How do I scroll with either the keyboard or mouse? The tmux man page indicates one must enter copy-mode to scroll. Is there a way to quickly scroll without manually entering copy-mode?
15 Answers
Ctrl-b then [ then you can use your normal navigation keys to scroll around (eg. Up Arrow or PgDn). Press q to quit scroll mode.
Alternatively you can press Ctrl-b PgUp to go directly into copy mode and scroll one page up (which is what it sounds like you will want most of the time)
In vi mode (see below), you can also scroll the page up/down line by line using Shift-k and Shift-j (if you're already in scroll mode). Unshifted, the cursor moves instead of the page.
Excerpts from the man page:
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:
[ Enter copy mode to copy text or view the history.
Function vi emacs
-------- -- -----
Half page down C-d M-Down
Half page up C-u M-Up
Next page C-f Page down
Previous page C-b Page up
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
Plus a bunch more. Note that you have to press C-b twice if you use that for page up since C-b is bound as the command key. See the man page for information on prefacing a copy mode command with a repeat count.
You can set the key binding mode using Ctrl-b, then
:set-window-option mode-keys emacs
or vi.
answered Nov 11, 2010 at 3:02
-
22I think
C-b =ischoose-bufferby default. Did you meanC-b [(which iscopy-modeby default)? Also you can also useC-b PageUpto start copy-mode directly on the previous page (very handy when you know what you want to view/copy has already scrolled off the current page). Nov 11, 2010 at 5:55 -
5Correct, my tmux has no scroll-mode. You need to
C-b [to enter copy mode and then use either the emacs or vi key-bindings to scroll around. This seems like a lot of steps just to scroll, but the benefits of tmux still outweigh these annoyances. I'm on a macbook and there is no PageUp key :-\. (Also, how do I make keys with markdown like you did, Dennis?)– chadohNov 11, 2010 at 17:11 -
52@chadoh: Try these on your Macbook: Home: fn-LeftArrow; End: fn-RightArrow; Page Up: fn-UpArrow; Page Down: fn-DownArrow. To make keycaps:
<kbd>Ctrl</kbd>Nov 11, 2010 at 18:43 -
6on macbook, the fn+up goes straight to terminal app and never hits tmux– TylerApr 11, 2011 at 17:57
-
17On a macbook if you're in scroll mode you can use fn+Shift+LeftArrow to scroll up a page. May 18, 2013 at 17:51
Well, you should consider the proper way to set scrolling:
add in your ~/.tmux.conf
set -g mouse on #For tmux version 2.1 and up
or
set -g mode-mouse on #For tmux versions < 2.1
It worked for me in windows and panes. Now tmux is just perfect.
Practical tmux has more info on tmux.conf files.
answered Nov 25, 2012 at 13:05
-
8When I do this, mouse clicks and scrolls cause gibberish characters to be printed to the prompt area of the terminal I'm using with tmux. Any ideas?– user110014Aug 1, 2013 at 15:38
-
50Future tmux mouse users: To save you having to scroll to the bottom again before typing, you can hit
qto exit scroll mode. Jan 7, 2014 at 5:11 -
23Mouse scrolling works fine with this, but unfortunately I cannot use the mouse to select text anymore. Using Tilda and tmux. Mar 17, 2015 at 3:40
-
46Important note: This setting breaks highlighting and copying text. Use shift+click to maintain this functionality. May 4, 2016 at 22:50
-
4@pltrdy @friederbluemle @Shadoninja: with
mode-mouse onuse can still select text with Shift + mouse drag or Option + mouse drag on Mac.– ccpizzaApr 24, 2019 at 20:27
From my .tmux.conf:
# Sane scrolling
set -g terminal-overrides 'xterm*:smcup@:rmcup@'
This enables native xterm scrolling.
