Terminator on Linux: Install and Use Terminal Panes

When you work with several command-line sessions, keeping them in one window lets you view them together. Terminator is a Linux desktop app that puts separate command-running sessions into panes inside one window.

This guide explains how to install Terminator and arrange sessions in panes.

What is Terminator on Linux?

Terminator is a graphical terminal emulator that puts multiple terminal sessions into panes inside one window. Each pane has its own shell session, so commands can run independently.

A terminal emulator draws the window and connects keyboard input to a shell, while a tiling window manager arranges separate application windows across the desktop and Terminator arranges shell sessions as panes inside its own window.

Prerequisites

Because Terminator is a desktop application, use a graphical Linux session and an account with permission to install packages or access to your distribution’s software manager.

Check whether your distribution provides the terminator package before choosing an install command. Availability can differ by release. An Ubuntu command is not evidence that the same command works on Fedora, Arch, or another distribution.

• A graphical Linux desktop session.
• Permission to install software from your distribution’s configured repository.

Install and use Terminator

Install the package first, then use the default shortcuts to create panes and arrange the sessions you need.

Step 1: Install Terminator from your distribution repository

Terminator is listed in the Ubuntu 24.04 Universe repository, Fedora 45, and Arch Linux Extra under the package name terminator. Use the command for your distribution:

# Ubuntu
sudo apt update && sudo apt install terminator

# Fedora
sudo dnf install terminator

# Arch Linux
sudo pacman -S terminator

For another distribution or release, search its current package catalog before using a command. The official project recommends distribution packages. Read the Pacman package-manager guide if you need the Arch package workflow.

Step 2: Split the window into terminal panes

Launch Terminator from your applications menu, then split the active terminal with the project’s default shortcut. Ctrl+Shift+O adds a horizontal split, while Ctrl+Shift+E adds a vertical split.

The names describe the divider’s direction, not the panes’ reading order. If the split is not arranged the way you want, use the context menu or drag a terminal to reposition it.

This single-pane view is the starting state. Splitting it adds another shell area without opening a separate desktop window.

The dividers mark separate shell sessions, and the highlighted pane shows where keyboard input will go. Select the pane you intend to use before entering a command.

Step 3: Move between panes and open a tab

A split is useful only if you can send input to the intended shell. Terminator marks the focused pane, and its default next and previous terminal shortcuts move that focus without closing the other sessions.

Open a tab when you need another shell but do not want another pane shrinking the visible sessions. Before typing a command, check which pane has focus. A command sent to the wrong shell still runs in that shell.

Step 4: Change preferences and save a layout

Right-click inside a terminal and choose Preferences to change profiles, keybindings, layouts, and plugins. The tabs in the Preferences window separate those settings, so a shortcut change belongs under Keybindings rather than in the shell.

Open the Layouts tab to save the current arrangement with a name. The command-line option –layout can open a saved layout by name, while –profile selects a profile. The Linux man command guide explains how to read the manual pages for options like these.

Check the active Terminator options

The project documents –version for printing the installed version and –layout for opening a saved arrangement. You can use the first check after installation and the second when you want Terminator to start with a named workspace.

terminator --version
terminator --layout=work

The layout name work is an example, not a built-in layout. Replace it with the name you saved in Preferences. If that layout does not exist, choose one from the layout editor before using the option.

When Terminator is missing from a repository

A package name can exist in one release and be unavailable in another. Rocky Linux’s own documentation warns that its listed Terminator installation steps do not work for Rocky Linux 10, so do not run those steps blindly.

Search your distribution’s package catalog for the exact release you run. On Ubuntu, APT package-list commands can help check whether Terminator is installed. If you later decide to remove it, follow the Ubuntu APT removal guide.

• Check the package catalog for your exact distribution release.
• Do not enable an unverified third-party repository just to install this application.

If a package is absent, use another terminal emulator already supported by your distribution rather than adding an unverified repository. A terminal-based editor can still handle shell-side file work, but it does not replace Terminator’s graphical pane layout.

Keep the workspace inside Terminator

Terminator is the right fit when you want several shell sessions arranged inside one desktop window. For an SSH session that must survive a disconnect, use a terminal multiplexer such as tmux, which can detach and reattach persistent sessions.

man terminator

Terminator on Linux questions