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Multiple Neovim Windows

It was the Berkeley Unix nvi (for new vi) which first introduced multiple windows. Multiple windows can view multiple buffers, or give multiple views of the same buffer.

Basic concepts

  • A file buffer is the in memory text associated with a file
  • A window is a view port on a buffer
  • A tab page is a collection of windows
  • A terminal window displays a terminal based program like bash

Using and manipulating windows

Remember, windows are view ports on buffers.

Creating and closing windows

Norm Mode Command Description
<C-w>n new window with empty buffer above
<C-w>s new window same buffer above
<C-w>v new window same buffer to left
<C-w>q close current window, same as :quit
<C-w>c close current window, same as :close
<C-w>o close all windows in tab except current one
Cmd Mode Command Description
:new new window with empty buffer above
:vnew new window with empty buffer to left
:sp new window same buffer above
:vsp new window same buffer to left
:sp <file> edit <file> in a horizontal split
:vsp <file> edit <file> in a vertical split
:vert help <topic> view help on a <topic> in a vertical split

The directional sense of all these commands can be adjusted via

Command Description
:set splitbelow open new windows below, not above
:set splitright open new windows to right, not to left

Since these behaviors seem more natural to me, I configure them in my ~/.config/nvim/init.vim file.

    set splitbelow
    set splitright

Navigating between and arranging Windows Normal Mode

Command Description
<C-w>h move one window left
<C-w>l move one window right
<C-w>k move one window up
<C-w>j move one window down
<C-w>t move to top-left window
<C-w>b move to bottom-right window
<C-w>p move to previous (last accessed) window
<C-w>w cycle through all windows
<C-w>= equalize heights/widths of all windows
<C-w>H move window far left, full screen height
<C-w>J move window to bottom, full screen width
<C-w>K move window to top, full screen width
<C-w>L move window far right, full screen height
<C-w>x exchange adjacent windows (vertically or horizontally)
<C-w>r rotate adjacent windows (vertically or horizontally)

I find the last 2 work best when window layout is kept simple. They won't work if one of the windows involved is further split, thus these only work with an innermost splits.

Manually setting/adjusting window sizes

Command Description
20<C-w>_ set active window height 20 lines
72<C-w><Bar> set active window width 72 chars
10<C-w>+ increase active window height 10 lines
15<C-w>- decrease active window height 15 lines
10<C-w>> increase active window width 10 char
15<C-w>< decrease active window width 15 char

Also, note that

Command Description
<C-w>_ maximize active window height
<C-w><Bar> maximize active window width

but

Command Description
<C-w>+ increase active window height 1 lines
<C-w>- decrease active window height 1 lines
<C-w>> increase active window width 1 char
<C-w>< decrease active window width 1 char

I tend not to use these directly. Instead I use them in other key bindings, or just use the mouse.

Tab pages

Remember, a tab in vim is a collection of one or more windows.

Command Description
gt move to next tab
gT move to previous tab
<C-w>T break current window out into new tab
Command Description
:tabn move to next tab
:tabp move to previous tab
:tabnew open new tab with empty buffer
:tabedit filename open new tab to edit file "filename"
:tabclose close current tab
:tabonly close all tabs except current tab

Starting Vim with multiple windows/tabs

    $ vim -p[n]    # Open n tab pages (default: one for each file)
    $ vim -o[n]    # Open n windows (default: one for each file)
    $ vim -O[n]    # Like -o but split vertically

Terminal Windows

Traditionally in vi one could interact with the Unix shell via

Command Description
:!<cmd> display output of shell command <cmd>
:2,7!<cmd> replace lines 2 thru 7 with shell command output
:.!<cmd> replace current line with shell command output
!!<cmd> same as above but from normal mode
:sh replace editing session with a new shell (not in Neovim)

Both Neovim & Vim allow you to open a shell in a separate editing Window. The behaviors between Neovim and Vim are different, so I'll document the Neovim behavior. Interacting with the terminal window as a terminal emulator is called terminal mode. Neovim is emulating a vt220/xterm terminal.

Command Description
:term opens your default shell in the current window
:vsp term://ksh opens ksh in a new vertical split window
:sp term://htop opens htop program in a new split window
:tabnew term://bash open bash session in new tab
<C-\><C-n> return to normal mode from terminal mode

This terminal window is essentially a read only buffer that displays the user's interactions with the terminal program running in the terminal window. You are put into normal mode. Any normal mode command to enter insert mode actually puts you into terminal mode. In terminal mode all key strokes except <C-\><C-n> get passed to the underlying process running in the terminal window. If the mouse is enabled, mouse events get past down too.

When the cursor is on the last line, regardless of mode, output from the terminal process is scrolled. Enabling the mouse makes for a smoother workflow by allowing you to change windows and tabs more easily. You can switch to another vim window/tab with the mouse. Returning to a terminal window via the mouse puts you into normal mode.

Cutting and pasting via the underlying terminal emulator is sometimes possible. For gnome-terminal, hold down the shift key to allow select/paste the primary buffer via middle mouse button and shift-rt-click to interact with the secondary buffer. For alacritty, the primary buffer is similar, but to copy text to the secondary buffer, you need to put alacritty into vi-mode via CTRL+SHIFT+SPACE.

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