-panes-active-colour colour
Set the colour used by the display-panes command to show the indicator for the active pane.
display-panes-colour colour
Set the colour used by the display-panes command to show the indicators for inactive panes.
display-panes-time time
Set the time in milliseconds for which the indicators shown by the display-panes command appear.
display-time time
Set the amount of time for which status line messages and other on-screen indicators are displayed. time is in milliseconds.
history-limit lines
Set the maximum number of lines held in window history. This setting applies only to new windows - existing window histories
are not resized and retain the limit at the point they were created.
lock-after-time number
Lock the session (like the lock-session command) after number seconds of inactivity, or the entire server (all sessions) if
the lock-server option is set. The default is not to lock (set to 0).
lock-command shell-command
Command to run when locking each client. The default is to run lock(1) with -np.
lock-server [on | off]
If this option is on (the default), instead of each session locking individually as each has been idle for lock-after-time,
the entire server will lock after all sessions would have locked. This has no effect as a session option; it must be set as
a global option.
message-attr attributes
Set status line message attributes, where attributes is either none or a comma-delimited list of one or more of: bright (or
bold), dim, underscore, blink, reverse, hidden, or italics.
message-bg colour
Set status line message background colour, where colour is one of: black, red, green, yellow, blue, magenta, cyan, white,
aixterm bright variants (if supported: brightred, brightgreen, and so on), colour0 to colour255 from the 256-colour set,
default, or a hexadecimal RGB string such as '#ffffff', which chooses the closest match from the default 256-colour set.
message-command-attr attributes
Set status line message attributes when in command mode.
message-command-bg colour
Set status line message background colour when in command mode.
message-command-fg colour
Set status line message foreground colour when in command mode.
message-fg colour
Set status line message foreground colour.
message-limit number
Set the number of error or information messages to save in the message log for each client. The default is 20.
mouse-resize-pane [on | off]
If on, tmux captures the mouse and allows panes to be resized by dragging on their borders.
mouse-select-pane [on | off]
If on, tmux captures the mouse and when a window is split into multiple panes the mouse may be used to select the current
pane. The mouse click is also passed through to the application as normal.
mouse-select-window [on | off]
If on, clicking the mouse on a window name in the status line will select that window.
mouse-utf8 [on | off]
If enabled, request mouse input as UTF-8 on UTF-8 terminals.
pane-active-border-bg colour
pane-active-border-fg colour
Set the pane border colour for the currently active pane.
pane-border-bg colour
pane-border-fg colour
Set the pane border colour for panes aside from the active pane.
prefix key
Set the key accepted as a prefix key.
prefix2 key
Set a secondary key accepted as a prefix key.
repeat-time time
Allow multiple commands to be entered without pressing the prefix-key again in the specified time milliseconds (the default
is 500). Whether a key repeats may be set when it is bound using the -r flag to bind-key. Repeat is enabled for the default
keys bound to the resize-pane command.
set-remain-on-exit [on | off]
Set the remain-on-exit window option for any windows first created in this session. When this option is true, windows in
which the running program has exited do not close, instead remaining open but inactivate. Use the respawn-window command to
reactivate such a window, or the kill-window command to destroy it.
set-titles [on | off]
Attempt to set the client terminal title using the tsl and fsl terminfo(5) entries if they exist. tmux automatically sets
these to the e]2;... 07 sequence if the terminal appears to be an xterm. This option is off by default. Note that elinks
will only attempt to set the window title if the STY environment variable is set.
set-titles-string string
String used to set the window title if set-titles is on. Character sequences are replaced as for the status-left option.
status [on | off]
Show or hide the status line.
status-attr attributes
Set status line attributes.
status-bg colour
Set status line background colour.
status-fg colour
Set status line foreground colour.
status-interval interval
Update the status bar every interval seconds. By default, updates will occur every 15 seconds. A setting of zero disables
redrawing at interval.
status-justify [left | centre | right]
Set the position of the window list component of the status line: left, centre or right justified.
