Zellij + Helix Cheatsheet

Zellij — Prefix: Ctrl+a

Default mode is locked. Only Ctrl+a and Alt+1-9 are captured.

Pane Navigation

Ctrl+a h/j/k/l or ←↓↑→Focus left / down / up / right
Ctrl+a |Split right
Ctrl+a -Split down
Ctrl+a xClose pane
Ctrl+a zZoom (fullscreen toggle)
Ctrl+a fToggle floating panes
Ctrl+a eEmbed / float pane
Ctrl+a bBreak pane to new tab

Tab Navigation

Alt+19Jump to tab (direct, no prefix)
Ctrl+a n / pNext / previous tab
Ctrl+a TabToggle last two tabs
Ctrl+a cNew tab
Ctrl+a ,Rename tab
Ctrl+a XClose tab
Ctrl+a SpaceNext swap layout

Session & Plugins

Ctrl+a wSession manager (fuzzy picker)
Ctrl+a oFile picker (strider)
Ctrl+a dDetach session
Ctrl+a qQuit zellij

Sub-modes (from Ctrl+a)

s → Scrollj/k or ↓↑ scroll, d/u page, / search, e edit
r → Resizeh/j/k/l or ←↓↑→ resize, +/- grow/shrink
m → Moveh/j/k/l or ←↓↑→ move pane

Esc exits any sub-mode. Ctrl+a from sub-mode → tmux mode.

Passthrough

Ctrl+a Ctrl+aSend literal Ctrl+a to app
EscCancel / back to locked mode

Shell — zsh / fzf / zellij helpers

Ctrl+Tfzf file finder (with bat preview)
Alt+Cfzf cd into directory
Ctrl+RAtuin history search
Ctrl+RightAccept autosuggestion word-by-word
zworkPick folder → layout → new zellij tab
znew L N DNew tab: layout, name, directory
ziZoxide interactive cd

Helix — Normal Mode

Movement

h/j/k/lLeft / down / up / right
w / b / eWord forward / back / end
W / B / EWORD forward / back / end
f/t charFind / till char forward
F/T charFind / till char backward
gg / geGo to start / end of file
Ctrl+d / Ctrl+uHalf-page down / up
Ctrl+f / Ctrl+bPage down / up
%Jump to matching bracket

Selection & Editing

vEnter select mode
xSelect entire line
sSelect regex matches in selection
d / cDelete / change selection
y / pYank / paste after
PPaste before
r charReplace with char
~Toggle case
u / UUndo / redo
> / <Indent / dedent
JJoin lines
CCopy selection to next line
Alt+sSplit selection on regex
Alt+dSelect all similar matches
Alt+.Repeat last motion
Alt+,Remove latest selection
Alt+oExpand selection (treesitter)
Ctrl+a / Ctrl+xIncrement / decrement number

Goto g

gdGo to definition
grGo to references
giGo to implementation
gyGo to type definition
gaGo to last accessed file
gh / glGo to line start / end
gsGo to first non-blank
gnGo to next buffer
gpGo to previous buffer

Space Menu Space

Space fFile picker
Space FFile picker (cwd)
Space bBuffer picker
Space jJumplist picker
Space sSymbol picker
Space SWorkspace symbol picker
Space /Global search
Space dDiagnostics picker
Space aCode action
Space rRename symbol
Space kShow docs (hover)
Space hSelect all references
Space y / pYank / paste system clipboard

Window Ctrl+w

Ctrl+w v/sVertical / horizontal split
Ctrl+w h/j/k/lFocus split
Ctrl+w qClose split
Ctrl+w oOnly (close other splits)

Match m

mmJump to matching bracket
ms charSurround with char
mr old newReplace surround
md charDelete surround
ma charSelect around
mi charSelect inside

Insert Mode (from i/a/o/I/A/O)

EscBack to normal
Ctrl+sSave
Ctrl+wDelete word backward
Ctrl+spaceTrigger completion

Commands :

:w / :q / :wqSave / quit / both
:o fileOpen file
:bcClose buffer
:sh cmdRun shell command
:config-reloadReload config
:theme nameSwitch theme