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?

mac shortcut of usefulness: `⌘`+`⇧`+`/` and then try a few keywords (in this case split) in the search bar. Use the `↓` to view the menu items, if there is a built-in shortcut you will see it alongside the menu item. works on most mac applications, ie Excel, sublime, firefox, etc. — Merlin, Dec 06 '17 at 18:42
I have mixed feeling about this question ... although I think it' useful, shouldn't key bindings have a proper place to the Q/A? — Gerardo Lima, Feb 12 '20 at 09:45

score 685 · Accepted Answer · edited Jul 17 '14 at 12:33

685

From the documentation:

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

edited Jul 17 '14 at 12:33

lucasoldaini

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answered Feb 12 '12 at 03:47

Michael Berkowski

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I'm using those commands to strobe my screen to the dubstep track playing in the office. – james_womack Apr 17 '13 at 19:15
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This does not work with a German keyboard… better use ⌘+⌥+← or ⌘+⌥+→, see my answer below. – Bombe Dec 18 '13 at 18:15
@Bombe you could also try `⌘+⌥+[` or `⌘+⌥+]`. That worked for me on a spanish keyboard – RickyCheers Apr 07 '14 at 17:19
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@RickyCheers nope, doesn’t work on German keyboards; `[` and `]` both require additional keys to be pressed. – Bombe May 15 '14 at 18:15
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Damn you apple, with the complete ass-backwards German key layout! – frhd Oct 24 '14 at 23:14
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. – Pijusn Jan 24 '17 at 07:27
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`[` and `]` are also impossible to use on the french layout, `⌘+⌥+arrow-keys` wins – Cyril Duchon-Doris Aug 17 '18 at 16:12

score 174 · Answer 2 · edited Mar 02 '18 at 21:44

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

edited Mar 02 '18 at 21:44

L Y E S - C H I O U K H

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answered Feb 12 '12 at 06:56

George

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Is it possible to change this hoteky to use opt only? – ManuelSchneid3r Apr 15 '15 at 15:00
@ManuelSchneid3r you can add custom short cut keys in your iterm2 profile (Preferences -> Profiles//Keys). There you have actions "Select Split Pane Above", "Select Split Pane Below", "Above" "Down". – Sundar Aug 11 '18 at 19:07

score 116 · Answer 3 · answered Dec 17 '13 at 20:01

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⌘+⌥+←/↑/→/↓ 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.

answered Dec 17 '13 at 20:01

Bombe

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This answer works best and is most intuitive!. Thanks – Himz Aug 05 '14 at 15:55
I have changed my config a lot, but I had to set these keys up before they worked. – DigitalDesignDj Oct 07 '15 at 20:37
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@mrfred now if only iTerm was configurable… OH WAIT IT IS. – Bombe Jan 14 '16 at 08:46
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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//Keys – Joris Mar 07 '16 at 10:59
I second mrfred – rexford Jan 27 '18 at 11:04
This should be the best answer. This one actually helps – jenkizenki Mar 12 '18 at 14:43
In case anyone is interested `⌘`+`Shift`+`D` splits panes horizontally. – Alex Steinberg Feb 10 '21 at 06:31

score 7 · Answer 4 · answered Aug 14 '19 at 09:22

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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

answered Aug 14 '19 at 09:22

Han.Oliver

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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. – J. M. Habibi Nov 14 '19 at 15:29
This answer works best and is most intuitive! Thanks – noBillSide Mar 23 '22 at 10:40

score 2 · Answer 5 · answered Dec 25 '16 at 21:01

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.

score 0 · Answer 6 · edited Apr 13 '18 at 09:21

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Spanish ISO:

⌘+⌥+[ goes left top
⌘+⌥+] goes bottom right

edited Apr 13 '18 at 09:21

Marco

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answered Apr 04 '17 at 17:20

David Casanellas

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iTerm2 keyboard shortcut - split pane navigation

6 Answers6