Tips & Tricks

Navigation

Scrolling

Enter scroll mode with Ctrl-b [, then use arrow keys or Page Up/Down. Press q to exit.

Or enable mouse support in ~/.tmux.conf:

set -g mouse on

This lets you scroll with your trackpad and click to switch panes.

Faster Pane Switching

Add to ~/.tmux.conf for prefix-free navigation with Option+arrow:

bind -n M-Left select-pane -L
bind -n M-Right select-pane -R
bind -n M-Up select-pane -U
bind -n M-Down select-pane -D

Reload with tmux source-file ~/.tmux.conf.

macOS: Fix Arrow Key Conflicts

macOS uses Ctrl+←/→ for switching desktops, which conflicts with tmux.

Go to System Settings > Desktop & Dock > Mission Control and disable:

• Move left a space (^←)
• Move right a space (^→)

Or use the Option+arrow bindings above to avoid the conflict entirely.

Reconnecting

If you close your terminal or detach, your session is still running:

# List all sessions
tmux ls

# Reattach
tmux attach -t my-project

Resizing Panes

Drag pane borders with the mouse (if set -g mouse on is enabled), or:

# From inside tmux:
Ctrl-b : resize-pane -D 10   # down
Ctrl-b : resize-pane -U 10   # up
Ctrl-b : resize-pane -L 10   # left
Ctrl-b : resize-pane -R 10   # right

Recommended ~/.tmux.conf

A minimal config that works well with tmux-ide:

# Mouse support
set -g mouse on

# Option+arrow pane switching (no prefix needed)
bind -n M-Left select-pane -L
bind -n M-Right select-pane -R
bind -n M-Up select-pane -U
bind -n M-Down select-pane -D

# Start window numbering at 1
set -g base-index 1
setw -g pane-base-index 1

# Increase scrollback
set -g history-limit 10000