How do I automatically equalize window sizes when the terminal is resized?

Explanation

When you resize your terminal window, Vim's split layout can become unbalanced. The WinResized event (or VimResized in older Vim) fires whenever the terminal size changes, letting you automatically equalize windows to maintain a clean layout.

How it works

• autocmd VimResized * — triggers when the terminal/GUI is resized
• wincmd = — equalizes all window sizes
• The * matches all files (the autocmd applies globally)
• Add to vimrc for permanent effect

Example

" Auto-equalize on terminal resize
autocmd VimResized * wincmd =

" Or with an augroup for clean management
augroup AutoResize
  autocmd!
  autocmd VimResized * wincmd =
augroup END

Before resize: windows are equal
Terminal resized: windows become unequal
Autocmd fires: windows are equalized again

Tips

• Use VimResized for Vim, WinResized for Neovim (Neovim added this in 0.9)
• Combine with winfixheight/winfixwidth to protect specific windows from equalization
• wincmd = is equivalent to pressing <C-w>=
• For tmux users, this is essential when panes are resized