-
41
-
8
-
17
-
9Check this out if you're confused about togdon's answer: superuser.com/questions/310251/… IMO, if you have only a single pane, this solution works better than the accepted answer.– thameeraApr 16, 2013 at 7:48
-
3
For the newest tmux 2.1, to scroll with your mouse sanely, this is the right answer:
set -g mouse on
# sane scrolling:
bind -n WheelUpPane if-shell -F -t = "#{mouse_any_flag}" "send-keys -M" "if -Ft= '#{pane_in_mode}' 'send-keys -M' 'copy-mode -e; send-keys -M'"
it's not enough to just reload your .tmux.conf you need to restart your tmux, e.g. tmux kill-server && tmux or just quit the services that are using tmux.
taken from https://github.com/tmux/tmux/issues/145
-
2the note in this answer about "not being enough to simply reload .tmux.conf helped" and exiting all tmux sessions for me (maybe kill-server would work) helped!– Colin DJan 25, 2017 at 18:05
-
3
-
It appears to forward mouse events when the mouse is clicked/scrolled/etc. if the pane is in any indirect/buffered state (just copy-mode?), and the mouse is pressing a button, scrolling, etc. The last portion covers scrolling in direct mode by switching to an indirect mode first. If not for those controls, the terminal might interpret the events as history scrolling, if at all. With that said, I don't know if I've ever been able to get my pager and Vim to scroll correctly at the same time, and I've tried a bunch of the snippets going around.– John PJan 2, 2018 at 14:13
-
you can't select and copy text with your mouse when
set -g mouse onis enabled– chefarovMar 19, 2019 at 17:54 -
3@chefarov - per a comment on another answer, you can do this via
Shift+clickwhen you have mouse mode on. Mar 27, 2019 at 13:23
In my case, just opt + UpArrow and opt + DownArrow on OSX.
-
@fixer1234 The question does not mention Linux at all.
tmuxcan be used on OS X, too.– slhckApr 17, 2015 at 11:51 -
@slhck: Thanks. Too bleary-eyed; astigmatism kicked in. I had misread the tmux tag as a linux tag. Apr 17, 2015 at 16:07
-
-
This is the way I made it work, and the reasons why I think it is better than the default way.
To try it out, put all the code sections in ~/.tmux.conf.
Step 1. Change the prefix key so you won't have to reach one bit. 'B' is seemingly a close key, but it is in the middle of the two index fingers (at 'F' and 'J', respectively). Because that shortcut is essential in tmux, C-j is much better as it involves zero hand movement (apart from hitting the key).
set -g prefix C-j
unbind C-b
bind C-j send-prefix
Step 2. 'S' (to enter copy-mode) is: 1) close (same reason as above), 2) involves the other hand (compare: the 1-2 in boxing, or the ls command to view files in a directory), and 3) could be thought of as mnemonic for "scroll" (although the copy-mode isn't just about scrolling).
bind s copy-mode
Step 3. The last part, the actual scrolling. 'P' and 'N' are familiar for this purpose to the Emacs users. They are close, intuitive ('P' is above 'N' on the keyboard), and mnemonic ("previous" and "next"). If you just did some scrolling in Emacs, and then go to tmux, it makes sense to have those shortcuts.
However, I found that 'I' and 'K' are even better - they are even closer than 'P' and 'N', and intuitive (for the same reason); as for mnemonics - as scrolling is such a common thing to do, mnemonics won't really matter as the shortcuts will soon bypass your brain and enter the muscle memory.
bind -t emacs-copy 'p' scroll-up
bind -t emacs-copy 'n' scroll-down
bind -t emacs-copy 'i' scroll-up
bind -t emacs-copy 'k' scroll-down
This worked for me:
vim ~/.tmux.conf
set -g mode-mouse on ###Insert this setting with vim, then source the file.
tmux source-file ~/.tmux.conf
-
5Since the version 2.1 (18 October 2015) the option should be
set -g mouse on– naokoDec 27, 2018 at 0:07 -
2+1 since this solution worked without restarting the tmux server (I had important jobs running). I did detach and reattach to the tmux session though. Remember the change of
set -g mode-mouse ontoset -g mouse onappropriately as mentioned in the @naoko 's comment. Jul 21, 2021 at 18:22 -
Very helpful. The sourcing of the config file was missing in other answers. Thanks! May 31, 2022 at 8:13
I'd recommend giving a try to the tmux-better-mouse-mode plugin to solve most of your tmux mouse related issues.
