I started using tmux about a year ago and honestly can’t imagine going back. If you spend a lot of time in the terminal like I do, tmux is a game-changer.

Why I Use tmux

I used to have like 10 terminal windows open, constantly switching between them. SSH sessions would die when my laptop went to sleep. I’d lose my carefully arranged split panes when I closed a terminal by accident.

tmux solved all of that. Now I have persistent sessions that survive disconnects, I can split my terminal however I want, and everything stays exactly how I left it.

Getting Started

Install it with Homebrew:

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brew install tmux

That’s it. Run tmux and you’re in.

The Basics (What I Actually Use Daily)

tmux uses a “prefix key” for commands - by default it’s Ctrl-b. You press that first, release, then press the command key.

Sessions - The Killer Feature

This is why tmux is worth it:

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# Start a named session
tmux new -s myproject

# Detach (close terminal, session keeps running)
Ctrl-b d

# Come back later, everything's still there
tmux attach -t myproject

# List all your sessions
tmux ls

I have persistent sessions for different projects. My work session, my personal projects session, experiments session. They’re always running, I just attach/detach as needed.

Window Management

Think of these like browser tabs:

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# New window
Ctrl-b c

# Next/previous window
Ctrl-b n / Ctrl-b p

# Jump to window 0-9
Ctrl-b 0-9

# Rename window (I do this for every window)
Ctrl-b ,

I typically have 3-4 windows per session: one for code, one for servers, one for git operations, one for random commands.

Note on split screens: I use iTerm’s built-in split panes instead of tmux panes. iTerm handles splits well, and it’s one less thing to manage in tmux.

My ~/.tmux.conf

I spent way too long tweaking this, but here’s what actually matters:

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# Mouse support
set -g mouse on

# Start window numbering at 1 (easier to reach than 0)
set -g base-index 1

# More scrollback history
set -g history-limit 10000

# Better colors
set -g default-terminal "screen-256color"

# Reload config quickly
bind r source-file ~/.tmux.conf \; display "Config reloaded!"

# Don't auto-rename my carefully named windows
set-option -g allow-rename off

# Simple status bar
set -g status-style bg=black,fg=white
set -g status-left '#[fg=green]#S '
set -g status-right '#[fg=cyan]%d %b %R'

Put that in ~/.tmux.conf and reload with Ctrl-b : then source-file ~/.tmux.conf.

My Actual Workflow

Starting my day:

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# Attach to my main work session
tmux attach -t work

Everything’s exactly where I left it yesterday. Editor still open, servers still running, git still on the right branch.

Working on a side project:

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# Detach from work
Ctrl-b d

# Start or attach to project session
tmux attach -t sideproject

Context switch in 2 seconds.

SSH-ing to a server:

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ssh myserver
tmux attach

My remote session persists even if my connection drops. I can pick up right where I left off.

What Took Me a While to Learn

Copy mode: Ctrl-b [ lets you scroll back and copy text. Use arrow keys to navigate, Space to start selection, Enter to copy, then Ctrl-b ] to paste. Took me forever to figure this out.

Detaching vs Closing: Ctrl-b d detaches (session keeps running). exit in all windows actually closes the session. I used to confuse these.

Command mode: Ctrl-b : opens a command prompt. You can type any tmux command here. I use it for killing sessions: :kill-session -t oldproject

Session groups (viewing different windows simultaneously): This took me forever to figure out. When you attach to the same session from multiple terminals using tmux attach, all terminals mirror each other - they show the same window. Not what you want.

If you want independent views of different windows within the same session, use session groups:

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# Terminal 1: Create the main session
tmux new -s work

# Terminal 2: Create a new session grouped with 'work'
tmux new -t work -s work-view2

# Terminal 3: Another grouped session
tmux new -t work -s work-view3

# Or use the short form (tmux auto-generates unique names)
tmux new -t work

What this does:

• All sessions share the same windows (0, 1, 2, 3, etc.)
• Each terminal can view a different window independently
• Changes in one terminal (creating/closing windows) appear in all
• But each terminal can switch windows independently!

Verify it’s working:

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tmux ls

# You'll see something like:
# work: 5 windows (created Mon Nov 11 10:00:00 2025)
# work-view2: 5 windows (created Mon Nov 11 10:01:00 2025) (group work)
# work-view3: 5 windows (created Mon Nov 11 10:02:00 2025) (group work)

The (group work) indicates they share the same windows.

What NOT to do:

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# ❌ This causes mirroring (all terminals show the same window)
tmux attach -t work  # Don't use this in multiple terminals

Bonus alias (add to ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc):

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alias tmux-join='tmux new-session -t'

# Usage:
# tmux-join work

This was a game-changer for me - I can have my code editor in one terminal window, logs in another, and tests in a third, all from the same tmux session but viewing different windows at the same time.

Quick Reference (What I Look Up Every Time)

Is It Worth Learning?

If you live in the terminal: absolutely yes.

The learning curve is real - for the first few days I kept closing tmux by accident and getting confused. But once it clicks, you’ll wonder how you worked without it.

Start simple: just use sessions and detach/attach. That alone is worth it. Then gradually add windows and panes as you get comfortable.

For me, tmux means I can close my laptop, open it somewhere else, and continue exactly where I left off. That’s powerful.

Resources

• tmux cheat sheet - I still reference this
• Official docs: https://github.com/tmux/tmux/wiki
• Book: “tmux 2” by Brian Hogan - actually worth reading

That’s my tmux setup. Not fancy, but works great for me. If you have questions or want to share your setup, find me on X.