status-keys [vi | emacs]
Use vi or emacs-style key bindings in the status line, for example at the command prompt. The default is emacs, unless the
VISUAL or EDITOR environment variables are set and contain the string 'vi'.
status-left string
Display string to the left of the status bar. string will be passed through strftime(3) before being used. By default, the
session name is shown. string may contain any of the following special character sequences:
Character pair Replaced with
#(shell-command) First line of the command's output
#[attributes] Colour or attribute change
#H Hostname of local host
#h Hostname of local host without the domain name
#F Current window flag
#I Current window index
#P Current pane index
#S Session name
#T Current pane title
#W Current window name
## A literal '#'
The #(shell-command) form executes 'shell-command' and inserts the first line of its output. Note that shell commands are
only executed once at the interval specified by the status-interval option: if the status line is redrawn in the meantime,
the previous result is used. Shell commands are executed with the tmux global environment set (see the ENVIRONMENT section).
For details on how the names and titles can be set see the NAMES AND TITLES section.
#[attributes] allows a comma-separated list of attributes to be specified, these may be 'fg=colour' to set the foreground
colour, 'bg=colour' to set the background colour, the name of one of the attributes (listed under the message-attr option) to
turn an attribute on, or an attribute prefixed with 'no' to turn one off, for example nobright. Examples are:
#(sysctl vm.loadavg)
#[fg=yellow,bold]#(apm -l)%%#[default] [#S]
Where appropriate, special character sequences may be prefixed with a number to specify the maximum length, for example
'#24T'.
By default, UTF-8 in string is not interpreted, to enable UTF-8, use the status-utf8 option.
status-left-attr attributes
Set the attribute of the left part of the status line.
status-left-bg colour
Set the background colour of the left part of the status line.
status-left-fg colour
Set the foreground colour of the left part of the status line.
status-left-length length
Set the maximum length of the left component of the status bar. The default is 10.
status-right string
Display string to the right of the status bar. By default, the current window title in double quotes, the date and the time
are shown. As with status-left, string will be passed to strftime(3), character pairs are replaced, and UTF-8 is dependent
on the status-utf8 option.
status-right-attr attributes
Set the attribute of the right part of the status line.
status-right-bg colour
Set the background colour of the right part of the status line.
status-right-fg colour
Set the foreground colour of the right part of the status line.
status-right-length length
Set the maximum length of the right component of the status bar. The default is 40.
status-utf8 [on | off]
Instruct tmux to treat top-bit-set characters in the status-left and status-right strings as UTF-8; notably, this is impor-
tant for wide characters. This option defaults to off.
terminal-overrides string
Contains a list of entries which override terminal descriptions read using terminfo(5). string is a comma-separated list of
items each a colon-separated string made up of a terminal type pattern (matched using fnmatch(3)) and a set of name=value
entries.
For example, to set the 'clear' terminfo(5) entry to 'e[He[2J' for all terminal types and the 'dch1' entry to 'e[P' for
the 'rxvt' terminal type, the option could be set to the string:
"*:clear=e[He[2J,rxvt:dch1=e[P"
The terminal entry value is passed through strunvis(3) before interpretation. The default value forcibly corrects the
'colors' entry for terminals which support 88 or 256 colours:
"*88col*:colors=88,*256col*:colors=256,xterm*:XT"
update-environment variables
Set a space-separated string containing a list of environment variables to be copied into the session environment when a new
session is created or an existing session is attached. Any variables that do not exist in the source environment are set to
be removed from the session environment (as if -r was given to the set-environment command). The default is "DISPLAY
SSH_ASKPASS SSH_AUTH_SOCK SSH_AGENT_PID SSH_CONNECTION WINDOWID XAUTHORITY".
visual-activity [on | off]
If on, display a status line message when activity occurs in a window for which the monitor-activity window option is
enabled.
visual-bell [on | off]
If this option is on, a message is shown on a bell instead of it being passed through to the terminal (which normally makes a
sound). Also see the bell-action option.
visual-content [on | off]
Like visual-activity, display a message when content is present in a window for which the monitor-content window option is
enabled.
visual-silence [on | off]
If monitor-silence is enabled, prints a message after the interval has expired on a given window.
word-separators string
Sets the session's conception of what characters are considered word separators, for the purposes of the next and previous
word commands in copy mode. The default is ' -_@'.
set-window-option [-agu] [-t target-window] option value
(alias: setw)
Set a window option. The -a, -g and -u flags work similarly to the set-option command.
