Pane ManagementPrefix + *
new-pane
Short form: newp
Create a floating pane — a pane that sits above the tiled layout like a popup, but is not modal and behaves like a regular pane (same escape sequence support, appears in pane lists). Added in tmux 3.7 and bound to Prefix + * by default.
Synopsis
bash
tmux new-pane [-bdEfhIkPvZ] [-c start-directory] [-e environment] [-F format] [-l size] [-m message] [-p percentage] [-R inactive-border-style] [-s style] [-S active-border-style] [-t target-pane] [shell-command]Options
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
| -d | Don't make the new pane the active pane |
| -c start-directory | Specify starting directory |
| -k | Keep the pane open after shell-command exits until a key is pressed |
| -m message | Like -k, but also sets remain-on-exit-format for this pane |
| -E | Create an empty pane with no command running in it |
| -s style | Set the style for the pane content |
| -S active-border-style | Set the border style when the pane is active |
| -R inactive-border-style | Set the border style when the pane is inactive |
Examples
Open a floating pane above the current layout
bash
tmux new-paneRun htop in a floating pane
bash
tmux newp 'htop'Keep the floating pane open after the command exits, until a key is pressed
bash
tmux new-pane -k 'make test'Open a floating pane in the current directory
bash
tmux new-pane -c '#{pane_current_path}'Default Keybinding
Prefix + *
Default prefix is Ctrl+b
Pro Tips
- •Floating panes are an early feature in tmux 3.7 — they can only be moved and resized with the mouse
- •Unlike display-popup, a floating pane is not modal: you can keep working in tiled panes while it stays open
- •With a two-line status line (set -g status 2), the default second line shows a list of panes