diff --git a/tools/wcswidth/iter.go b/tools/wcswidth/iter.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f3c57904f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/wcswidth/iter.go
@@ -0,0 +1,139 @@
+// License: GPLv3 Copyright: 2022, Kovid Goyal, <kovid at kovidgoyal.net>
+
+package wcswidth
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"kitty/tools/utils"
+)
+
+var _ = fmt.Print
+
+type current_cell struct {
+	head, tail, width int
+}
+
+type forward_iterator struct {
+	width_iter    *WCWidthIterator
+	current_cell  current_cell
+	cell_num, pos int
+}
+
+type reverse_iterator struct {
+	cells []string
+	pos   int
+}
+
+func (self *forward_iterator) reset() {
+	self.width_iter.Reset()
+	self.current_cell = current_cell{}
+	self.pos = 0
+	self.cell_num = 0
+}
+
+type CellIterator struct {
+	text, current string
+	forward_iter  forward_iterator
+	reverse_iter  reverse_iterator
+}
+
+func NewCellIterator(text string) *CellIterator {
+	ans := &CellIterator{text: text}
+	ans.forward_iter.width_iter = CreateWCWidthIterator()
+	return ans
+}
+
+func (self *CellIterator) GotoStart() *CellIterator {
+	self.forward_iter.reset()
+	self.reverse_iter.pos = -1
+	self.current = ""
+	return self
+}
+
+func (self *CellIterator) GotoEnd() *CellIterator {
+	self.current = ""
+	self.reverse_iter.pos = len(self.reverse_iter.cells)
+	self.forward_iter.pos = len(self.text)
+	self.forward_iter.cell_num = len(self.text) + 1
+	return self
+}
+
+func (self *CellIterator) Current() string { return self.current }
+
+func (self *CellIterator) forward_one_rune() bool {
+	for self.forward_iter.pos < len(self.text) {
+		rune_count_before := self.forward_iter.width_iter.rune_count
+		self.forward_iter.width_iter.ParseByte(self.text[self.forward_iter.pos])
+		self.forward_iter.pos++
+		if self.forward_iter.width_iter.rune_count != rune_count_before {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+	return false
+}
+
+func (self *CellIterator) Forward() (has_more bool) {
+	if self.reverse_iter.cells != nil {
+		if self.reverse_iter.pos < len(self.reverse_iter.cells) {
+			self.reverse_iter.pos++
+		}
+		if self.reverse_iter.pos >= len(self.reverse_iter.cells) {
+			self.current = ""
+			return false
+		}
+		self.current = self.reverse_iter.cells[self.reverse_iter.pos]
+		return true
+	}
+	fi := &self.forward_iter
+	cc := &fi.current_cell
+	for {
+		width_before := fi.width_iter.current_width
+		pos_before := fi.pos
+		if !self.forward_one_rune() {
+			break
+		}
+		change_in_width := fi.width_iter.current_width - width_before
+		cc.tail = fi.pos
+		if cc.width > 0 && change_in_width > 0 {
+			self.current = self.text[cc.head:pos_before]
+			cc.width = change_in_width
+			cc.head = pos_before
+			fi.cell_num++
+			return true
+		}
+		cc.width += change_in_width
+	}
+	if cc.tail > cc.head {
+		self.current = self.text[cc.head:cc.tail]
+		cc.head = fi.pos
+		cc.tail = fi.pos
+		cc.width = 0
+		fi.cell_num++
+		return true
+	}
+	self.current = ""
+	return false
+}
+
+func (self *CellIterator) Backward() (has_more bool) {
+	ri := &self.reverse_iter
+	if ri.cells == nil {
+		current_cell_num := self.forward_iter.cell_num
+		cells := make([]string, 0, len(self.text))
+		self.GotoStart()
+		for self.Forward() {
+			cells = append(cells, self.current)
+		}
+		ri.pos = utils.Min(utils.Max(-1, current_cell_num-1), len(cells))
+		ri.cells = cells
+	}
+	if ri.pos > -1 {
+		ri.pos--
+	}
+	if ri.pos < 0 {
+		self.current = ""
+		return false
+	}
+	self.current = ri.cells[ri.pos]
+	return true
+}
diff --git a/tools/wcswidth/wcswidth_test.go b/tools/wcswidth/wcswidth_test.go
index 933ab5106..eeb84243c 100644
--- a/tools/wcswidth/wcswidth_test.go
+++ b/tools/wcswidth/wcswidth_test.go
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ package wcswidth
 
 import (
 	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/google/go-cmp/cmp"
 )
 
 func TestWCSWidth(t *testing.T) {
@@ -59,3 +61,53 @@ func TestWCSWidth(t *testing.T) {
 	truncate("a🌷\ufe0eb", 3, "a🌷\ufe0eb", 3)
 	truncate("a\x1b[31mb", 2, "a\x1b[31mb", 2)
 }
+
+func TestCellIterator(t *testing.T) {
+	f := func(text string, expected ...string) {
+		ci := NewCellIterator(text)
+		actual := make([]string, 0, len(expected))
+		for ci.Forward() {
+			actual = append(actual, ci.Current())
+		}
+		if diff := cmp.Diff(expected, actual); diff != "" {
+			t.Fatalf("Failed forward iteration for string: %#v\n%s", text, diff)
+		}
+	}
+
+	f("abc", "a", "b", "c")
+	f("a🌷ò", "a", "🌷", "ò")
+	f("a🌷\ufe0eò", "a", "🌷\ufe0e", "ò")
+	f("òne", "ò", "n", "e")
+
+	r := func(text string, expected ...string) {
+		ci := NewCellIterator(text).GotoEnd()
+		actual := make([]string, 0, len(expected))
+		for ci.Backward() {
+			actual = append(actual, ci.Current())
+		}
+		if diff := cmp.Diff(expected, actual); diff != "" {
+			t.Fatalf("Failed reverse iteration for string: %#v\n%s", text, diff)
+		}
+	}
+
+	r("abc", "c", "b", "a")
+	r("a🌷ò", "ò", "🌷", "a")
+	r("òne", "e", "n", "ò")
+
+	ci := NewCellIterator("123")
+	ci.Forward()
+	ci.Forward()
+	ci.Forward()
+	ci.Backward()
+	if ci.Current() != "2" {
+		t.Fatalf("switching to backward failed, %#v != %#v", "2", ci.Current())
+	}
+	ci.Backward()
+	if ci.Current() != "1" {
+		t.Fatalf("switching to backward failed, %#v != %#v", "1", ci.Current())
+	}
+	ci.Forward()
+	if ci.Current() != "2" {
+		t.Fatalf("switching to forward failed, %#v != %#v", "2", ci.Current())
+	}
+}