Supported window options are:
aggressive-resize [on | off]
Aggressively resize the chosen window. This means that tmux will resize the window to the size of the smallest session for
which it is the current window, rather than the smallest session to which it is attached. The window may resize when the
current window is changed on another sessions; this option is good for full-screen programs which support SIGWINCH and poor
for interactive programs such as shells.
allow-rename [on | off]
Allow programs to change the window name using a terminal escape sequence ( 33k... 33\). The default is on.
alternate-screen [on | off]
This option configures whether programs running inside tmux may use the terminal alternate screen feature, which allows the
smcup and rmcup terminfo(5) capabilities. The alternate screen feature preserves the contents of the window when an interac-
tive application starts and restores it on exit, so that any output visible before the application starts reappears unchanged
after it exits. The default is on.
automatic-rename [on | off]
Control automatic window renaming. When this setting is enabled, tmux will attempt - on supported platforms - to rename the
window to reflect the command currently running in it. This flag is automatically disabled for an individual window when a
name is specified at creation with new-window or new-session, or later with rename-window, or with a terminal escape
sequence. It may be switched off globally with:
set-window-option -g automatic-rename off
clock-mode-colour colour
Set clock colour.
clock-mode-style [12 | 24]
Set clock hour format.
force-height height
force-width width
Prevent tmux from resizing a window to greater than width or height. A value of zero restores the default unlimited setting.
main-pane-height height
main-pane-width width
Set the width or height of the main (left or top) pane in the main-horizontal or main-vertical layouts.
mode-attr attributes
Set window modes attributes.
mode-bg colour
Set window modes background colour.
mode-fg colour
Set window modes foreground colour.
mode-keys [vi | emacs]
Use vi or emacs-style key bindings in copy and choice modes. As with the status-keys option, the default is emacs, unless
VISUAL or EDITOR contains 'vi'.
mode-mouse [on | off | copy-mode]
Mouse state in modes. If on, the mouse may be used to enter copy mode and copy a selection by dragging, to enter copy mode
and scroll with the mouse wheel, or to select an option in choice mode. If set to copy-mode, the mouse behaves as set to on,
but cannot be used to enter copy mode.
monitor-activity [on | off]
Monitor for activity in the window. Windows with activity are highlighted in the status line.
monitor-content match-string
Monitor content in the window. When fnmatch(3) pattern match-string appears in the window, it is highlighted in the status
line.
monitor-silence [interval]
Monitor for silence (no activity) in the window within interval seconds. Windows that have been silent for the interval are
highlighted in the status line. An interval of zero disables the monitoring.
other-pane-height height
Set the height of the other panes (not the main pane) in the main-horizontal layout. If this option is set to 0 (the
default), it will have no effect. If both the main-pane-height and other-pane-height options are set, the main pane will
grow taller to make the other panes the specified height, but will never shrink to do so.
other-pane-width width
Like other-pane-height, but set the width of other panes in the main-vertical layout.
pane-base-index index
Like base-index, but set the starting index for pane numbers.
remain-on-exit [on | off]
A window with this flag set is not destroyed when the program running in it exits. The window may be reactivated with the
respawn-window command.
synchronize-panes [on | off]
Duplicate input to any pane to all other panes in the same window (only for panes that are not in any special mode).
utf8 [on | off]
Instructs tmux to expect UTF-8 sequences to appear in this window.
window-status-bell-attr attributes
Set status line attributes for windows which have a bell alert.
window-status-bell-bg colour
Set status line background colour for windows with a bell alert.
window-status-bell-fg colour
Set status line foreground colour for windows with a bell alert.
