Paneflow ships four layout presets that reshape the active workspace
into a canonical arrangement. Each preset preserves every shell - it
moves the existing panes into new positions instead of opening or
closing anything.

  **TL;DR.** `Cmd/Ctrl+Alt+1` lays panes out in a row, `Cmd/Ctrl+Alt+2`
  stacks them in a column, `Cmd/Ctrl+Alt+3` parks the focused pane on
  the left with the rest stacked on the right, and `Cmd/Ctrl+Alt+4`
  tiles everything into a grid.

The presets always operate on the active workspace's full set of
panes. They never alter the workspace count or the active focus
target; the focused pane stays focused after every preset.

## How do I apply a layout preset? [#how-do-i-apply-a-layout-preset]

Each preset has a default keybinding and an action name you can
remap in [paneflow.json](/docs/configuration/schema#how-do-i-set-shortcuts):

| Preset          | Default keys     | Action name              |
| --------------- | ---------------- | ------------------------ |
| Even horizontal | `Cmd/Ctrl+Alt+1` | `layout_even_horizontal` |
| Even vertical   | `Cmd/Ctrl+Alt+2` | `layout_even_vertical`   |
| Main vertical   | `Cmd/Ctrl+Alt+3` | `layout_main_vertical`   |
| Tiled           | `Cmd/Ctrl+Alt+4` | `layout_tiled`           |

Press the key from any pane. The workspace immediately reflows; the
focused pane keeps its content and selection state intact.

## Even horizontal [#even-horizontal]

`layout_even_horizontal` lays every pane out in a single row, each
with equal width.

```text
+--------+--------+--------+--------+
|        |        |        |        |
|   1    |   2    |   3    |   4    |
|        |        |        |        |
+--------+--------+--------+--------+
```

**When to use:** comparing four short-output streams side by side
(test runners, log tails, build watchers). Best on wide monitors -
on a 13-inch laptop, four columns get cramped past three panes.

## Even vertical [#even-vertical]

`layout_even_vertical` stacks every pane into a single column, each
with equal height.

```text
+-----------------------------------+
|                                   |
|                1                  |
|                                   |
+-----------------------------------+
|                                   |
|                2                  |
|                                   |
+-----------------------------------+
|                                   |
|                3                  |
|                                   |
+-----------------------------------+
```

**When to use:** following a sequential workflow where you want each
pane to keep its full terminal width (long log lines, wide tables,
side-by-side diff output). Pairs naturally with a vertical-orientation
monitor.

## Main vertical [#main-vertical]

`layout_main_vertical` parks the focused pane on the left at 60% of
the width, then stacks the remaining panes vertically on the right
at 40%.

```text
+-------------------+---------------+
|                   |       2       |
|                   +---------------+
|         1         |       3       |
|       (main)      +---------------+
|                   |       4       |
|                   +---------------+
|                   |       5       |
+-------------------+---------------+
```

**When to use:** one "primary" pane with supporting panes (a code
editor or AI agent on the left, build / test / log tails on the
right). The focused pane becomes the main pane, so move focus to the
pane you want to enlarge before pressing the chord.

## Tiled [#tiled]

`layout_tiled` arranges every pane into a balanced grid. The
algorithm matches tmux's: start at 1x1 and grow rows and columns
alternately until the grid holds every pane. With 4 panes you get a
2x2 grid, with 5 or 6 panes a 2x3 grid, with 7-9 panes a 3x3 grid.

```text
4 panes              6 panes
+--------+--------+  +------+------+------+
|   1    |   2    |  |  1   |  2   |  3   |
|        |        |  |      |      |      |
+--------+--------+  +------+------+------+
|   3    |   4    |  |  4   |  5   |  6   |
|        |        |  |      |      |      |
+--------+--------+  +------+------+------+
```

**When to use:** monitoring five or more shells with no clear primary

* dashboards, multi-service development, fan-out background jobs. The
  tiled grid keeps every pane large enough to read at a glance on a
  1080p monitor up to about 9 panes; past that, prefer multiple
  workspaces or zoom (`Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+Z`) on whichever pane is
  currently the focus.

## What happens to my pane content? [#what-happens-to-my-pane-content]

Layout presets only reshape the pane tree. Each shell keeps:

* Its running command or shell state.
* Its scrollback buffer and selection.
* Its environment, working directory, and process tree.
* Its focus handle (the previously focused pane stays focused).

If you have a long-running build in pane 3 and apply
`layout_main_vertical`, the build keeps running uninterrupted in
whichever slot pane 3 ends up in. Layout actions are non-destructive

* nothing prompts you to confirm and nothing is unrecoverable.

`Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+=` equalises every split ratio without changing the
tree structure, which is a useful follow-up after manually resizing
a few dividers.