Work with Panes and Tabs

This guide shows how to hold more than one document on screen. At the end you have two panes, a tab in each, and a mode that matches the job.

Prerequisites

You have a mesh with at least two documents. See Create a Mesh and Your First Documents.
You are on a screen that can show more than one pane. On a phone the workspace shows one pane only.
Read About Panes and Modes if the grid is new.

Open a document from the tree or from quick open. It becomes a tab in the focused pane. Switch to read mode if you want the rendered page. Switch to edit mode if you want to write. Use raw mode only when you need the file as text.

Split the workspace

Open the same document, or a second document, in a new pane. You can do this from the command palette. You can also choose a layout in the workspace editor. Two columns is the usual split. Two rows and a two by two grid are also available.

The new pane is a second cell. It has its own tabs. The first pane keeps what it already held.

Move and focus tabs

Click a pane to focus it. New opens land in the focused pane. Drag a tab to the other pane if you want it there. Reorder tabs in a pane when the order helps you.

Do not open the same title twice in one pane. The workspace focuses the existing tab instead. Open it in the other pane when you want two views.

Walk the trail

Follow a wikilink in one pane. That pane records the move. Use back in that pane to return. Forward goes the other way. The other pane keeps its own trail. Back never jumps across panes.

Hide chrome when you need the page

Hide the document tree or the context rail if you want more width. Enter focus mode when you want the document alone. Leave focus mode to get the rails back.

Download the open document if you need a markdown file on your device. Download works in every mode.

Close what you do not need

Close a tab to leave the document without deleting it. Close a pane when you no longer want that cell. If you close the last tab and keep the cell, the pane stays empty until you open something.

When you leave the mesh, unsaved work is called out. Save or discard before you switch.

Next steps

Link across the two panes. See Link Documents and Follow Backlinks.
Invite people who will use this layout with you. See Share a Mesh with Collaborators.
Return to Core Ideas if a noun is still unclear.