It's compatible with Tmux 2.1+ and the new set-option -g mouse on approach.
-
1Thanks, this is the best solution for me. It covers all my mouse wheel bindings that I've added manually (so I don't need them anymore), and there are two killer-features that I wanted very much:
scroll-without-changing-panein combination withscroll-without-changing-paneandemulate-scroll-for-no-mouse-alternate-buffer. Now my tmux usage experience is way, way better. Jun 5, 2018 at 11:02
I searched around a lot for this and the best solution for me works as mentioned in this detailed guide: http://tangledhelix.com/blog/2012/07/16/tmux-and-mouse-mode/
Add these bindings in ~/.tmux.conf:
set -g mode-mouse on
unbind +
bind + \
new-window -d -n tmux-zoom 'clear && echo TMUX ZOOM && read' \;\
swap-pane -s tmux-zoom.0 \;\
select-window -t tmux-zoom
unbind -
bind - \
last-window \;\
swap-pane -s tmux-zoom.0 \;\
kill-window -t tmux-zoom
With the above approach implemented, you can copy from panes in a window as well by zooming into each pane first using Prefix +.
One important detail that was missing with the mouse mode is to press Shift before selecting an area to copy. This will copy it to traditional terminal buffer instead of the tmux copy buffer. (https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Tmux#Scrolling_issues)
The only thing that works for me is putting the following in ~/.tmux.conf
# Allow xterm titles in terminal window, terminal scrolling with scrollbar, and setting overrides of C-Up, C-Down, C-Left, C-Right
set -g terminal-overrides "xterm*:XT:smcup@:rmcup@:kUP5=\eOA:kDN5=\eOB:kLFT5=\eOD:kRIT5=\eOC"
(you may need to reboot for this to take effect)
Update:
I found that if you change the setting in Putty Connection > Data > Terminal-type to "putty" (used to fix some formatting issues) from "xterm" then this solution stops working.
Update 2:
Use this if you want "putty" as your terminal type: set -g terminal-overrides "putty*:XT:smcup@:rmcup@:kUP5=\eOA:kDN5=\eOB:kLFT5=\eOD:kRIT5=\eOC"
-
2This one actually solves my scrolling problem in iPhone app as well. Jun 17, 2016 at 17:20
-
The latest I tried this wasn't working any more, but this worked. Strange.
set -ga terminal-overrides ',xterm*:smcup@:rmcup@'– phocksJul 5, 2016 at 5:30
On OSX Mojave and newer, after entering copy mode with ctrl + b [, you can do:
- up arrow for line up
- down arrow for line down
- fn + up arrow for page up
- fn + down arrow for page down
- q to quit copy mode
The top answers already explain how to scroll. I'd like to add an option to avoid the need for scrolling: Pipe the output of long commands into less. less is a program to navigate through text files.
superlongcommand | less
Then you can use vim-like bindings (d/u) or PgUp/PgDn to scroll and q to exit. See Less Cheatsheet
Host + [ mine key is Ctrl + a the default key is Ctrl + b
after that its easy to navigate with vim config
The answers above did not work for me to enable keyboard scrolling, but this answer from a different question worked:
bind -n Pageup copy-mode -u
bind -n S-Pageup copy-mode -u
bind -n S-Pagedown send-keys Pagedown
- Ctrl + A - to start scrolling
- Ctrl + C - to stop scrolling
-
5This post is too short to be usefully answer the question. It adds very little new information to answers already posted; it says nothing about how to scroll (only how to change in and out of copy mode). Also, the default command prefix key combination is
Ctrl-B(Ctrl-Ais the default for GNU screen). Oct 26, 2016 at 8:50 -
3Not sure if the author of this answer even understood the question. It's unhelpful and just wrong.– VikMar 30, 2017 at 7:53
-
2I've been looking for how to stop scrolling for so long, thanks for pointing it out! Apr 9, 2017 at 17:12
copy-modeis the way to view history (and optionally copy stuff out of it).set -g mode-mouse onper @chaiyachaiya's answer was the winner for meecho "set -g mouse on" >> ~/.tmux.confand you'll be able to scroll.