Tabbed Windows

Tabbed windows

Tabs keep several windows in the same space, with one visible at a time.

Create a group

In scrolling layout, press Super + [ to put the focused window in the column to its left, or the one to its right if there is no left neighbour. Press Super + Shift + T to turn that column into tabs. Press it again to return to stacked rows with their previous sizes.

In tree layout, Super + [ joins the focused window to a neighbour as a tab. Ferese looks left, right, up, then down for a window to join.

If you want to choose the direction, bind join-tab to left, right, up, or down; see Commands and bindings. In scrolling layout, this also turns the destination column into tabs, even when the two windows are already in the same column. The ordinary consume action keeps the destination column's stacked or tabbed choice.

Switch tabs

Shortcut	Action
Super + Ctrl + [	Previous tab
Super + Ctrl + ]	Next tab
Super + J / K	Next / previous row or tab in a scrolling column
Super + H / L	Previous / next scrolling column

The previous/next tab shortcuts wrap at either end of the group. Switching tabs in a scrolling column keeps its width and scroll position. Vertical resizing has no effect while the column is tabbed.

In tree layout, click a title in the bar above the window to select it. Scrolling columns have a segmented rail on the left: click a segment, or hover over the rail to see a list of titles. You can click a title in that list too. The list stays open as you move between it and the rail. Scroll through it when there are too many titles to fit on screen.

Keyboard tab switching briefly shows the selected tab's number and title near the top of the window, as n/N · title.

Take a window out

Press Super + ] to move the focused tab into its own column or split, to the right of the group. You can also use the leave-tab action. Closing a window, making it floating, or moving it to another workspace removes it from the group. New windows open beside the group.

Tab controls disappear when only one window remains, or when the selected window is maximized or fullscreen. Leave fullscreen before grouping or switching tabs; fullscreen belongs to the individual window. Switching between tree and scrolling layouts keeps all windows but separates the groups.

Indicator and appearance

The scrolling rail and title list sit over the desktop without taking space from the window. By default, the rail sits in the left gap if there are at least 8 logical pixels available; otherwise it sits just inside the window. Its click area is wider than the visible rail. On short windows, the segments shrink to fit.

The rail uses the theme's accent for the selected tab. The title list follows the shell's colors, corner radius and opacity. To change its size, colors or keyboard feedback duration, see Layout configuration. That page also shows how to open new columns as tabs by default.

feresectl

These commands work on the focused window:

feresectl toggle-column-tabbed
feresectl join-tab left
feresectl next-tab
feresectl previous-tab
feresectl leave-tab