Skillversitas

Notebook Editing and Dashboard

Beyond running cells, editing a notebook means managing its structure: moving, splitting, merging, and cleaning cells; keeping the document tidy; and using the interface dashboard features that make large notebooks navigable.

Split and Merge Cells

  • Split: place the cursor where the new cell should start, then Ctrl+Shift+- (command mode: the split action).
  • Merge: select multiple cells (shift+arrows in command mode) and press Shift+M to merge them into one.
  • Move: in command mode, shift+up/shift+down reorders cells.

Cleaning Up

  • 0 (command mode) - clear a cell's output.
  • Edit -> Clear All Outputs - strip every output for a lean shared file.
  • Edit -> Delete All Checkpoints - remove saved recovery versions.
  • Restart the kernel before sharing so execution counts are consistent.
  • Use Markdown headings and the rendered outline to jump between sections.
  • Find (Ctrl+F) searches cell contents across the whole notebook.
  • The command palette (Ctrl+Shift+C) is a searchable index of all actions, including "Go to cell" by number.
  • Keep a "Table of Contents" Markdown cell at the top with anchor links to each section.

Working with Version Control

.ipynb files are JSON and merge badly in git. Common approaches:

  • jupyter nbconvert --to notebook --inplace with --ClearOutput to normalize before committing.
  • jupytext: keep the notebook as a .py or .md twin that diffs cleanly.
  • .gitignore generated outputs; commit the notebook with outputs cleared and run it in CI instead.

Summary

Edit notebooks with the cell operations (split, Shift+M merge, shift+arrows reorder), keep files clean (clear outputs, restart kernels) before sharing, navigate large notebooks with headings, search, and the command palette, and version-control .ipynb files with nbconvert normalization or jupytext twins to avoid merge pain.