Complete Zellij command reference — searchable, fast, always free
⚠ Keybindings shown are Zellij defaults and may differ based on your config — click ✎ to customize any binding
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⌨️ Key labels:
NRM Normal
PNE Pane
TAB Tab
SCR Scroll
| Ctrl+p | Enter Pane mode |
| Ctrl+t | Enter Tab mode |
| Ctrl+n | Enter Resize mode |
| Ctrl+h | Enter Move mode |
| Ctrl+s | Enter Scroll mode |
| Ctrl+o | Enter Session mode |
| Ctrl+g | Toggle Locked mode |
| Esc / Enter | Return to Normal mode |
| Ctrl+q | Quit Zellij |
| Alt+h / Alt+← | Focus pane left (or prev tab) |
| Alt+j / Alt+↓ | Focus pane down |
| Alt+k / Alt+↑ | Focus pane up |
| Alt+l / Alt+→ | Focus pane right (or next tab) |
| Alt+n | New pane (quick) |
| Alt+f | Toggle floating panes |
| Alt+i | Move tab left |
| Alt+o | Move tab right |
| Alt+[ | Previous swap layout |
| Alt+] | Next swap layout |
| Alt+= / Alt++ | Resize pane (increase) |
| Alt+- | Resize pane (decrease) |
| Alt+p | Toggle pane in group |
| h / ← | Focus pane left |
| j / ↓ | Focus pane down |
| k / ↑ | Focus pane up |
| l / → | Focus pane right |
| p | Cycle pane focus |
| n | New pane |
| d | New pane (split down) |
| r | New pane (split right) |
| s | New pane (stacked) |
| x | Close pane |
| f | Toggle fullscreen |
| z | Toggle pane frames |
| w | Toggle floating panes |
| e | Embed / un-embed pane |
| c | Rename pane |
| i | Toggle pin pane |
| h / ← | Previous tab |
| l / → | Next tab |
| n | New tab |
| x | Close tab |
| r | Rename tab |
| s | Toggle sync tabs |
| b | Break pane to new tab |
| [ | Break pane to left tab |
| ] | Break pane to right tab |
| Tab | Toggle last tab |
| 1–9 | Go to tab N |
| h / ← | Grow pane left |
| j / ↓ | Grow pane down |
| k / ↑ | Grow pane up |
| l / → | Grow pane right |
| H | Shrink pane left |
| J | Shrink pane down |
| K | Shrink pane up |
| L | Shrink pane right |
| + | Increase size |
| - | Decrease size |
| h / ← | Move pane left |
| j / ↓ | Move pane down |
| k / ↑ | Move pane up |
| l / → | Move pane right |
| n | Move pane to next position |
| p | Move pane to prev position |
| j / ↓ | Scroll down |
| k / ↑ | Scroll up |
| Ctrl+f / PageDown | Page down |
| Ctrl+b / PageUp | Page up |
| d | Half page down |
| u | Half page up |
| g / Home | Go to top |
| G / End | Go to bottom |
| / | Search scrollback |
| n | Next search match |
| p | Previous search match |
| e | Edit scrollback in $EDITOR |
| d | Detach from session |
| w | Open session manager |
| c | Open configuration UI |
| p | Open plugin manager |
| l | Open layout manager |
| s | Open share UI |
| a | About Zellij |
| zellij | Start Zellij |
| zellij -l <layout> | Start with a layout |
| zellij -s <name> | Start / attach named session |
| zellij attach <name> | Attach to session |
| zellij attach -c <name> | Attach or create session |
| zellij list-sessions | List sessions |
| zellij ls | List sessions (short) |
| zellij kill-session <name> | Kill a session |
| zellij kill-all-sessions | Kill all sessions |
| zellij delete-session <name> | Delete session |
| zellij delete-all-sessions | Delete all sessions |
| zellij setup --dump-config | Print default config |
| zellij setup --dump-layout <name> | Print built-in layout |
| default / compact | Built-in layouts |
| ~/.config/zellij/layouts/ | Custom layout directory |
| ~/.config/zellij/config.kdl | Config file location |
| $ZELLIJ_CONFIG_DIR | Override config directory |
| zellij setup --generate-auto-start | Auto-start shell integration |
| zellij -l compact | Compact (no status bar) |
| command "<shell>" | Set pane shell in layout |
| zellij --version | Show version |
| $ZELLIJ | Detect if inside Zellij |
| $ZELLIJ_SESSION_NAME | Current session name |
| zellij action <action> | Send action from CLI |
| zellij action new-tab --name <name> | New tab (via action) |
| zellij action close-pane | Close pane (via action) |
| ~/.cache/zellij/ | Session cache directory |
| ~/.config/zellij/plugins/ | Plugin directory |
| zellij -l strider | Built-in file explorer (Strider) |
| prefix + " → Ctrl+p, d | Split pane (top/bottom) |
| prefix + % → Ctrl+p, r | Split pane (left/right) |
| prefix + c → Ctrl+t, n | New window / tab |
| prefix + n/p → Ctrl+t, l/h | Next / prev window |
| prefix + d → Ctrl+o, d | Detach from session |
| prefix + [ → Ctrl+s | Enter scroll / copy mode |
| prefix + z → Ctrl+p, f | Zoom / fullscreen pane |
| prefix + x → Ctrl+p, x | Kill pane |
| prefix + ↑↓←→ → Alt+h/j/k/l | Navigate panes (no prefix needed) |
| prefix + $ → Ctrl+o, r | Rename session |
| new-session -s → zellij -s | Create named session |
| attach-session → zellij attach | Attach to session |
| kill-session → zellij kill-session | Kill session |
| list-sessions → zellij ls | List sessions |
✎ Custom bindings: