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I tried to open a split pane to run another command but instead it displays the same in both panes and I can only interact with one of them. I thought it would split the view so I could use the two panes independently like two windows.

I have the Visor installed but I don't think it would interfere.

Terminal - version 2.1.1
Visor custom (84d1873) based on 1.5
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  • This sounds like a feature request to me. Please file a report at developer.apple.com/bug-reporting. You can use any Apple ID to access the developer site. Commented Dec 11, 2015 at 1:07

4 Answers 4

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It's meant to be like that. See this Super User answer:

You're misinterpreting the feature. It's not meant for two separate terminals. It's intended to allow a user to see two different view points in the same terminal. For instance, if you have 3000 files in a directory, and you perform an ls command, that output is going to be very long.

If you use the split pane, you can scroll through that long output without having to flip back and forth, possibly losing your place along the way.

If you want two terminals, use tabs, or separate windows.

I would add that, for two separate terminals, you can use separate tabs as well.

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    this is really disappointing... Commented Jan 18, 2011 at 10:39
  • There is always emacs if you are already in Terminal, but the learning curve is a bit steep. Commented Jan 28, 2011 at 13:14
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    @Mark: or tmux or screen. Commented Dec 11, 2015 at 1:05
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iTerm 2 supports split panes with independent shells in each pane, not one linked shell.

Split panes in iTerm 2

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  • Supposing you use iTerm 2, would you say that it works "better" than Terminal.app + Visor for a quick "pop-in, do-something, pop-out" workflow? I am a Rails web developer if that helps to visualize my needs. Commented Jan 28, 2011 at 10:15
  • @Vrinek not sure. You could still use Visor and iTerm2. Commented Jan 28, 2011 at 14:49
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Also don't over look tmux. Its like screen but more features I believe.

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    Can you add a bit more details to your answer? Why is tmux better, how does it solve to problem and where do I get it if needed? Commented Oct 25, 2012 at 4:17
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You should really have a look at screen (that´s an already installed command line tool, not a separate application), which gives you the ability to split your Terminal into two (or more) separate ones. I use that with Visor and it works like a charm. Have a look around here, there are quite a few tips on how to use "screen" on a Mac.

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  • Have a look around here? Where? Commented Aug 16, 2017 at 2:28
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    @Eliethesaiyan Sorry, if this was not clear — "here" meant to suggest searching for "screen" on this very website. Commented Aug 16, 2017 at 19:24
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    Wow! I had no idea that the beloved screen ships by default..! Session splitting is covered here: opensource.com/article/17/3/introduction-gnu-screen Commented May 7, 2020 at 8:07

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