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Bookmarks, tabs, layouts & sessions

Small conveniences that add up: mark the lines you keep coming back to, arrange several files at once, and save an entire working state so you can pick up exactly where you left off.

Bookmarks

Click the bookmark margin in the editor gutter next to a line to add or remove a bookmark there. The actions are Toggle Bookmark, Next Bookmark, and Previous Bookmark (next/previous wrap around the file) — bind your own shortcuts to them under Tools → Options → Key Bindings. When a bookmark exists above or below the cursor, Previous Bookmark / Next Bookmark also appear on the editor's right-click menu.

Bookmarks are listed in the Favorites / Bookmarks dock (open it from the View menu), grouped per file. They persist across sessions — they're saved with the project — so they're still there when you reopen it. Remove one by toggling it off, or clear a whole group at once by deleting it in the dock (empty groups are pruned automatically). If the marker needs to carry a note or be shared with your team, use an annotation instead.

Tabs and split views

Open files stack as tabs in the workspace. Right-click a tab for Close, Close All, Close All But This, and Close All Tabs to the Right / to the Left.

You can also split the workspace to see two files side by side. From the Window menu use Split Workspace Vertically / Split Workspace Horizontally, and Unsplit Workspace.

A few tab commands aren't on the Window menu — they're keyboard commands you can bind under Tools → Options → Key Bindings:

  • Move Tab — move the current tab to the other split area.
  • Activate Next Tab — Ctrl+Alt+C on Windows/Linux, ⌘} (Command+}) on macOS.
  • Activate Previous Tab — Ctrl+Shift+Tab on Windows/Linux, ⌘{ (Command+{) on macOS.

Window layout

Understand's docks (Information Browser, Project browser, and the rest) are freely movable, and the layout is remembered automatically as part of your current session (below) — so saving or switching a session carries its window arrangement along with it. If you rearrange things and want to start over, use Window → Reset Windows to Default Layout (Understand confirms first, since it may close some docks).

Sessions

A session is a named snapshot of your project's working state — which windows and docks are open, the layout, and other UI state — so you can keep several arrangements for the same project and jump between them. Sessions are stored inside the project (there's no separate file to open or save).

Open the Session Browser from the Window menu — a dockable list of your sessions with their last-used time; use it to rename or remove sessions (the current session can't be removed). Its toolbar is where you manage sessions:

  • Add Session — start a fresh session.
  • Duplicate Session — fork the current one.
  • Switch Session (Ctrl+\) — a keyboard command that opens a quick-switch popup between sessions (you can also just pick one in the Session Browser).

Fork a clean slate, or a working setup

Add Session gives you an empty starting point; Duplicate Session copies your current windows and layout so you can branch off an existing arrangement. Pair sessions with Browse Mode and the Information Browser to keep a focused investigation intact.