The Pane Size Ladder

A pane has three sizes:

 maximized   fills the tab and hides every other pane
     ▲  SUPER+E               ▼  SUPER+SHIFT+E
 normal      its place in the layout
     ▲  SUPER+E               ▼  SUPER+SHIFT+E
 folded      a thin strip that shows its title

Grow Pane takes the active pane one step up the ladder. Shrink Pane takes it one step down. Nash binds each action to two keys, so either hand can walk the ladder. SUPER is the Command key on macOS.

ActionKeys
Grow PaneSUPER+E or SUPER+M
Shrink PaneSUPER+SHIFT+E or SUPER+SHIFT+M

What each key does

The active pane isGrow PaneShrink Pane
FoldedUnfolds it.Nothing.
NormalMaximizes it.Folds it.
MaximizedRestores the layout.Restores the layout.

The top of the ladder is a toggle, not a wall. SUPER+E on its own maximizes a pane and brings the layout back. Shrink Pane never maximizes, and Grow Pane never folds.

A walk through a three-pane tab, from a normal pane:

  1. SUPER+SHIFT+E folds the pane. Focus moves to a neighbor.
  2. SUPER+E unfolds the pane you just folded. It has focus again.
  3. SUPER+E maximizes it. The other two panes hide.
  4. SUPER+E restores the layout.

Grow Pane remembers what you folded

A fold moves focus away from the folded pane. If SUPER+E then applied to the pane that now has focus, it would maximize the neighbor, and the fold would look like a jump straight to full size. Nash avoids this: right after a fold, SUPER+E takes the step up on the pane that just folded. It unfolds the pane and gives it focus back.

Nash forgets the folded pane as soon as you change focus yourself, split the folded pane, close it, or unfold it by hand. From then on, SUPER+E applies to the active pane, as usual. Pressing SUPER+SHIFT+E twice in a row folds two panes, and SUPER+E undoes the last fold.

Maximize and zoom are the same thing

Nash calls the third size maximized. The action behind it has the older name Toggle Pane Zoom. It still appears in the command palette and the Window menu, and it has no key of its own, because Grow Pane on a normal or maximized pane does the same job.

SUPER+M and SUPER+SHIFT+M belong to the ladder, so Minimize Window has no default key. It stays in the Window menu and the command palette. See Keys and Commands to bind a key to it.

The maximized pane cues

A maximized pane fills the tab, so the layout no longer shows that other panes exist. Nash adds two cues:

  • A badge in the top-right corner of the pane, such as Maximized · 2 hidden. It appears when the pane becomes maximized, stays at full strength for about 0.75 seconds, and fades out over the next 0.75 seconds.
  • A corner marker, a small triangle that stays for as long as the pane is maximized.

The hidden count includes folded panes. Nash counts the panes when the pane becomes maximized.

Both cues are on by default. You can choose another shape for the marker, change how long the badge stays, keep it until you restore the layout, or turn either cue off. See Configuration.

Versions

  • Nash 0.5.6 added the maximized pane cues.
  • Nash 0.7.0 added folding, and moved the ladder to SUPER+E and SUPER+SHIFT+E.
  • Nash 0.7.4 added SUPER+M and SUPER+SHIFT+M, and made SUPER+E restore a maximized pane.

Next: How Folding Rearranges Your Panes.