In vim, how can I quickly switch between tabs?

Question

In gnome-terminal, I can just press Alt + (1, 2, 3, etc.) to switch to specific tabs. I can also use Ctrl + (PgUp / PgDn) to cycle through tabs (admittedly less convenient, but it can be remapped).

If I want to use vim tabs instead of gnome-terminal tabs, typing :tabn and :tabp is quite cumbersome. I could map them to keyboard shortcuts, but that is still a lot less convenient than jumping directly to tab 4 with Alt + 4.

Is there a faster way to switch between tabs in vim?

score 380 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 11 '12 at 02:19

380

Next tab: gt

Prior tab: gT

Numbered tab: nnngt

answered Apr 11 '12 at 02:19

ephemient

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I know that I could type `nnn` `g` `t`, but I want to do it *quickly*, i.e. `Alt + nnn` or `Ctrl + nnn`. But `Alt + n` is already taken by gnome-terminal, and binding to `Ctrl + n` doesn't seem to have any effect. – Matthew Apr 11 '12 at 02:46
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What about mapping function keys to `nnn` `g` `t`? E.g., `:map 2gt`. There is the problem that `` is often mapped by GNOME to its help facility. Or you could choose some key you don't use often in normal mode, say the comma, and map it like this: `:map , gt`. Then `1,` will take you to tab 1, `2,` to tab 2, and so on. – garyjohn Apr 11 '12 at 05:00
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I found it very convenient to use '<' and '>' – Igor Stoppa Feb 22 '16 at 16:14
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Last tab: `:tabl` command (full form: `:tablast`). – Ruslan May 25 '20 at 17:06

score 72 · Answer 2 · edited Apr 19 '16 at 19:36

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Why not make use of your leader (my leader is mapped to Space):

" Go to tab by number
noremap <leader>1 1gt
noremap <leader>2 2gt
noremap <leader>3 3gt
noremap <leader>4 4gt
noremap <leader>5 5gt
noremap <leader>6 6gt
noremap <leader>7 7gt
noremap <leader>8 8gt
noremap <leader>9 9gt
noremap <leader>0 :tablast<cr>

You can use the settings below to toggle between the current and last active tab (here it is mapped to Ctrl+L, i.e., <c-l>):

" Go to last active tab

au TabLeave * let g:lasttab = tabpagenr()
nnoremap <silent> <c-l> :exe "tabn ".g:lasttab<cr>
vnoremap <silent> <c-l> :exe "tabn ".g:lasttab<cr>

edited Apr 19 '16 at 19:36

Scott - Слава Україні

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answered Nov 12 '13 at 20:59

unblevable

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You need `au TabLeave * let g:lasttab = tabpagenr()` for `c-l` to work: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2119754/switch-to-last-active-tab-in-vim – Ciro Santilli OurBigBook.com Oct 16 '14 at 12:31
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I'd add `h/l` for `gT` and `gt` – Brenden Apr 07 '16 at 20:13
I think this answer is the most appropriate regarding the OP needs expressed. – Adrien Feb 20 '20 at 11:56

Arnold Gandarillas · Answer 3 · 2015-07-02T16:15:21.413

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This is the easiest way that I found, to switch between tabs faster and simple.
Add next lines to your .vimrc and enjoy it, more tricks about vim tabs here.

nnoremap <C-Left> :tabprevious<CR>
nnoremap <C-Right> :tabnext<CR>

Now you can use Ctrl ← to go left and Ctrl → to go right.

Or just use:
1gt to go to tab one,
2gt to go to tab two,
3gt to go to tab three, etc... now you have the idea.

edited Jul 02 '15 at 16:15

answered Mar 03 '15 at 14:21

Arnold Gandarillas

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I think this is the best answer here. Very convenient to have. I just disabled those system keybindings in OS X for making them system independent. – Léo Léopold Hertz 준영 May 14 '16 at 05:47
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Use arrow keys will slow you down. I have them disabled – Ask and Learn Jul 19 '16 at 05:03
Yup... Best answer! – The Vivandiere Sep 09 '16 at 18:08
Sadly "Ctrl" gave me problems in vmplayer, so I changed to keys "Backspace" and "Enter". – Boris Däppen Jul 13 '17 at 11:30
Mac users: you may need to disable the default Mission Control spaces keyboard shortcuts: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/15719135/how-to-disable-keyboard-shortcuts-in-mac-os-x#answer-15719195 – 4Z4T4R Aug 29 '17 at 22:52
@AskandLearn I think is a lot quicker than :tn repeated many times – Noel Evans Aug 29 '19 at 10:30
this should be the accepted answer – JDS Jan 21 '20 at 01:05
On Mac it worked for me with `command` + `Ctrl` + `arrow-keys` – Grijesh Chauhan Jun 10 '20 at 07:53

