How do I resize a split window in Vim?

Explanation

The <C-w>+ and <C-w>- commands increase or decrease the height of the current split window by one line. For width adjustments, use <C-w>> and <C-w><. These commands give you fine-grained control over your split layout.

How it works

• <C-w>+ increases the current window's height by 1 line
• <C-w>- decreases the current window's height by 1 line
• <C-w>> increases the current window's width by 1 column
• <C-w>< decreases the current window's width by 1 column
• Prefix any of these with a count for larger adjustments: 10<C-w>+ increases height by 10 lines

Example

You have two horizontal splits, but the top window is too small to see your code:

┌──────────────────┐
│ main.go (5 rows) │
├──────────────────┤
│ test.go (25 rows)│
└──────────────────┘

With the cursor in the main.go window, press 15<C-w>+ to increase its height by 15 lines:

┌──────────────────┐
│ main.go (20 rows)│
├──────────────────┤
│ test.go (10 rows)│
└──────────────────┘

Maximize and equalize

• <C-w>_ — maximize the current window's height (takes up all available vertical space)
• <C-w>| — maximize the current window's width (takes up all available horizontal space)
• <C-w>= — equalize the size of all windows

Ex command alternatives

• :resize 20 or :res 20 — set the window height to exactly 20 lines
• :resize +5 — increase height by 5 lines
• :resize -5 — decrease height by 5 lines
• :vertical resize 80 — set the window width to exactly 80 columns

Tips

• Use <C-w>= after opening or closing splits to quickly equalize all windows
• Use <C-w>_ followed by <C-w>| to temporarily maximize the current window in both dimensions
• When working with vertical splits, <C-w>> and <C-w>< are more useful than <C-w>+ and <C-w>-
• Combine with a count for efficient resizing: 5<C-w>> widens the window by 5 columns
• Use :set winheight=30 and :set winwidth=80 to set minimum dimensions for the active window — Vim will automatically resize splits as you navigate between them