So if I am in Tmux and a bunch of output came to the terminal, I can scroll through it by pressing:
ctrl-b [
Now, I have to pick my hands up and go to the arrow keys to scroll up.
How do I map the vim keys in scroll mode?
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2 Answers
Update in 2025: Tmux 3 version:
set-window-option -g mode-keys vi
bind-key -T copy-mode-vi v send -X begin-selection
bind-key -T copy-mode-vi V send -X select-line
# Mac
set -s copy-command 'pbcopy'
bind-key -T copy-mode-vi y send -X copy-pipe-and-cancel 'pbcopy'
# Linux
set -s copy-command 'xclip -in -selection clipboard'
bind-key -T copy-mode-vi y send -X copy-pipe-and-cancel 'xclip -in -selection clipboard'
The previous method broke for me when using tmux 3.4 when I upgraded from MacOS 14 Sonoma to MacOS 15 Sequoia.
Update in 2020: I don't think anyone should be using any version of tmux below 2, so the concise configs for modern tmux is just
set-window-option -g mode-keys vi
bind-key -T copy-mode-vi v send -X begin-selection
bind-key -T copy-mode-vi V send -X select-line
bind-key -T copy-mode-vi y send -X copy-pipe-and-cancel 'xclip -in -selection clipboard'
Previous answer
Unsure which tmux you have. This works for both 1.8 and 2.6, which are the two I'm forced to use.
run-shell "tmux setenv -g TMUX_VERSION $(tmux -V | cut -c 6-)"
if-shell -b '[ "$(echo "$TMUX_VERSION < 2.4" | bc)" = 1 ]' \
"setw -g mode-keys vi; \
bind-key Escape copy-mode; \
bind-key -t vi-copy v begin-selection; \
bind-key -t vi-copy V select-line; \
bind-key -t vi-copy y copy-pipe 'xclip -in -selection clipboard'"
if-shell -b '[ "$(echo "$TMUX_VERSION >= 2.4" | bc)" = 1 ]' \
"set-window-option -g mode-keys vi; \
bind-key -T copy-mode-vi v send -X begin-selection; \
bind-key -T copy-mode-vi V send -X select-line; \
bind-key -T copy-mode-vi y send -X copy-pipe-and-cancel 'xclip -in -selection clipboard'"
The relevant section here for hjkl is just setw -g mode-keys vi for 1.8 and set-window-option -g mode-keys vi for 2.6 (these might even be aliases and work in both versions, not sure). That being said, the v and V mappings with xclip are definitely useful.
6 Comments
Daniel Schütte
+1. Out of dozens of tmux SO questions I read, this is the first one that differentiates well between versions when it comes to scrolling with vim keys. Exactly the information I needed (to solve a different problem though). Thanks a lot!
EsmaeelE
related answer: Use system clipboard in vi-copy mode in tmux
EsmaeelE
To use this answer first install
xclip package. for Debian based apt install xclip
NeilG
We're still tied down to tmux 1.8 for some reason, so the different config is useful.
qciccoretti
tmux config is located in ~/.tmux.conf if you want to run these lines when the server starts
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To supplement the accepted answer, I found the following .tmux.conf lines accomplished most of what I needed:
set-window-option -g mode-keys vi
bind h select-pane -L
bind j select-pane -D
bind k select-pane -U
bind l select-pane -R