How to swap panes in tmux?
Quick Answer
To swap or exchange panes in tmux, press Ctrl+b followed by { to move the current pane left/up or } to move it right/down. For more control, use the swap-pane command.
Ctrl+b+{or}
Detailed Explanation
Swapping panes allows you to rearrange your tmux workspace without closing and recreating panes. This is useful for organizing related tasks or prioritizing your workflow by moving important panes to more prominent positions.
Using keyboard shortcuts:
Ctrl+b {- Move the current pane left (or up if arrangement doesn't allow left)Ctrl+b }- Move the current pane right (or down if arrangement doesn't allow right)
Using tmux commands for precise control:
Ctrl+b :then typeswap-pane -s 2 -t 3- Swap pane 2 with pane 3Ctrl+b :then typeswap-pane -U- Swap with previous pane (up in the layout)Ctrl+b :then typeswap-pane -D- Swap with next pane (down in the layout)
Finding pane numbers:
To see pane numbers (needed for the swap-pane command):
Ctrl+b q- Display pane numbers briefly
Pro Tip: Custom Key Bindings
Create more intuitive key bindings for swapping panes by adding these lines to your ~/.tmux.conf:
# Swap current pane with the pane in the specified direction bind-key M-Up swap-pane -U bind-key M-Down swap-pane -D bind-key M-Left swap-pane -U bind-key M-Right swap-pane -D
Then use Alt+Arrow keys with the prefix (Ctrl+b) to swap in that direction.
Rearranging Layouts
Instead of swapping individual panes, you can also cycle through different layout arrangements:
Ctrl+b Space- Cycle through available layoutsCtrl+b Alt+1- Even horizontal layoutCtrl+b Alt+2- Even vertical layoutCtrl+b Alt+3- Main horizontal layoutCtrl+b Alt+4- Main vertical layoutCtrl+b Alt+5- Tiled layout