Vim tabbed windows

You should see both file1. Running vim file1 file2 file Each time you open a new file, Vim create a new buffer for that file. Once Vim creates a buffer, it will remain in your buffers list. To remove it, you can type :bdelete. The hardest thing for me when learning about buffer was visualizing how it worked because my mind was used to windows from when using a mainstream text editor.

A good analogy is a deck of playing cards. If I have 2 buffers, I have a stack of 2 cards. The card on top is the only card I see, but I know there are card s below it.

If I see file1. I can't see the other card, the file2. If I switch buffers to file2. If you want to close without saving your changes, just add! A window is a viewport on a buffer. If you're coming from a mainstream editor, this concept may be familiar to you. Most text editors have the ability to display multiple windows. In Vim, you can also have multiple windows.

Earlier I said that you're looking at file1. While that was correct, that statement was incomplete. You are looking at file1. A window is what you are seeing a buffer through. Now you are looking at two buffers through two windows.

The top window displays file2. The bottom window displays file1. You are now seeing three windows displaying three buffers. One window displays file3. You can have multiple windows displaying the same buffer.

While you're on the top left window, type:. Now both two windows are displaying file2. If you start typing on a file2. To close the current window, you can run Ctrl-W C or type :quit. When you close a window, the buffer will still be there run :buffers to confirm this.

Take your time to understand them. A window is a viewport on a buffer. A tab page is a collection of windows. So every file you open will be placed in a Buffer , that can be displayed or hidden. You can cycle through buffers with the :bnext and :bprev commands and list them all with the :buffers command. Instead, :q is used to close a Window or Tab see below. A Vim Window is what you see and interact with.

A Window always shows a Buffer, being it from a file or just an empty one. Many windows can be opened at the same time by splitting the editor. A tab can show one or more windows, and if more than one tab exists, a list of tabs is shown at the top of the editor, looking like tabs in a browser.

But tabs work in a different way in Vim, they are more like viewports or workspaces ; their main function is to group Windows together. The :q command will also close the tab if there is only a single window visible in it. To summarize, a Window can show the contents of a buffer, and a Tab can host one or more Windows. By using many Vim Tabs one can almost reproduce the look of a graphical text editor think of Atom or VS Code , with several tabs, each showing a file.

But after some time this choice becomes a bit limited because it is much faster to cycle through buffers once you are used to them. A good recommendation is to get used to buffer commands like :ls , :buffer , :bnext and :bprev from start and just use more split windows or tabs as needed. David Turner David Turner 4, 5 5 gold badges 25 25 silver badges 26 26 bronze badges.

Lord Future Lord Future 2 2 gold badges 6 6 silver badges 13 13 bronze badges. Sign up or log in Sign up using Google. Sign up using Facebook. Sign up using Email and Password. Post as a guest Name. Email Required, but never shown. The Overflow Blog. Stack Gives Back Safety in numbers: crowdsourcing data on nefarious IP addresses.

Featured on Meta. New post summary designs on greatest hits now, everywhere else eventually. Related Hot Network Questions.