~ / windows / splitlesson 1/5

Split the screen: <C-w>s, <C-w>v, :sp, :vs

Cut a window in two, or open another file beside the one you have.

?how it works

A window is a view onto a buffer. Splitting cuts the current window in two, and both halves start out showing the same buffer. That lets you read two parts of one file at once, or open a second file next to it.

Every window command starts with <C-w> (think window) followed by one more key. <C-w>s splits the window into a top and a bottom half. <C-w>v splits it vertically, into a left and a right half. The ex versions are :sp and :vs, and they take a file name: :vs notes.md opens notes.md in the new window.

The new window appears above (or on the left) and gets the cursor. A common surprise: a split only divides the window you are in, not the whole screen.

<C-w>n (or :new) opens a window on a fresh, empty buffer, which makes a handy scratch pad. :vnew does the same side by side.

If Ctrl+W closes your browser tab, type the command after :wincmd instead: :wincmd v is the same as <C-w>v. Neovim's help mentions :wincmd for browser-based terminals too.

⌨keys

`<C-w>s`	split the window: new one above (also :sp)
`<C-w>v`	split vertically: new one on the left (also :vs)
`:sp {file}`	open {file} in a new window above
`:vs {file}`	open {file} in a new window on the left
`<C-w>n`	new window on an empty buffer (also :new)
`:vnew`	like :new, but side by side
`:wincmd {key}`	run <C-w>{key} as an ex command

Nin neovim

Neovim shows a status line on every window by default ('laststatus' is 2), so you can always see which buffer each window holds. It also has :set laststatus=3, which swaps them for one global status line at the bottom.

New splits open above or on the left. If you prefer below and right, put vim.opt.splitbelow = true and vim.opt.splitright = true in your init.lua.

4 drills

Top and bottom: <C-w>s: Split the current window into a top and a bottom half with <C-w>s. Only the window with the cursor gets split.
Side by side: <C-w>v: Split the current window into a left and a right half with <C-w>v.
Open a file in a split: :sp {file} and :vs {file}: Open the file named in the goal in a new split, with :sp {file} (new window above) or :vs {file} (new window on the left), whichever matches the goal.
A blank scratch window: <C-w>n: Open an empty window above with <C-w>n and type the note from the goal into it.

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