Split view

Split view shows two to four tabs at once in one tab's place. Use it to read one page while you write in another, or to watch several pages together. Each pane is a real tab with its own address, history and sound.

Open a split view

1. Press Ctrl+Shift+S. Acira splits the current tab with the tab you used most recently. If you have no other tab, it says Open another tab to use split view.
2. Or open the Acira menu, choose Split view, and pick the tab to split with.
3. Or right-click another tab and choose Split view. It splits that tab with the tab you are on.
4. Or drag a tab from the tab strip or the sidebar down onto the page. The page blurs, a card of layouts comes down near the top, and a preview shows the result across the page. Drop the tab on the layout you want.
5. Or hold Ctrl+Alt (Control and Option on a Mac) and click a link. The link opens in a new tab beside the page you are on, and the two show side by side. If the page is already in a split with room, the link joins it as another pane. This works only while Settings › Tabs › Link preview is on.
6. Or in a link preview, choose Open in split view (Ctrl+Shift+Enter).

You can also turn on a Split view button in the toolbar. It is hidden by default. Right-click the toolbar and choose Customize toolbar. You can run Split view from command search too.

The left pane is always the tab you are on when you start. When you press Ctrl+Shift+S again, the split closes and every tab stays open.

Layouts

A split holds up to four tabs. The layouts you can choose depend on how many panes you have.

The six shortcuts are called Split side by side, Split top and bottom, Split into three columns, Split two on top, one below, Split one left, two right and Split into four in Settings › Shortcuts. On a Mac, use Cmd in place of Ctrl. By default macOS keeps Cmd+Shift+3, 4 and 5 for screenshots, so choose those layouts from the layout card, Change layout, or a key you set yourself. If the split does not have enough panes for the layout, Acira adds your most recently used tabs. If you do not have enough open tabs, it says Open N more tabs for this layout. If the split has too many panes, Acira takes the extra panes out of the split, starting from the end (never the tab you are on). Those tabs stay open.

When you move a pane to a new spot by dragging (see below), Acira can also make 15 more shapes with four panes that are not in the list. They are not offered in the layout card or the menus.

Change the layout

• Press one of the layout shortcuts above.
• In the sidebar, right-click the split's header and choose Change layout.
• Drag a pane by its title bar toward the top of the page. A Drag up here for layouts hint appears. Drop on a layout in the card.

Work in a split

These are named Next split pane, Previous split pane, Swap with the next pane, Close split pane and Exit split view in Settings › Shortcuts. They do nothing outside a split. On a Mac, use Cmd in place of Ctrl (so Cmd+F6, and Cmd+Option+F6 for the swap).

Click a pane to make it the current one. Each pane has a thin title bar with the site icon, the title and a close button. A pane's close button takes the tab out of the split. Press and drag the title bar to rearrange panes.

Resize panes

• Drag the gap between two panes. Each edge moves only the panes it separates. Where a column edge meets a row edge, drag the junction to move both.
• Dragging snaps to even sizes when you get close. Hold Alt while you drag to turn the snapping off.
• With the keyboard, press Tab to reach an edge, then use the arrow keys (16 pixels per press, 64 with Shift).
• Double-click an edge, or press Enter or Home on it, to make the panes it separates even again.

A pane cannot get narrower than 320 pixels, or smaller than 15 percent of its row or column.

Rearrange panes

• Press and drag a pane's title bar. Drop it on another pane's edge to move it there (Move to the left, Move to the right, Move above, Move below), or on the middle of another pane to swap places (Drop to swap places).
• Drag a tab from the tab strip onto an existing split. Drop it at an edge of a pane to open it there (Open on the left, Open on the right, Open above, Open below), or on a pane's middle to replace that pane (Replace this pane). When the split already has four panes, a dropped tab replaces the pane it lands on.

Split views in the sidebar and tab strip

With tabs in a sidebar, a split shows as one card. Its header has a disclosure arrow, a two-pane icon and the split's name (Split view until you rename it). The panes sit under it as normal tab rows. With tabs along the top, a split shows as a chip with its panes together.

Right-click the split's header (or a pane in the card) for these items.

For one pane, right-click its tab for Open alone and Remove from split view.

• Open alone shows one pane's tab at full size while the split stays saved. Use the expand button on the pane row, press Shift+Enter on the row, or use the tab menu. Choose Show split view, click the pane row, or click the card to bring the split back.
• Remove from split view takes the tab out of the split and leaves it where it is. A two-pane split ends.
• One click on a pane's row shows the split with that pane in focus.

Split views and tab groups

• All the panes of a split share one tab group. A tab that joins a split moves into the group the split lives in. A tab that joins a split outside any group leaves its group.
• The exception is a tab you drag from a group onto a split that is outside every group. It stays in its group and also shows as a pane of the split. The group row shows Also in split view, and the card row shows In group {group}. Remove it from the split with the × on the card row. The tab stays in its group.
• Giving one pane a new tab group moves the whole split.
• Pinned, private and Tor tabs cannot join a group, but a split can still list them.

Closing and restoring

• Closing a pane's tab makes the split smaller. When one tab is left, the split ends and the tab stays where it is.
• Undo for a closed pane puts the tab back into its split at its old spot.
• Splits are saved when you quit, and they come back when you reopen Acira. A split that contains a private or Tor tab is not saved.
• Rewind shows Restore with split and Restore group and split for tabs that were in a split.
• Moving a split to another workspace moves its own panes and leaves linked copies in their groups. A split never spans two workspaces.

Limits

• A split holds up to four tabs. Acira says A split holds up to four tabs.
• The tabs must be open and in the same profile.
• Each pane needs room. If the window is too narrow for the layout, Acira says Widen the window to use split view. If you narrow a window that already has a split, Acira closes the split and says Split view closed to keep each pane readable. Widen the window to reopen it.
• A tab opened from a private page in a split stays private.
• A locked workspace seals its splits with its tabs.

Last updated October 31, 2026