Windows and panes: your terminal, tiled

Windows are tabs; panes are splits. Ten keybindings cover 95% of daily use — these are them, in order of how often you'll press them.

Panes: split and move

prefix % splits side-by-side, prefix " splits top/bottom (yes, the keys are unmemorable — everyone rebinds them to | and - eventually, see the config lesson). prefix + arrows moves between panes. prefix x kills one; so does exiting its shell.

Zoom — the pane feature you'll use most

prefix z makes the current pane fill the window; press again to restore the splits exactly as they were. Editor on the left, logs on the right, zoom the editor when you need to focus. The status bar shows a Z while zoomed — if your splits ever "vanish", that's why.

Windows: tabs for contexts

prefix c creates a window, prefix n/p cycle, prefix 0-9 jumps by number, prefix l toggles your last two (the alt-tab move), prefix , renames, prefix w shows an interactive picker with previews of everything.

When splits get messy

prefix Space cycles preset layouts — even columns, even rows, one-big-pane arrangements, tiled. prefix q flashes pane numbers; press a number to jump. prefix ! promotes a pane to its own window when a split deserves a full tab.

Before moving on

  1. In a session, split with Ctrl-b % and Ctrl-b "
  2. Move around with Ctrl-b + arrows
  3. Zoom with Ctrl-b z, unzoom, kill a pane with Ctrl-b x
  4. Create two windows with Ctrl-b c, toggle with Ctrl-b l
  5. Try the playground on the tutorial page if you haven't
[tmuxlab]
^B