Fold and Unfold a Pane
This page lists every way to fold and unfold a pane. SUPER is the Command key
on macOS. All keys are the bundled defaults, and you can change them in
Keys and Commands.
Fold the active pane
| How | What happens |
|---|---|
SUPER+SHIFT+E or SUPER+SHIFT+M | Shrink Pane: folds the active pane. |
| Command palette: Toggle Pane Fold | Folds the active pane, or unfolds it if it is folded. |
| Window menu: Toggle Pane Fold | The same as the palette entry. |
| Window menu: Shrink Pane | The same as SUPER+SHIFT+E. |
nash cli fold-pane | Folds a pane from a shell. See Scripting. |
Open the command palette with SUPER+SHIFT+P or CTRL+SHIFT+P. The Window
menu entries appear where your platform shows a menu bar.
Shrink Pane is one step of the size ladder. On a maximized pane it restores the layout instead of folding, and on a pane that is already folded it does nothing.
A fold needs at least one other visible pane. In a tab with one pane, or when every other pane is already a strip, Nash refuses the fold and leaves the layout alone.
Focus moves when you fold
A strip has no cursor and shows no output, so Nash never leaves focus on the pane you just folded. Focus goes to its closest unfolded neighbor: the pane above in a column, or the pane to the right in a row. If there is none on that side, focus goes to the pane on the other side. Strips are skipped.
For that reason, pressing SUPER+SHIFT+E twice folds two panes. It does not
fold and unfold the same one.
Unfold a pane
| How | What happens |
|---|---|
SUPER+E or SUPER+M | Grow Pane: unfolds the pane you last folded, or the selected strip. |
Enter on a selected strip | Unfolds it. On any other pane, Enter goes to the program. |
| Double-click the strip | Unfolds it. |
| Command palette or Window menu: Toggle Pane Fold | Unfolds the selected strip. |
nash cli fold-pane --unfold | Unfolds a pane from a shell. |
An unfolded pane returns to its place in the normal layout, at the size it had. Folding and unfolding other panes in between does not change that. If you moved a divider or split another pane in the meantime, the pane takes its share of the changed layout. See How Folding Rearranges Your Panes.
Undo the last fold
SUPER+E undoes the last fold even though focus has moved away from the folded
pane. Nash remembers which pane the fold left behind, and Grow Pane unfolds it
and gives it focus again. If you move focus yourself after the fold, SUPER+E
applies to the pane you picked: it maximizes that pane, and the strip stays
folded.
Select a strip without unfolding it
A strip is a pane you can select like any other.
- Click the strip once. The click selects the pane and does not go to its program.
- Use the pane direction keys:
CTRL+ALT+H,CTRL+ALT+J,CTRL+ALT+K,CTRL+ALT+L, orCTRL+ALTandSUPER+ALTwith the arrow keys.
A selected strip is drawn in the brighter focus color instead of getting the
active pane highlight. Then press Enter or SUPER+E to unfold it.
Only the left mouse button does anything on a strip. A mouse event is never forwarded to the program in a folded pane.
Select a strip only to unfold it. The program in a folded pane keeps running, and keys other than
Enterand your own bindings still reach it. You cannot see what you type.
Nash unfolds a pane when it needs to
Some actions need the cells of a pane on screen, so a strip cannot serve them. These actions unfold the pane first:
- Search and Quick Select,
- Copy Mode,
- the confirmation prompt when you close the pane,
- splitting the pane. A strip has no room for a second pane.
Folding a pane that is maximized first restores the layout. Fold and maximize never apply at the same time.
What a strip shows
A strip shows a fold icon, the pane's title, and the last part of its
working directory, in the form title · folder. The title is the one the
program sets. If the program sets none, Nash uses the name of the foreground
process. Nash shows the folder only for a local directory, and only if it
differs from the title. A title that does not fit is cut and ends with ….
A strip along a row of panes reads left to right. A strip down a column turns the title a quarter turn clockwise, so it reads downward.
The strip with focus uses a bright fill. All other strips use the same color dimmed to 60%. Change the colors, the title size, the folder, and the thickness in Configuration.