---
title: Tab Switcher
description: "The Tab Switcher provides a quick way to navigate between open tabs in Zed. It displays a list of your open tabs sorted by recent usage, making it easy to ju..."
---

# Tab Switcher

The Tab Switcher provides a quick way to navigate between open tabs in Zed. It
displays a list of your open tabs sorted by recent usage, making it easy to jump
back to whatever you were just working on.

![Tab Switcher with multiple panes](https://zed.dev/img/features/tab-switcher.png)

## Quick Switching

When the Tab Switcher is opened using {#kb tab_switcher::Toggle}, instead of
running the {#action tab_switcher::Toggle} from the command palette, it'll stay
active as long as the <kbd class="keybinding">ctrl</kbd> key is held down.

While holding down <kbd class="keybinding">ctrl</kbd>, each subsequent <kbd
class="keybinding">tab</kbd> press cycles to the next item (<kbd
class="keybinding">shift</kbd> to cycle backwards) and, when <kbd
class="keybinding">ctrl</kbd> is released, the selected item is confirmed and
the switcher is closed.

## Opening the Tab Switcher

The Tab Switcher can also be opened with either {#action tab_switcher::Toggle} ({#kb tab_switcher::Toggle})
or {#action tab_switcher::ToggleAll}.

While the Tab Switcher is open, you can:

- Press {#kb menu::SelectNext} to move to the next tab in the list
- Press {#kb menu::SelectPrevious} to move to the previous tab
- Press <kbd class="keybinding">enter</kbd> to confirm the selected tab and close the switcher
- Press <kbd class="keybinding">escape</kbd> to close the switcher and return to the original tab from which
  the switcher was opened
- Press {#kb tab_switcher::CloseSelectedItem} to close the currently selected tab

As you navigate through the list, Zed will update the pane's active item to
match the selected tab.

## Action Reference

| Action                                    | Description                                       |
| ----------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------- |
| {#action tab_switcher::Toggle}            | Open the Tab Switcher for the current pane        |
| {#action tab_switcher::ToggleAll}         | Open the Tab Switcher showing tabs from all panes |
| {#action tab_switcher::CloseSelectedItem} | Close the selected tab in the Tab Switcher        |
