diff --git a/src/controllers/DropArea.cpp b/src/controllers/DropArea.cpp
index 41d1cd44..92d3f8cc 100644
--- a/src/controllers/DropArea.cpp
+++ b/src/controllers/DropArea.cpp
@@ -652,3 +652,8 @@ bool DropArea::deserialize(const LayoutSaver::MultiSplitter &l)
     setRootItem(new Layouting::ItemBoxContainer(view()));
     return Layout::deserialize(l);
 }
+
+int DropArea::numSideBySide_recursive(Qt::Orientation o) const
+{
+    return m_rootItem->numSideBySide_recursive(o);
+}
diff --git a/src/controllers/DropArea.h b/src/controllers/DropArea.h
index 606d377e..16f6446f 100644
--- a/src/controllers/DropArea.h
+++ b/src/controllers/DropArea.h
@@ -131,6 +131,10 @@ public:
     /// @brief overload that just resizes widgets within a sub-tree
     void layoutEqually(Layouting::ItemBoxContainer *);
 
+    /// @brief Returns the number of items layed out horizontally or vertically
+    /// But honours nesting
+    int numSideBySide_recursive(Qt::Orientation) const;
+
     Layouting::ItemBoxContainer *rootItem() const;
 
 private:
diff --git a/src/private/multisplitter/Item.cpp b/src/private/multisplitter/Item.cpp
index 1d78fb18..2e38e003 100644
--- a/src/private/multisplitter/Item.cpp
+++ b/src/private/multisplitter/Item.cpp
@@ -992,6 +992,32 @@ ItemBoxContainer::~ItemBoxContainer()
     delete d;
 }
 
+int ItemBoxContainer::numSideBySide_recursive(Qt::Orientation o) const
+{
+    int num = 0;
+    if (d->m_orientation == o) {
+        // Example: Container is horizontal and we want to know how many layouted horizontally
+        for (Item *child : m_children) {
+            if (ItemBoxContainer *container = child->asBoxContainer()) {
+                num += container->numSideBySide_recursive(o);
+            } else {
+                num++;
+            }
+        }
+    } else {
+        // Example: Container is vertical and we want to know how many layouted horizontally
+        for (Item *child : m_children) {
+            if (ItemBoxContainer *container = child->asBoxContainer()) {
+                num = qMax(num, container->numSideBySide_recursive(o));
+            } else {
+                num = qMax(num, 1);
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    return num;
+}
+
 bool ItemBoxContainer::checkSanity()
 {
     d->m_checkSanityScheduled = false;
diff --git a/src/private/multisplitter/Item_p.h b/src/private/multisplitter/Item_p.h
index 0d010f20..d146a3fa 100644
--- a/src/private/multisplitter/Item_p.h
+++ b/src/private/multisplitter/Item_p.h
@@ -481,6 +481,10 @@ public:
     bool isHorizontal() const;
     int length() const;
 
+    /// @brief Returns the number of items layed out horizontally or vertically
+    /// But honours nesting
+    int numSideBySide_recursive(Qt::Orientation) const;
+
 private:
     bool hasOrientation() const;
     int indexOfVisibleChild(const Item *) const;
diff --git a/tests/tst_multisplitter.cpp b/tests/tst_multisplitter.cpp
index 5cdf8a1d..a864d1a5 100644
--- a/tests/tst_multisplitter.cpp
+++ b/tests/tst_multisplitter.cpp
@@ -97,6 +97,7 @@ private Q_SLOTS:
     void tst_maxSizeHonouredWhenAnotherRemoved();
     void tst_simplify();
     void tst_adjacentLayoutBorders();
+    void tst_numSideBySide_recursive();
 };
 
 static bool serializeDeserializeTest(const std::unique_ptr<ItemBoxContainer> &root)
@@ -1769,6 +1770,40 @@ void TestMultiSplitter::tst_adjacentLayoutBorders()
     QCOMPARE(borders4, LayoutBorderLocation_South);
 }
 
+void TestMultiSplitter::tst_numSideBySide_recursive()
+{
+    auto root = createRoot();
+    QVERIFY(root->isVertical());
+    QCOMPARE(root->numSideBySide_recursive(Qt::Vertical), 0);
+    QCOMPARE(root->numSideBySide_recursive(Qt::Horizontal), 0);
+
+    auto item1 = createItem();
+    root->insertItem(item1, Location_OnRight);
+    QCOMPARE(root->numSideBySide_recursive(Qt::Vertical), 1);
+    QCOMPARE(root->numSideBySide_recursive(Qt::Horizontal), 1);
+
+
+    auto item2 = createItem();
+    root->insertItem(item2, Location_OnTop);
+    QCOMPARE(root->numSideBySide_recursive(Qt::Vertical), 2);
+    QCOMPARE(root->numSideBySide_recursive(Qt::Horizontal), 1);
+
+    auto item3 = createItem();
+    root->insertItem(item3, Location_OnTop);
+    QCOMPARE(root->numSideBySide_recursive(Qt::Vertical), 3);
+    QCOMPARE(root->numSideBySide_recursive(Qt::Horizontal), 1);
+
+    auto item1Child = createItem();
+    ItemBoxContainer::insertItemRelativeTo(item1Child, item1, Location_OnLeft);
+    QCOMPARE(root->numSideBySide_recursive(Qt::Vertical), 3);
+    QCOMPARE(root->numSideBySide_recursive(Qt::Horizontal), 2);
+
+    auto item1Child1Child = createItem();
+    ItemBoxContainer::insertItemRelativeTo(item1Child1Child, item1Child, Location_OnBottom);
+    QCOMPARE(root->numSideBySide_recursive(Qt::Vertical), 4);
+    QCOMPARE(root->numSideBySide_recursive(Qt::Horizontal), 2);
+}
+
 int main(int argc, char **argv)
 {
     for (FrontendType type : Platform::frontendTypes()) {