Skip to content

zellij shortcuts

Key bindings for zellij — configured with clear-defaults=true, so everything below is the complete map.

Generated from terminal/dot-config/zellij/config.kdl by tools/gen-docs.py — run just docs-update to refresh.

The default mode is locked (keys pass through to the shell). Ctrl a enters tmux mode — a tmux-style prefix — and Ctrl g toggles the regular zellij modes. Most actions return to locked automatically.

Tmux mode — Ctrl a

Keys Action
[ → scroll mode
Ctrl a Toggle last tab
z f Fullscreen pane
c t New tab
s $ : Open session-manager
\| New pane right
- New pane down
p Previous tab
n Next tab
1…6 Go to tab 1…6
, Rename tab
Left h Focus pane left
Right l Focus pane right
Down j Focus pane down
Up k Focus pane up
. Rename pane
H Grow left
L Grow right
K Grow up
J Grow down
e Embed ⇄ float pane
w Show/hide floating panes
d Detach session
Space Next layout
x Close pane
/ Search

Always available (normal & locked)

Keys Action
Alt left Alt h Focus pane/tab left
Alt down Alt j Focus pane down
Alt up Alt k Focus pane up
Alt right Alt l Focus pane/tab right
Alt + Alt = Grow
Alt - Shrink
Alt f Show/hide floating panes
Alt i Move tab left

Pane mode — p

Keys Action
left h Focus pane left
down j Focus pane down
up k Focus pane up
right l Focus pane right
c Rename pane
d New pane down
e Embed ⇄ float pane
f Fullscreen pane
n New pane
p → normal mode
r New pane right
w Show/hide floating panes
x Close pane
z Toggle pane frames
tab Next pane

Tab mode — t

Keys Action
left up h k Previous tab
down right j l Next tab
1…9 Go to tab 1…9
[ Break pane to tab left
] Break pane to tab right
b Break pane into new tab
n New tab
r Rename tab
s Sync input to all panes in tab
t → normal mode
x Close tab
tab Toggle last tab

Resize mode — r

Keys Action
left h Grow left
down j Grow down
up k Grow up
right l Grow right
+ = Grow
- Shrink
H Shrink left
J Shrink down
K Shrink up
L Shrink right
r → normal mode

Move mode — m

Keys Action
left h Move pane left
down j Move pane down
up k Move pane up
right l Move pane right
m → normal mode
n tab Move pane (next)
p Move pane backwards

Scroll mode — s

Keys Action
Alt left Alt h Focus pane/tab left
Alt down Alt j Focus pane down
Alt up Alt k Focus pane up
Alt right Alt l Focus pane/tab right
e Edit scrollback in $EDITOR
f Search
s → normal mode
Keys Action
PageDown right Ctrl f l Page down
PageUp left Ctrl b h Page up
down j Line down
up k Line up
Ctrl c Jump to bottom
d Half page down
u Half page up

Search options

Keys Action
c Toggle case-sensitivity
n Next match
o Toggle whole-word
p Previous match
w Toggle wrap

Session mode — o

Keys Action
c Open configuration
d Detach session
o → normal mode
p Open plugin-manager
w Open session-manager

Locked mode (default)

Keys Action
Ctrl g → normal mode
Ctrl a → tmux mode

Mode switches & misc

Keys Action
Ctrl g Ctrl a enter esc Ctrl c → locked mode
Ctrl q Quit zellij
m → move mode
o → session mode
t → tab mode
s Ctrl c esc → scroll mode
p → pane mode
r → resize mode
enter → search mode
esc Cancel rename · → tab mode
esc Cancel rename · → pane mode