score 33 · Answer 4 · answered Jul 03 '16 at 10:59

33

As I am on a Mac and not using MacVim (but plain vim within a terminal) I have had some difficulty with key combinations not being sent through to the terminal.

The most-compatible (and for me most comfortable) way to switch tabs quickly comes from the Vim Wikia site.

Place in your .vimrc file:

nnoremap H gT
nnoremap L gt

Now Shift-h (capital H) and Shift-l (capital L) will switch you quickly between tabs, and follows the convention that h and l correspond to left and right in vim on a regular qwerty keyboard.

answered Jul 03 '16 at 10:59

Stefan Magnuson

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I love this solution, intuitive and vim-like. No arrow keys needed. – Glorious Kale Apr 11 '19 at 12:34
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I agree. A very nice solution – j sad Jul 16 '19 at 18:14
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this is really an intuitive solution. Thank you! – LeOn - Han Li Oct 11 '19 at 01:41

Mengqi Ji · Answer 5 · 2018-11-05T02:30:41.303

Add these to .vimrc to enable tab navigation hot keys:

<ctrl-l> toggle between 2 most recent tabs;

<ctrl-j/k> goto the last/next tab;

<ctrl-t> open a new tab.

" tab navigation: Alt or Ctrl+Shift may not work in terminal: " http://vim.wikia.com/wiki/Alternative_tab_navigation " Tab navigation like Firefox: only 'open new tab' works in terminal nnoremap <C-t> :tabnew<CR> inoremap <C-t> <Esc>:tabnew<CR> " move to the previous/next tabpage. nnoremap <C-j> gT nnoremap <C-k> gt " Go to last active tab au TabLeave * let g:lasttab = tabpagenr() nnoremap <silent> <c-l> :exe "tabn ".g:lasttab<cr> vnoremap <silent> <c-l> :exe "tabn ".g:lasttab<cr>

Is it possible to map - to the last toggle tab function. I've tried `nnoremap :exe "tabn ".g:lasttab` and `vnoremap :exe "tabn ".g:lasttab` without luck. — zzeroo, Sep 18 '19 at 09:16

score 4 · Answer 6 · answered Apr 11 '12 at 01:25

4

(Unfortunately) vim also uses CtrlPgDn/PgUp to cycle through tabs. You'll need to use map to map tabn/tabp to something usable.

answered Apr 11 '12 at 01:25

Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams

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score 3 · Answer 7 · answered Oct 02 '17 at 15:32

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If you're using gvim or similar (i.e., something outside of the terminal), you can imitate the gnome-terminal behaviour you describe with:

" Map alt-x keys to jump to a tab
for i in range(1, 8)
  execute "nmap \<M-" . i . "> " . i . "gt"
endfor
nmap <M-9> :tablast<CR>

So alt-1 jumps to the first tab, etc. But alt-9 jumps to the last tab (as in Chrome).

You might want to wrap this in if has("gui_running") (although this doesn't seem to work with Neovim), or put this in .gvimrc.

answered Oct 02 '17 at 15:32

Joe Freeman

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Lol I don't know why Although This is the Only answer that satisfies the question Yet the least up-voted one – Mahmoud Salah Mar 31 '21 at 19:20
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@MahmoudSalah - it's likely b/c this Q&A comes up 1st on google and most ppl looking for this solution aren't on Linux. – slm May 29 '21 at 12:40

score 1 · Answer 8 · answered Jul 17 '21 at 07:35

1

I encountered this problem the same as you,
but later I find out what I really need might be a Marker.
Especially when using uppercase characters like mA ,
It will take you to your marked tab by using "`A" as fast as it can.
Hope it can help.

answered Jul 17 '21 at 07:35

QuantumBlindVimTaoist

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In vim, how can I quickly switch between tabs?

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