How to change the default shell in tmux?

Detailed Explanation

tmux uses your system's default login shell by default. However, you might want to use a different shell specifically within tmux sessions. You can configure this either permanently in your configuration file or temporarily during a session.

Permanently changing the default shell:

To set a permanent default shell for tmux, add the following line to your ~/.tmux.conf file:

set-option -g default-shell /bin/zsh

Replace /bin/zsh with the path to your preferred shell. Common shells include:

• /bin/bash - Bash shell
• /bin/zsh - Z shell
• /bin/fish - Fish shell
• /usr/local/bin/fish - Fish shell (Homebrew installation on Mac)

Temporarily changing the default shell:

You can also change the default shell for your current tmux session without modifying your configuration file:

1. Press Ctrl+b to activate tmux command prefix
2. Press : to enter command mode
3. Type set-option -g default-shell /bin/zsh and press Enter

This change will only affect the current tmux server instance and will be lost when you restart tmux.

Finding the path to your shell:

If you're unsure of the exact path to your preferred shell, you can find it using:

$ which zsh
/bin/zsh

# Use Fish as default shell in login mode
set -g default-command "/usr/local/bin/fish -l"
set -g default-shell "/usr/local/bin/fish"