25.6 Deleting and Rearranging Windows

C-x 0

Delete the selected window (delete-window). The last character in this key sequence is a zero.

C-x 1

Delete all windows in the selected frame except the selected window (delete-other-windows).

C-x 4 0

Delete the selected window and kill the buffer that was showing in it (kill-buffer-and-window). The last character in this key sequence is a zero.

C-x ^

Make selected window taller (enlarge-window).

C-x }

Make selected window wider (enlarge-window-horizontally).

C-x {

Make selected window narrower (shrink-window-horizontally).

C-x -

Shrink this window if its buffer doesn't need so many lines (shrink-window-if-larger-than-buffer).

C-x +

Make all windows the same height (balance-windows).

Drag-Mouse-1

Dragging a window's mode line up or down with Mouse-1 changes window heights.

Mouse-2

Mouse-2 in a window's mode line deletes all other windows in the frame (mouse-delete-other-windows).

Mouse-3

Mouse-3 in a window's mode line deletes that window (mouse-delete-window), unless the frame has only one window, in which case it buries the current buffer instead and switches to another buffer.

To delete a window, type C-x 0 (delete-window). (That is a zero.) The space occupied by the deleted window is given to an adjacent window (but not the minibuffer window, even if that is active at the time). Once a window is deleted, its attributes are forgotten; only restoring a window configuration can bring it back. Deleting the window has no effect on the buffer it used to display; the buffer continues to exist, and you can select it in any window with C-x b.

C-x 4 0 (kill-buffer-and-window) is a stronger command than C-x 0; it kills the current buffer and then deletes the selected window.

C-x 1 (delete-other-windows) is more powerful in a different way; it deletes all the windows except the selected one (and the minibuffer); the selected window expands to use the whole frame except for the echo area.

You can also delete a window by clicking on its mode line with Mouse-3, and delete all the windows in a frame except one window by clicking on that window's mode line with Mouse-2.

You can also adjust window heights and widths with the mouse. If you press Mouse-1 on a mode line, you can drag that mode line up or down, changing the heights of the windows above and below it. If you press it on the divider between two consecutive mode lines, you can drag that divider right or left, changing the widths of the windows to either side. Note that changing heights and widths with the mouse never deletes windows, it just refuses to make any window smaller than it can be.

To readjust the division of space among vertically adjacent windows, use C-x ^ (enlarge-window). It makes the currently selected window get one line bigger, or as many lines as is specified with a numeric argument. With a negative argument, it makes the selected window smaller. C-x } (enlarge-window-horizontally) makes the selected window wider by the specified number of columns. C-x { (shrink-window-horizontally) makes the selected window narrower by the specified number of columns.

When you make a window bigger, the space comes from one of its neighbors. If this makes any window too small, it is deleted and its space is given to an adjacent window. The minimum size is specified by the variables window-min-height and window-min-width.

The command C-x - (shrink-window-if-larger-than-buffer) reduces the height of the selected window, if it is taller than necessary to show the whole text of the buffer it is displaying. It gives the extra lines to other windows in the frame.

You can also use C-x + (balance-windows) to even out the heights of all the windows in the selected frame.