Command to open new tab in the current terminal

Question

Is it possible to open a new tab in the current terminal with some commands?

score 134 · Accepted Answer · edited Jan 15 '18 at 21:51

If you just want to open a new tab

To open a new tab in the current opened terminal you can press SHIFT+CTRL+T. Alternatively, use the top level menu, which shows the keyboard shortcut (see screenshot below)

If you want to do it from the command line

Install xdotool - a program that lets you simulate keyboard input (among other things).

sudo apt-get install xdotool

then type in the terminal:

xdotool key ctrl+shift+t

That will simulate pressing the key combination, and open the new tab in the terminal.

enter image description here

score 80 · Answer 2 · edited Dec 01 '13 at 04:23

80

In Gnome Terminal Emulator just use Ctrl+Shift+T

You can check and change this and other key combinations in Edit menu.

edited Dec 01 '13 at 04:23

Raja G

105,327
107
262
331

answered Nov 21 '13 at 12:05

xangua

7,277

score 24 · Answer 3 · edited Feb 06 '15 at 07:49

24

in the terminal the shortcut key is

Ctrl + Shift + T

this shortcut can also be edited

edited Feb 06 '15 at 07:49

Sylvain Pineau

63,229

answered Feb 06 '15 at 04:36

iec2011007

578

score 21 · Answer 4 · answered Apr 23 '17 at 13:36

21

New tab Ctrl + Shift + T

Close tab: Ctrl + Shift + W

Switch tab: Ctrl + Pg Up and Ctrl + Pg Dn

Move tab: Ctrl + Shift + Pg Up and Ctrl + Shift + Pg Dn

answered Apr 23 '17 at 13:36

kaxi1993

555

score 8 · Answer 5 · answered Oct 19 '18 at 16:40

Huh, I do this to fork a build process. package.sh builds and uploads docker images - so I prefer them to overlap. gnome-terminal has some command line options to make new tabs:

#!/bin/bash
BRANCH=${1?choose an environment e.g. stage, demo, production}

if [ -x "$(command -v gnome-terminal)" ]; then
  # run in parallel for gnome-terminal
  gnome-terminal \
  --tab --working-directory=`pwd` --command "zsh -is eval './package.sh app1 $BRANCH'" \
  --tab --working-directory=`pwd` --command "zsh -is eval 'sleep 75  && ./package.sh app2 $BRANCH'" \
  --tab --working-directory=`pwd` --command "zsh -is eval 'sleep 150 && ./package.sh app3 $BRANCH'" \
  --tab --working-directory=`pwd` --command "zsh -is eval 'sleep 225 && ./package.sh app4 $BRANCH'" \

else
  # run one at a time for bash
  ./package.sh app1 $BRANCH
  ./package.sh app2 $BRANCH
  ./package.sh app3 $BRANCH
  ./package.sh app4 $BRANCH

fi

score 3 · Answer 6 · edited Apr 03 '19 at 20:13

3

Use package ttab

Edit like this

ttab 'cd /Users/chenkai/gh/g-imagery-api && npm run dev '

edited Apr 03 '19 at 20:13

Philippe Delteil

1,698

answered Apr 03 '19 at 13:58

chenkai

31

M Imam Pratama · Answer 7 · 2019-10-03T06:55:38.093

1

If you want to open a new tab to a specific directory:

Set the shortcut to Switch to Last Tab in your terminal Preferences.

Put the shortcut to the command below.

gnome-terminal --tab --working-directory=$HOME/path/to/the/dir; xdotool key <Switch to Last Tab shortcut>

Make sure you have xdotool installed.

edited Oct 03 '19 at 06:55

answered Sep 17 '19 at 03:05

M Imam Pratama

235

score 1 · Answer 8 · answered Sep 07 '21 at 19:54

The way i usually want to do this is when i start typing cd some/directory/to-switch-to and then i realize i would much rather open that directory in a new tab. This function will open a new tab in the same directory if no path is specified, and in the specified directory (absolute, home-relative, or current directory relative) if one is supplied, with much credit to @wolcen.

tcd() {
  if [ -d ${PWD}/$1 ]; then
    gnome-terminal --tab --working-directory=${PWD}/$1
  else      
    gnome-terminal --tab --working-directory=$1
  fi
}

Usage example:

tcd some/directory

Now if i've finished typing a cd command i can press ctrl+a and t and ENTER to instead open the directory in a new tab with just a few keystrokes.

score 0 · Answer 9 · edited Jun 06 '20 at 13:24

0

Open the terminal
maximize it (or just click the terminal window)
at top bar, click Terminal-->Preferences
under General option, switch Window to Tab
after that, whenever you want to open new terminal, RightClick in the terminal --> Open Terminal

edited Jun 06 '20 at 13:24

tinlyx

3,328

answered Jun 06 '20 at 12:18

necip

101

score 0 · Answer 10 · edited Mar 17 '23 at 13:04

There is no universal way on *Nix to open new Window(s) or Tab(s) on and execute bash command(s), on all the different distros and flavours out there: Gnome, KDE, XWindows, Windows Terminal (WSL), MacOS and the list goes on.

Each window manager and flavour comes with its own Terminal / Console app, and they all have different command line arguments, behaviours and quirks.

As far as I know, the closest you can get are:

neWin: Windows WSL & KDE Konsole

Opens multiple new Window(s) or Tab(s) on Windows Terminal (WSL) or KDE Konsole and optionally executes bash command(s).

Works as-is in both KDE Linux and WSL, with no code changes. Example:

$ npm i -g newin
$ newin
open a new window, waiting for input command
$ newin --workdir '~/myproject' 'npm start:watch' 'npm test:watch'
executes the first command on a new window and the second on another one.

Disclaimer: I am the author of neWin - looking for help to add more flavors!

wttab: Windows WSL & Powershell only

Programmatically open Windows Terminal tab or windows

$ npm i -g wttab
$ wttab --window --workdir '~/myproject' 'ls -all' 
# executes the command on a new window

ttab: MacOS & gnome-terminal only

Similar to wttab "a CLI for Unix-like platforms that programmatically opening a new terminal tab/window in one of the following terminal applications, optionally with a command to execute". Unfortunatelly, Ttab has no plans to add support for other platforms.

$ npm i -g ttab
$ ttab ls -l "$HOME/Library/Application Support"
Open a new tab and execute the specified command before showing the prompt.

Command to open new tab in the current terminal

10 Answers10

If you just want to open a new tab

If you want to do it from the command line

neWin: Windows WSL & KDE Konsole

open a new window, waiting for input command

executes the first command on a new window and the second on another one.

wttab: Windows WSL & Powershell only

ttab: MacOS & gnome-terminal only

Open a new tab and execute the specified command before showing the prompt.

Linked