Introduction #

Welcome to this blog where I will be taking you through certain steps to get your own tmux configuration.

First of all, let’s see: What is Tmux? and Why is it used?

Tmux stands for Terminal Multiplexer and is used in Unix-like operating systems. It allows you to use multiple terminal sessions in a single terminal window. Even if the actual terminal window closes, the tmux session runs in the background and can be accessed with the name of the session — which is helpful when we accidentally close the session without saving changes.

Here’s how we can use tmux:

In the above video, I opened a tmux session, created three split panes, created a tmux window, closed the terminal, and reattached using the session name "test".

The default configuration for tmux is good, but we can add our own plugins, colorschemes, custom keybinds, and more. Configuring tmux is not a tough job and is relatively easy. I use a simple minimal tmux configuration — and I’ll take you through the steps to achieve it.

Getting Started #

To begin, locate the tmux configuration file:

~/.tmux.conf

Open it with your favorite editor.

The first step is to create a shortcut to reload the config without restarting tmux:

unbind r
bind r source-file ~/.tmux.conf

Now press Ctrl+s, then r to reload the config instantly.

Rebinding the default prefix #

By default, tmux uses Ctrl+b as the prefix. This is not ergonomic.

We’ll change it to Ctrl+s (you can choose any):

set -g prefix C-s

Now your config looks like:

unbind r
bind r source-file ~/.tmux.conf
set -g prefix C-s

Adding mouse support #

Tmux is keyboard-driven by default — no mouse.

Enable it with:

set -g mouse on

unbind r
bind r source-file ~/.tmux.conf
set -g prefix C-s
set -g mouse on

Setting tmux status bar position #

Move the status bar to the top to avoid confusion with Vim/Neovim status lines:

set-option -g status-position top

unbind r
bind r source-file ~/.tmux.conf
set -g prefix C-s
set -g mouse on
set-option -g status-position top

Installing Tmux Plugin Manager (TPM) #

We’ll use TPM to install plugins.

Clone it:

git clone https://github.com/tmux-plugins/tpm ~/.tmux/plugins/tpm

Add to ~/.tmux.conf:

# List of plugins
set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tpm'
set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tmux-sensible'

# Initialize TMUX plugin manager (keep this at the bottom)
run '~/.tmux/plugins/tpm/tpm'

Reload tmux config (Ctrl+s, r) and press Ctrl+s, I (capital I) to install plugins.

Adding colorscheme #

Add your favorite theme under # List of plugins. I use Nord:

set -g @plugin "nordtheme/tmux"

Full config so far:

unbind r
bind r source-file ~/.tmux.conf
set -g prefix C-s
set -g mouse on
set-option -g status-position top

# List of plugins
set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tpm'
set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tmux-sensible'
set -g @plugin "nordtheme/tmux"

# Initialize TMUX plugin manager (keep this line at the very bottom)
run '~/.tmux/plugins/tpm/tpm'

Reload (Ctrl+s, r) → Install plugins (Ctrl+s, I)

Conclusion #

Here’s your final minimal .tmux.conf:

unbind r
bind r source-file ~/.tmux.conf
set -g prefix C-s
set -g mouse on
set-option -g status-position top

# List of plugins
set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tpm'
set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tmux-sensible'
set -g @plugin "nordtheme/tmux"

# Initialize TMUX plugin manager (keep this line at the very bottom)
run '~/.tmux/plugins/tpm/tpm'

I hope you got your own config that fits you too.

All Tmux Plugins:
List of Tmux Plugins

Hope this blog has helped you get a starter tmux configuration — and if you liked it, please follow up on future blogs!