Master Terminal Sessions with Tmux: A Complete Beginner’s Guide

What is tmux?

tmux is a terminal multiplexer that separates the lifecycle of a session from the terminal window. A session continues to run its processes even after the window is closed, and can be re‑attached later from any terminal. It also enables multiple sessions in a single window, sharing sessions among users, and splitting windows into vertical or horizontal panes.

Installation

# Ubuntu / Debian
sudo apt-get install tmux

# CentOS / Fedora
sudo yum install tmux

# macOS (Homebrew)
brew install tmux

Starting and exiting

Start a new session with tmux. The status line shows the current window on the left and system information on the right. Exit a tmux session by typing exit or pressing Ctrl+d inside the tmux window.

Prefix key

All tmux shortcuts are invoked after the prefix key Ctrl+b. For example, Ctrl+b ? displays a help pane; press Esc or q to close it.

Session management

Creating a session

tmux new -s <session-name>

Detaching a session

Press Ctrl+b d or run tmux detach. The session keeps running in the background.

Listing sessions

tmux ls          # or
tmux list-sessions

Attaching to a session

# By session number
 tmux attach -t 0

# By session name
 tmux attach -t <session-name>

Killing a session

tmux kill-session -t 0
# or
 tmux kill-session -t <session-name>

Renaming a session

tmux rename-session -t 0 <new-name>

Session shortcuts

Ctrl+b d – detach current session

Ctrl+b s – list all sessions

Ctrl+b $ – rename current session

Pane operations

Splitting panes

# Split vertically (default)
tmux split-window

# Split horizontally
 tmux split-window -h

Selecting panes

# Move focus up
 tmux select-pane -U
# Move focus down
 tmux select-pane -D
# Move focus left
 tmux select-pane -L
# Move focus right
 tmux select-pane -R

Swapping panes

# Move current pane up
 tmux swap-pane -U
# Move current pane down
 tmux swap-pane -D

Pane shortcuts

Ctrl+b % – split vertically

Ctrl+b " – split horizontally

Ctrl+b <arrow key> – move focus to another pane

Ctrl+b ; – switch to previous pane

Ctrl+b o – switch to next pane

Ctrl+b { – move pane left

Ctrl+b } – move pane right

Ctrl+b Ctrl+o – move pane up

Ctrl+b Alt+o – move pane down

Ctrl+b x – close pane

Ctrl+b ! – break pane into a new window

Ctrl+b z – toggle pane fullscreen

Ctrl+b Ctrl+<arrow key> – resize pane

Ctrl+b q – show pane numbers

Window management

Creating windows

# New window
 tmux new-window
# New window with a name
 tmux new-window -n <window-name>

Selecting windows

# By number
 tmux select-window -t <window-number>
# By name
 tmux select-window -t <window-name>

Renaming windows

tmux rename-window <new-name>

Window shortcuts

Ctrl+b c – create new window

Ctrl+b p – go to previous window

Ctrl+b n – go to next window

Ctrl+b <number> – switch to specific window

Ctrl+b w – list windows for selection

Ctrl+b , – rename window

Other useful commands

# List all key bindings
 tmux list-keys

# List all commands and options
 tmux list-commands

# Show session information
 tmux info

# Reload configuration file
 tmux source-file ~/.tmux.conf