---
title: Vim Splits - Move Faster and More Naturally
teaser: How to use splits in Vim.
tags: vim
author: Adarsh Pandit
published_on: 2013-04-18
---

Most of us are Vim users and have tweaked our favorite editor for speed and
convenience. See [thoughtbot's
dotfiles](https://github.com/thoughtbot/dotfiles/blob/master/vimrc).

One of my favorite tools is the window split. Here is a quick splits overview
and configurations to use them more effectively.

## The basics

Create a vertical split using `:vsp` and horizontal with `:sp`.

By default, they duplicate the current buffer. This command also takes a filename:

```vim
:vsp ~/.vimrc
```

You can specify the new split height by prefixing with a number:

```vim
:10sp ~/.zshrc
```

Close the split like you would close vim:

```vim
:q
```

## Easier split navigations

We can use different key mappings for easy navigation between splits to save a
keystroke. So instead of `ctrl-w` then `j`, it's just `ctrl-j`:

```vim
nnoremap <C-J> <C-W><C-J>
nnoremap <C-K> <C-W><C-K>
nnoremap <C-L> <C-W><C-L>
nnoremap <C-H> <C-W><C-H>
```

## More natural split opening

Open new split panes to right and bottom, which feels more natural than Vim's
default:

```vim
set splitbelow
set splitright
```

## Resizing splits

Vim's defaults are useful for changing split shapes:

```vim
"Max out the height of the current split
ctrl + w _

"Max out the width of the current split
ctrl + w |

"Normalize all split sizes, which is very handy when resizing terminal
ctrl + w =
```

## More split manipulation

```vim
"Swap top/bottom or left/right split
Ctrl+W R

"Break out current window into a new tabview
Ctrl+W T

"Close every window in the current tabview but the current one
Ctrl+W o
```

## Please :help me

As with everything in Vim, for more information, check the well-written
helpfiles. In Vim, `:help splits`.

## What's next

If you found this useful, you might also enjoy:

* [Navigating Ruby Files in Vim][navigating]
* [Vim, You Complete Me][tab] (tab completion)
* [Running Specs From Vim][specs]

[navigating]: https://thoughtbot.com/upcase/navigating-ruby-files-with-vim
[tab]: https://thoughtbot.com/blog/vim-you-complete-me
[specs]: https://thoughtbot.com/blog/running-specs-from-vim