VSCode: How to Split Editor Vertically

In Visual Studio code, a while ago, when I used View->Split Editor, it would split vertically. (One file on the left and one file on the right.)

I updated Visual Studio Code and when when I do View->Split Editor, it always splits horizontally. (One file on the top and one file on the bottom.)

How can I split vertically?

Change editor split layout from horizontal to vertical

In 1.20

• ALT+SHIFT+0 PC (Windows, Linux)
• ⌘+⌥+0 Mac

Pre-1.20

• ALT+SHIFT+1 PC (Windows, Linux)
• ⌘+⌥+1 Mac

In 1.25

• You can split editor into Grid layout. Check View=>Editor Layout
• It is nicely presented in Release notes v1.25: VS Code grid editor layout

In 1.58.2 **

** Someone update this with the lowest version where this became true.

• The menu entry with the shortcut given above is View=>Editor Layout=>Flip Layout

• The Command Palette entry is labeled "Toggle Vertical/Horizontal Editor Layout"

• The settings entry is

  {
    "key": "alt+cmd+0",
    "command": "workbench.action.toggleEditorGroupLayout"
  }
  

If you're looking for a way to change this through the GUI, at least in the current version 1.10.1 if you hover over the OPEN EDITORS group in the EXPLORER pane a button appears that toggles the editor group layout between horizontal and vertical.

To split vertically:

⌘+\ Mac

command: workbench.action.splitEditor

To split orthogonal (ie. horizontally in this case):

⌘+k+⌘+\ Mac

command: workbench.action.splitEditorOrthogonal

Press CMD + SHIFT + P (MAC) and search for Toggle Editor Group

In version 1.23.1, it is Ctrl+Shift+P and Split Editor This will divide the screens vertically and you can move through them using Ctrl+K+LeftArrow

By default, editor groups are laid out in vertical columns (e.g. when you split an editor to open it to the side). You can easily arrange editor groups in any layout you like, both vertically and horizontally:

To support flexible layouts, you can create empty editor groups. By default, closing the last editor of an editor group will also close the group itself, but you can change this behavior with the new setting workbench.editor.closeEmptyGroups: false:

There are a predefined set of editor layouts in the new View > Editor Layout menu:

Editors that open to the side (for example by clicking the editor toolbar Split Editor action) will by default open to the right hand side of the active editor. If you prefer to open editors below the active one, configure the new setting workbench.editor.openSideBySideDirection: down.

There are many keyboard commands for adjusting the editor layout with the keyboard alone, but if you prefer to use the mouse, drag and drop is a fast way to split the editor into any direction:

Keyboard shortcuts# Here are some handy keyboard shortcuts to quickly navigate between editors and editor groups.

If you'd like to modify the default keyboard shortcuts, see Key Bindings for details.

⌥⌘→ go to the right editor.
⌥⌘← go to the left editor.
⌃Tab open the next editor in the editor group MRU list.
⌃⇧Tab open the previous editor in the editor group MRU list.
⌘1 go to the leftmost editor group.
⌘2 go to the center editor group.
⌘3 go to the rightmost editor group.
unassigned go to the previous editor group.
unassigned go to the next editor group.
⌘W close the active editor.
⌘K W close all editors in the editor group.
⌘K ⌘W close all editors.

Method 1

Method2

View -> Command palette -> type 'split'

Method3

Method4

Tip

Add a Keyboard Shortcut for split Editor

Simply in windows

ctrl + @ (the button 2 in the upper horizontal row of numbers in keyboard)

The key bindings has been changed with version 1.20:

SHIFT+ALT+0 for Linux.

Presumably the same works for Windows also and CMD+OPT+0 for Mac.

Use Move editor into Next Group shortcut:

Mac: ^ + ⌘ + Right/Left arrow

If you want to change shortcut:

1. Open Command Pallette (macOS keyboard shortcut: ⌘ + Shift + p)
2. Select Preferences: Open Keyboard Shortcuts
3. Search View: Move editor into Next Group

To change the editor in Landscape and Vertical mode, follow the steps below.

1. For example, open two files that you have in your left or right side bar, depending on where you are placed. By default it is always on the left.

2. Now that you have both windows open, you have to use the key combination for PC (Alt + Shift + 1) for (Windows and Linux Operating Systems) or for MAC (Cmd + Option + 1), as commented here v-andrew.

• Right-click on the tab that you want to split it into another screen.

• Then choose whether you want to split it (up-down | right-left).

I find this is the quickest way, and You can split it to as many screens as you want.

The best way is to configure the VSCode settings to make the default behavior the way you want:

Split Editor (to a new editor group)

"workbench.editor.openSideBySideDirection": "right" // left/right (default)
"workbench.editor.openSideBySideDirection": "down"  // up/down

Split Editor in Group (does not create new editor group)

"workbench.editor.splitInGroupLayout": "horizontal" // left/right (default)
"workbench.editor.splitInGroupLayout": "vertical"   // up/down

I just found a simple solution. You can drag an opened file and move towards the four sides of the Editor, it will show a highlighted area that you can drop to. It will split the view automatically, either horizontally, vertically, or even into three rows.

VSCode v1.30.2

Update: you can also drag a file from the Explorer to split the Editor in the same way above.