window-status-content-attr attributes
Set status line attributes for windows which have a content alert.
window-status-content-bg colour
Set status line background colour for windows with a content alert.
window-status-content-fg colour
Set status line foreground colour for windows with a content alert.
window-status-activity-attr attributes
Set status line attributes for windows which have an activity (or silence) alert.
window-status-activity-bg colour
Set status line background colour for windows with an activity alert.
window-status-activity-fg colour
Set status line foreground colour for windows with an activity alert.
window-status-attr attributes
Set status line attributes for a single window.
window-status-bg colour
Set status line background colour for a single window.
window-status-current-attr attributes
Set status line attributes for the currently active window.
window-status-current-bg colour
Set status line background colour for the currently active window.
window-status-current-fg colour
Set status line foreground colour for the currently active window.
window-status-current-format string
Like window-status-format, but is the format used when the window is the current window.
window-status-fg colour
Set status line foreground colour for a single window.
window-status-format string
Set the format in which the window is displayed in the status line window list. See the status-left option for details of
special character sequences available. The default is '#I:#W#F'.
xterm-keys [on | off]
If this option is set, tmux will generate xterm(1) -style function key sequences; these have a number included to indicate
modifiers such as Shift, Alt or Ctrl. The default is off.
show-options [-gsw] [-t target-session | target-window]
(alias: show)
Show the window options with -w (equivalent to show-window-options), the server options with -s, otherwise the session options for
target session. Global session or window options are listed if -g is used.
show-window-options [-g] [-t target-window]
(alias: showw)
List the window options for target-window, or the global window options if -g is used.
FORMATS
The list-clients, list-sessions, list-windows and list-panes commands accept the -F flag with a format argument. This is a string which con-
trols the output format of the command. Special character sequences are replaced as documented under the status-left option and an addi-
tional long form is accepted. Replacement variables are enclosed in '#{' and '}', for example '#{session_name}' is equivalent to '#S'. Con-
ditionals are also accepted by prefixing with '?' and separating two alternatives with a comma; if the specified variable exists and is not
zero, the first alternative is chosen, otherwise the second is used. For example '#{?session_attached,attached,not attached}' will include
the string 'attached' if the session is attached and the string 'not attached' if it is unattached.
The following variables are available, where appropriate:
Variable name Replaced with
client_activity Integer time client last had activity
client_activity_string String time client last had activity
client_created Integer time client created
client_created_string String time client created
client_cwd Working directory of client
client_height Height of client
client_readonly 1 if client is readonly
client_termname Terminal name of client
client_tty Pseudo terminal of client
client_utf8 1 if client supports utf8
client_width Width of client
host Hostname of local host
line Line number in the list
pane_active 1 if active pane
pane_dead 1 if pane is dead
pane_height Height of pane
pane_id Unique pane id
pane_pid PID of first process in pane
pane_start_command Command pane started with
pane_start_path Path pane started with
pane_title Title of pane
pane_tty Pseudo terminal of pane
pane_width Width of pane
session_attached 1 if session attached
session_created Integer time session created
session_created_string String time session created
session_group Number of session group
session_grouped 1 if session in a group
session_height Height of session
session_name Name of session
session_width Width of session
session_windows Number of windows in session
window_active 1 if window active
window_flags Window flags
window_height Height of window
window_index Index of window
window_layout Window layout description
window_name Name of window
window_width Width of window
NAMES AND TITLES
tmux distinguishes between names and titles. Windows and sessions have names, which may be used to specify them in targets and are displayed
in the status line and various lists: the name is the tmux identifier for a window or session. Only panes have titles. A pane's title is
typically set by the program running inside the pane and is not modified by tmux. It is the same mechanism used to set for example the
xterm(1) window title in an X(7) window manager. Windows themselves do not have titles - a window's title is the title of its active pane.
tmux itself may set the title of the terminal in which the client is running, see the set-titles option.
A session's name is set with the new-session and rename-session commands. A window's name is set with one of:
1. A command argument (such as -n for new-window or new-session).
2. An escape sequence:
$ printf '