To switch from vertical split to horizontal split fast in Vim

 
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How can you switch your current windows from horizontal split to vertical split and vice versa in Vim?

I did that a moment ago by accident but I cannot find the key again.

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edited Sep 25 '11 at 15:36
 
 
asked Aug 13 '09 at 1:38

Masi
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perhaps dwm.vim plugin will be kinda useful –  ДМИТРИЙ МАЛИКОВ Jan 12 '13 at 12:43
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5 Answers 5

up vote385down voteaccepted Vim mailing list says (re-formatted for better readability):

To change two vertically split windows to horizonally split

Ctrl-W t Ctrl-W K

Horizontally to vertically:

Ctrl-W t Ctrl-W H

Explanations:

Ctrl-W t makes the first (topleft) window current Ctrl-W K moves the current window to full-width at the very top Ctrl-W H moves the current window to full-height at far left

Note that the t is lowercase, and the K and H are uppercase.

Also, with only two windows, it seems like you can drop the Ctrl-W t part because if you're already in one of only two windows, what's the point of making it current?
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edited Jul 21 '13 at 9:54

Vinod
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answered Aug 13 '09 at 1:48

Mark Rushakoff
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So if you have two windows split horizontally, and you are in the lower window, you just use ^WL. –  too much php Aug 13 '09 at 2:17
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+1 - Thanks! Super-easy to understand! –  Topher Fangio Jan 17 '12 at 14:26
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.... The power... My vim-fu doubled today, thank you. There are a ton of interesting ^w commands (b, w, etc) –  Alex Hart Dec 7 '12 at 14:10
    
somehow doesn't work for me.. =/ –  holms Feb 28 '13 at 9:07
1  
@Eno Works fine for me. Just toggle your NERDTree panel closed before 'rotating' the splits, then toggle it back open. :NERDTreeToggle (I have it mapped to a function key for convenience). –  Lambart Mar 26 at 19:34
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up vote97down vote ^w followed by capital H,J,K or L will move the current window to the far left,bottom,top or right respectively like normal cursor navigation.

The lower case equivalents move focus instead of moving the window.
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edited Feb 19 '13 at 20:26

F.C.
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answered Nov 2 '11 at 14:41

respectTheCode
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Wow, cool! Thanks! :-) –  infous Feb 6 at 8:46
    
it's much better since users use hjkl to move between buffers. –  Afshin Mehrabani Aug 22 at 6:07
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up vote15down vote In VIM, take a look at the following to see different alternatives for what you might have done:

:help opening-window

For instance:

Ctrl-W s
Ctrl-W o
Ctrl-W v
Ctrl-W o
Ctrl-W s
...
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edited Jul 21 '13 at 9:55

Vinod
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answered Aug 13 '09 at 2:02

Anon
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The command ^W-o is great! I did not know it. –  Masi Aug 13 '09 at 2:20
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up vote6down vote The following ex commands will (re-)split any number of windows:
  • To split vertically (e.g. make vertical dividers between windows), type :vertical ball
  • To split horizontally, type :ball

If there are hidden buffers, issuing these commands will also make the hidden buffers visible.
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answered Apr 29 at 21:45

Mark
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up vote2down vote When you have two or more windows open horizontally or vertically and want to switch them all to the other orientation, you can use the following:

(switch to horizontal)

:windo wincmd K

(switch to vertical)

:windo wincmd H

It's effectively going to each window individually and using ^WK or ^WH.
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answered Oct 22 at 19:31

Steve
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protected by Masi Nov 24 '13 at 7:55

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