How to list Tmux sessions

Hey there, fellow terminal warriors! I’m sure you’ve heard of or are using Tmux, a terminal multiplexer that makes multitasking a breeze. But sometimes, managing multiple Tmux sessions can be a task in itself. Well, don’t you worry! In this blog post, I will be walking you through the simple process of listing all your active Tmux sessions. Ready to declutter your terminal workspace? Then let’s dive right in!

If you’re just dipping your toes into the Tmux waters, start with the Tmux basics. Already got that down? Great! Let’s dive right in.

Let’s say you have already created one or more tmux sessions, and you have exited from it. So, basically you are in your default command prompt or shell (ex- Bash or Zsh). We will discuss how you can list all tmux sessions

List Tmux Sessions using tmux ls command

Let’s consider the case where you will have created multiple sessions.

tmux new -s dev-session
Ctrl b, d   # Detach from session
tmux new -s prod-session
Ctrl b, d   Detach from session

To list all active tmux sessions, you can run the command –

tmux list-sessions

A shortcut for the list-sessions is ls

tmux ls

You can also format the output of the tmux ls to display just the names of the sessions by adding a format flag with session_name–

tmux ls -F "#{session_name}"

Once you list the sessions, you can attach to them to resume work and also detach or switch between them as per your convenience.

I hope you found this article useful, glad that you found it easy to list all active sessions in Tmux. And that’s the end of our journey today! Now you know how to list your Tmux sessions, a small but mighty skill that can help you streamline your terminal workspace. Go ahead, embrace the power of Tmux, manage your sessions better, and continue your quest for terminal mastery. Remember, a well-organized terminal is a well-organized mind! Stay tuned for more such nuggets of knowledge to help you navigate the world of Tmux. Until next time, happy coding!

You can also check out the complete tmux cheatsheet of keyboard shortcuts and mouse shortcuts.