Smart pane navigation

Use Ctrl-h, Ctrl-j, Ctrl-k, and Ctrl-l to move left, down, up, and right. These keys do not need the Ctrl-f prefix.

In Neovim, the keys move through editor splits first. At an editor edge, they continue into the neighboring Zellij pane. This works in normal, insert, and visual modes. From a shell or another application, they move between Zellij panes without discarding a partially typed command.

Try it

1. Split right with Ctrl-f v and open Neovim in one pane.
2. Create an editor split with :vsplit.
3. Press Ctrl-l to move right through the editor and into the terminal pane.
4. Press Ctrl-h to return.

Navigation stays in the current tab. A zoomed pane keeps focus inside it; press Ctrl-f z to restore the surrounding panes before crossing its boundary.

Inside nested Zellij sessions, navigation belongs to the inner session. Use Ctrl-f u to return control to the containing Zellij session and Ctrl-f i to enter the nested one again. Neovim identifies Zellij from its environment; running Neovim inside tmux nested in Zellij is outside this integration’s supported setup.

If bare navigation does not move the intended pane, use Ctrl-f h/j/k/l for explicit Zellij navigation. Those prefixed keys always target terminal panes rather than editor splits.

In native scroll or search mode, Ctrl-h/j/k/l moves directly to a neighboring pane and returns to application mode without resetting the original pane’s scroll position. In the Neovim scrollback editor, the same keys work during visual selection. Crossing the editor boundary requires one attached client; use the explicit prefixed navigation when sharing a session.