iTerm2 is one of the few terminals that can actually show tabs vertically, so if you want a side tab list instead of the usual horizontal strip, you do not need a workaround. This article shows how to turn it on, where iTerm2's left tab bar stops, and how Otty — a native macOS terminal — treats a vertical sidebar as its default layout.
Yes, iTerm2 has a left-side tab bar
iTerm2 lets you move the tab bar to the side:
- Open iTerm2 → Settings (Preferences).
- Go to Appearance → General.
- Set Tab Bar Location to Left.
Tabs now run vertically down the left edge of the window. The setting accepts Top, Bottom, or Left. One thing to know up front: there is no Right option — iTerm2's only vertical position is the left side. When the tab bar is on the left (or bottom), the window's traffic-light buttons hide until you move the pointer to the top-left corner.
Where the iTerm2 left tab bar stops
The left tab bar is a position toggle, not a full sidebar layout. A few practical limits:
- Left only, no right. If you want the list on the right edge, iTerm2 cannot do it today.
- A GUI preference. It lives in Settings and is stored in iTerm2's macOS preferences, so it is not a portable line you can drop into a shared text config.
- Basic organization. It is a vertical list of tabs. Grouping tabs by project, custom section dividers, and per-tab status badges are not part of the built-in left tab bar.
None of this makes iTerm2's option bad — it is genuinely useful, and iTerm2 is a deep, mature terminal. It is just a different design point from a sidebar built as a first-class layout.
A native alternative: Otty's vertical tab sidebar
Otty is a native macOS terminal whose default layout is a vertical tab sidebar on the left of every window. Nothing to enable — open Otty and your tabs are already a vertical list, controlled by one configuration key:
# Vertical tab sidebar on the left (this is the default)
window-layout = sidebar-left
# A horizontal bar is available too:
# window-layout = tabs-top
# window-layout = tabs-bottomBecause the sidebar is a real layout, it carries the organization a long tab list benefits from:
- Group tabs by project or by date.
- Sort by created time, updated time, or a manual drag order.
- Custom dividers with your own labels to section the list.
- Drag to reorder, tear a tab off into its own window, or drag a tab onto another tab's pane to merge it as a split.
- Status badges per row — running, done, awaiting input, SSH — so you can see which session needs you.
You can auto-hide the sidebar when there is only one tab:
# always | default | auto
auto-hide-tabs-panel = autoConfiguration: GUI vs text
This is the main day-to-day difference. In iTerm2 the tab position is a checkbox in Settings stored in macOS preferences. In Otty it is a line of text config (window-layout) you can version, sync across machines, and share. Neither is better in the abstract — but if you keep your terminal setup in a dotfiles repo, a text key is easier to carry around.
Related
- Otty vs iTerm2 — a broader side-by-side beyond tabs.
- Does Ghostty support vertical tabs?