How to Open Multiple Files in Vim Splits and Tabs
You can open multiple files in vim in splits and tabs right from the terminal.
In the examples below, I have three files in the current directory like this:
.
├── file1
├── file2
└── file3
Open Multiple Files in Horizontal Splits
To open multiple files in horizontal splits in Vim, use the -o
flag like this:
vim -o file1 file2
Here’s a screenshot:
Open Multiple Files in Vertical Splits
To open multiple files with vertical splits in Vim, use the -O
flag:
vim -O file1 file2
In this screenshot I’ve opened three files in vertical splits:
Open Multiple Files in Vim Tabs
To open multiple files in Vim tabs, use the -p
flag:
vim -p file1 file2
Here’s a screenshot:
One of the great features of Vim is that a tab is an arrangement of panes, not a single file. Each tab can contain a different layout of files, allowing you to move through different layouts of files.
Use gt
and gT
to rotate through tabs. (Tip: you can move by more than one tab at a time by typing things like 2gt
and 3gT
.) To move tabs use :tabm
(see :h tabm
for documentation).
Bash/Zsh Aliases
If you use fzf
, these aliases are useful shortcuts:
alias v='vim `fzf`'
alias vof='vim -o `fzf`'
alias vOf='vim -O `fzf`'
alias vpf='vim -p `fzf`'
Video Example
Here’s a short clip that demonstrates all the techniques above: