Switching between panes by number

Now that we have so many panes, switching between them can get a bit unwieldy. The arrow keys are pretty nice but can still be a tad annoying. Thankfully, there is an easier way. Press <Prefix>, q and you will see a number appear in each pane and then disappear shortly thereafter.

The currently active pane will be of a different color than the other panes. This will also show the dimensions of each pane.

Just as each window was assigned a unique number, so also each pane is assigned with a unique number in every window. If you press <Prefix>, q again and, before the numbers disappear, type the number that appears in that pane, you'll automatically switch to it.

By default, the duration for these numbers to remain on the screen is 1 second, but you can change that by adding the following option to your .tmux.conf file:

set-option -g display-panes-time 3000

This will extend the time that the pane numbers are displayed on screen to 3000 ms or 3 seconds...