---
title: Vertical Tabs
description: Managing terminal tabs in cmux
---

# Vertical Tabs

cmux displays all your terminal tabs in a vertical sidebar on the left side of the window, making it easy to see and switch between multiple terminals at a glance.

## Sidebar Features

- **Always visible** - All tabs shown at once, no hidden tabs
- **Resizable** - Drag the sidebar edge to resize (140-360pt)
- **Current directory** - Each tab shows its working directory
- **Notification badges** - Unread notification indicators
- **Keyboard navigation** - Quick switching without mouse

## Tab Operations

### Create New Tab

- **⌘T** or **⌘N** - Create a new tab

### Close Tab

- **⌘⇧W** - Close the current tab
- **⌘W** - Close the current pane (closes tab if only one pane)

### Switch Tabs

| Shortcut | Action |
|----------|--------|
| **⌘1** - **⌘9** | Jump to tab 1-9 |
| **⌘]** | Next tab |
| **⌘[** | Previous tab |
| **⌃Tab** | Next tab |
| **⌃⇧Tab** | Previous tab |

### Jump to Notifications

- **⌘⇧U** - Jump to the tab with the latest unread notification
- **⌘⇧I** - Show the notifications panel

## Tab Titles

Tab titles are determined by:

1. **Terminal title** - Set via OSC escape sequence
2. **Current directory** - Shown if no title is set
3. **Tab number** - Fallback display

You can set a custom tab title from within the terminal:

```bash
# Set tab title
echo -e "\033]0;My Custom Title\007"

# Or using printf
printf "\033]0;Build Server\007"
```

## Toggle Sidebar

- **⌘B** - Toggle the sidebar visibility

When the sidebar is hidden, you can still use keyboard shortcuts to navigate between tabs.

## Tab Indicators

Tabs display visual indicators:

- **Blue dot** - Unread notification in this tab
- **Bold title** - Currently selected tab
- **Directory path** - Current working directory for the tab