How do I rotate or swap window positions in Vim?

Explanation

Vim provides commands to rotate windows within a row or column, and to swap the current window with another. <C-w>R rotates all windows upward/leftward, while <C-w>r rotates downward/rightward, enabling quick layout rearrangement.

How it works

• <C-w>r — rotate windows downward/rightward
• <C-w>R — rotate windows upward/leftward
• <C-w>x — exchange current window with the next one
• These operate on windows in the same row or column

Example

Before <C-w>R:
+-------+-------+
| Win A | Win B |
+-------+-------+
| Win C | Win D |
+-------+-------+

After <C-w>R (on top row):
+-------+-------+
| Win B | Win A |
+-------+-------+
| Win C | Win D |
+-------+-------+

Tips

• <C-w>x swaps only two adjacent windows — simpler for targeted swaps
• Use <C-w>H/J/K/L (uppercase) to move a window to the far edge
• Rotation wraps around — the last window becomes the first
• Combine with <C-w>= after rearranging to equalize sizes