iTerm2 keyboard shortcut - split pane navigation

Question

I have been a long time user of the standard Mac Terminal. Decided to experiment with iTerm2 after hearing good things about it from my colleagues.

One of the more useful features I am seeing on iTerm2 is its split panes (much like vim split buffers).

In vim, I can move between split buffers using Ctrl+W+arrowkeys. Is there a keyboard shortcut for iTerm2 to move between panes as well?

Solution 1

From the documentation:

Cmd] and Cmd[ navigates among split panes in order of use.

Solution 2

Cmd+opt+←/↑/→/↓ navigate similarly to vim's C-w hjkl.

Solution 3

⌘+⌥+←/↑/→/↓ will let you navigate split panes in the direction of the arrow, i.e. when using ⌘+D to split panes vertically, ⌘+⌥+← and ⌘+⌥+→ will let you switch between the panes.

Solution 4

there is configuration in the following way:

Preferences -> keys -> Navigation shortcuts

the 3rd option: shortcut to choose a split pane is "no shortcut" by default, we can choose one

cheers

Solution 5

I was using Terminator before, so I found it convenient to re-map Alt + arrow-key to switch between the panes. This can be done in Preferences -> Keys -> Key Mappings - press the '+' button to add a mapping. Also, in my case such a mapping was already defined in Profiles, I simply removed it.

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Comments

[james_womack]

I'm using those commands to strobe my screen to the dubstep track playing in the office.

[Bombe]

This does not work with a German keyboard… better use ⌘+⌥+← or ⌘+⌥+→, see my answer below.

[RickyCheers]

@Bombe you could also try ⌘+⌥+[ or ⌘+⌥+]. That worked for me on a spanish keyboard

[Bombe]

@RickyCheers nope, doesn’t work on German keyboards; [ and ] both require additional keys to be pressed.

[Himz]

This answer works best and is most intuitive!. Thanks

[frhd]

Damn you apple, with the complete ass-backwards German key layout!

[ManuelSchneid3r]

Is it possible to change this hoteky to use opt only?

[DigitalDesignDj]

I have changed my config a lot, but I had to set these keys up before they worked.

[Bombe]

@mrfred now if only iTerm was configurable… OH WAIT IT IS.

[Joris]

For reference, if you want to remap this to e.g. Cmd-Up Arrow, Cmd-Down Arrow, Cmd-Left Arrow and Cmd-Right Arrow to nagivate accordingly between split panes, you can do this by remapping these respective keys to "Select Split Pane Above" and its Below, Left, Right companions in Preferences -> Profiles/<Your Profile>/Keys

[Pijusn]

This used to work on my machine but after last OS X upgrade it stopped working as well as some other shell shortcuts (not part of iTerm). However, @Bombe 's answer with arrow keys still works and is even easier to use.

[rexford]

I second mrfred

[jenkizenki]

This should be the best answer. This one actually helps

[Sundar]

@ManuelSchneid3r you can add custom short cut keys in your iterm2 profile (Preferences -> Profiles/<Your Profile>/Keys). There you have actions "Select Split Pane Above", "Select Split Pane Below", "Above" "Down".

[Cyril Duchon-Doris]

[ and ] are also impossible to use on the french layout, ⌘+⌥+arrow-keys wins

[J. M. Habibi]

This, in my opinion, should be the no. 1 answer because it allows you a few options on hotkeys. Those options are: - No Shortcut, - ⌥ + Number, - ⌘ + Number, - and ⌥ + ⌘ + Number. It should be noted that choosing ⌘ + Number will conflict with the default key combination for switching between tabs.

[Alex Steinberg]

In case anyone is interested ⌘+Shift+D splits panes horizontally.

[Detached]

This answer works best and is most intuitive! Thanks