Column
Arranges windows in equal-width vertical columns, each spanning full screen height. Simple and predictable.
Layout
Section titled “Layout”1 window
Section titled “1 window”┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐│ ││ ││ ││ ││ ││ ││ ││ ││ 1 ││ ││ ││ ││ ││ ││ ││ ││ │└───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘2 windows
Section titled “2 windows”┌─────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────┐│ │ ││ │ ││ │ ││ │ ││ │ ││ │ ││ │ ││ │ ││ 1 │ 2 ││ │ ││ │ ││ │ ││ │ ││ │ ││ │ ││ │ ││ │ │└─────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────┘3 windows
Section titled “3 windows”┌───────────────────┬───────────────────┬───────────────────┐│ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ 1 │ 2 │ 3 ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ │└───────────────────┴───────────────────┴───────────────────┘4 windows
Section titled “4 windows”┌──────────────┬──────────────┬──────────────┬──────────────┐│ │ │ │ ││ │ │ │ ││ │ │ │ ││ │ │ │ ││ │ │ │ ││ │ │ │ ││ │ │ │ ││ │ │ │ ││ 1 │ 2 │ 3 │ 4 ││ │ │ │ ││ │ │ │ ││ │ │ │ ││ │ │ │ ││ │ │ │ ││ │ │ │ ││ │ │ │ ││ │ │ │ │└──────────────┴──────────────┴──────────────┴──────────────┘Capabilities
Section titled “Capabilities”- Adjustable ratio: No
- Adjustable main count: No
- Stateful: No
Column width
Section titled “Column width”Each column gets exactly 1/n of the screen width:
| Windows | Width per column |
|---|---|
| 1 | 100% |
| 2 | 50% |
| 3 | 33% |
| 4 | 25% |
| 5 | 20% |
When to use
Section titled “When to use”Column layout works well for:
- Research with multiple reference documents
- Side-by-side file comparison (code review, diffs)
- Chat alongside other work
- Reading documentation while coding
Limitations
Section titled “Limitations”With many windows (5+), columns get narrow. Consider:
- Grid layout for better space utilization with many windows
- Tall/Wide for a primary + supporting window arrangement
- Floating individual windows that need more space
Column vs Tall
Section titled “Column vs Tall”| Aspect | Column | Tall |
|---|---|---|
| Heights | All full height | Stack shares height |
| Widths | Equal, automatic | Main ratio adjustable |
| Focus | No main window | Main window emphasized |
| Best for | Equal importance | One primary task |