Multi-Pane Layouts

View and manage multiple folders side by side in a single window.

What Are Panes?#

In Finder, if you want to see two folders at the same time (for example, to move files from your Downloads folder to a project folder), you need to open two separate Finder windows and arrange them side by side. This gets messy fast, especially on smaller screens.

Seiz solves this with panes. A pane is simply a panel inside the Seiz window that shows one folder. You can split your window into two, three, or more panes — each showing a different folder. They all live inside one window, neatly arranged, and you can drag files between them.

Think of it like tabs in a browser

Just like a web browser lets you open multiple websites in one window using tabs, Seiz lets you open multiple folders in one window using panes. But instead of tabs that you switch between, panes are all visible at the same time.

How to Create Panes#

There are two ways to split your window into panes:

Split Side by Side (Horizontal)#

This creates a new pane to the right of the current one. Both panes sit next to each other, like two columns.

Keyboard: Press ⌘D (Command + D)
Menu: Go to View → Split Pane → Split Right
Command Bar: Press ⌘K, type "Split Right", and press Enter

Split Top and Bottom (Vertical)#

This creates a new pane below the current one. Both panes are stacked on top of each other.

Keyboard: Press ⌘⇧D (Command + Shift + D)
Menu: Go to View → Split Pane → Split Down
Command Bar: Press ⌘K, type "Split Down", and press Enter

Switching Between Panes#

Only one pane is "active" at a time — it's the one that responds to your keyboard input and shows a subtle highlight around its border. You can switch between panes in several ways:

Click — Simply click anywhere inside a pane to make it active.
⌘⌥← / ⌘⌥→ (Command + Option + Arrow) — Jump to the pane on the left or right without using the mouse.
⌘⌥↑ / ⌘⌥↓ — Jump to the pane above or below.

Resizing Panes#

You can make any pane wider or narrower by dragging the divider line between two panes. Hover your mouse over the line between panes — you'll see the cursor change to a resize icon. Then click and drag left or right (or up and down) to resize.

Double-click the divider to reset both panes to equal size.
Pane sizes are remembered — when you close and reopen Seiz, your panes will be the same size as you left them.

Closing a Pane#

To close a pane, make it active (click on it) and press ⌘W (Command + W). The pane disappears and the remaining panes expand to fill the space. If only one pane is left and you press ⌘W, it closes the entire window.

Moving Files Between Panes#

One of the biggest advantages of multi-pane layouts is how easy it is to move files between folders:

Select the files you want to move in one pane. You can click to select one file, or hold ⌘ (Command) and click to select multiple files.
Drag them to the other pane. As you hover over the destination pane, you'll see a visual indicator showing where the files will end up.
Drop them by releasing the mouse button. The files are moved to the destination folder.

Copy instead of move

By default, dragging files between panes moves them (the original is removed). To copy files instead (keeping the original), hold the ⌥ Option key while dragging. You'll see a green "+" icon on the cursor to confirm it's a copy.

Auto-Sizing Columns#

Each pane shows your files in a list with columns (Name, Size, Date Modified, etc.). Seiz can automatically adjust the width of these columns to fit their content — so you don't have to manually drag column headers to see long file names.

Toggle auto-sizing columns with ⌘0 (Command + Zero), or from the View menu.

Saving Your Layout#

Seiz automatically saves your pane layout when you close a window. The next time you open Seiz, all your panes, their positions, sizes, and the folders they were showing will be exactly as you left them.

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