Skip to content

Window Manager

November 13, 2023
December 12, 2014

Window manager - ArchWiki
Window manager - Wikiwand
Dynamic window manager - Wikiwand
Extended Window Manager Hints

Window Managers in Linux - Everything you NEED to know! - YouTube
How-to: Picking a Window Manager in Linux
What are the best window managers for Linux? - Slant

r/unixporn - the home for *NIX customization!
unixporn
r/unixporn · GitHub

Adding Glue To a Desktop Environment

Tiling WM

TODO: merge with #Window Tiling on Shell?

DistroTube
My Tier List For Tiling Window Managers - YouTube
The Killer Feature Of Tiling Window Managers Isn't Tiling - YouTube
Why Desktop Environment Users Don't Understand Tiling Window Managers - YouTube
Standardized Keybindings Across All Tiling Window Managers

A Comprehensive Guide To Tiling Window Managers - YouTube 1:02:26, DistroTube

Force Your Terminal To Swallow - YouTube
salman-abedin/devour: X11 window swallower
app launched from terminal replaces the terminal
use xdg-open instead?

How To Make Your Tiling Window Manager Look Amazing - YouTube

10 Best Tiling Window Managers for Linux
Best Tiling Window Manager for Noobs - YouTube
Why I Use Tiling Window Managers - And Why You Should Too - YouTube
Comparison of tiling window managers - ArchWiki
Tiling Window Managers suck. Here's why - YouTube

Way Cooler awesome tiling Wayland WM, Rust, with Lua integration

StumpWM
conformal/spectrwm: A small dynamic tiling window manager for X11.
xmonad | the tiling window manager that rocks Haskell config

i3

i3 - improved tiling wm
i3: i3 User’s Guide
i3 - Reference Card

i3 - ArchWiki
Getting started with the i3 tiling window manager - Fedora Magazine

5 Hidden Features of i3WM - YouTube
Ricing and Scripting i3wm for Fun and Profit - LIVE! - YouTube
Customizing i3Blocks For the Ultimate Status Bar on i3WM - YouTube

i3-gnome/i3-gnome: Use i3wm/i3-gaps with GNOME Session infrastructure.

Get a Preconfigured Tiling Window Manager on Ubuntu With Regolith

Qtile

Qtile – A hackable tiling window manager written in Python | Qtile.org
Qtile - ArchWiki
qtile/qtile: :cookie: A full-featured, hackable tiling window manager written and configured in Python (X11 + Wayland)
Everything you need to know about Qtile — Qtile documentation
Qtile Versus i3 Window Manager - YouTube

qtile/qtile-examples: Example configurations and scripts for Qtile
settings from Linux Cast, DistroTub

DistroTube
The Qtile Window Manager - YouTube

The Linux Cast
Things I Love About Qtile - YouTube
Qtile: First Impressions - YouTube
10 Things You Need To Know About Qtile - YouTube

Qtile + Catppuccin = Awesome? - Ricing Qtile - YouTube
Customizing Qtile status bar with custom script widget - YouTube
Qtile Keybindings And Groups - Gettting Started With Qtile #qtile - YouTube

bspwm

bspwm - ArchWiki
baskerville/bspwm: A tiling window manager based on binary space partitioning

Bspwm Ricing - YouTube

awesome window manager

awesome window manager

My first Awesome
Default configuration file documentation
awesome API documentation
AwesomeWM: Let's Make Keyboard Control Comfy - YouTube
Awesome Window Rules Make Your Life More Awesome - YouTube

[SOLVED] Properly configuring Dual monitors and AwesomeWM / Applications & Desktop Environments / Arch Linux Forums
Is there any guide to setup multiple monitors using awesome wm i have display on and wallpaper is showing up and all but no program is running on 2nd monitor : awesomewm

AwesomeWM Made My Workflow Even More Awesome - YouTube scripted windows spawning
Getting Started With Awesome Window Manager - YouTube
.config/awesome · master · Derek Taylor / Dotfiles · GitLab

dwm

dwm - dynamic window manager | suckless.org software that sucks less

SwayWM

i3 on Wayland

Sway
Sway - A Tiling Wayland i3-Compatible Compositor
Manjaro Sway Edition - Wayland Tiling Window Manager - YouTube
SwayWM First Impressions - Is it Good? - YouTube

Hyprland

Wayland

Hyprland - A wayland compositor that doesn't sacrifice on its looks!
Hyprland - ArchWiki
hyprwm/Hyprland: Hyprland is a highly customizable dynamic tiling Wayland compositor that doesn't sacrifice on its looks.

Is Hyprland Good? - A Brief First Look - YouTube

Supporting Components

desktop-apps#Scratchpad

Since tiling WM replaces DE, panel and notification have to be handled separately.
These also allows for storing you desktop configs with dotfiles and sharing them.
i3, qTile and dwm have panel built-in.
Many components from Xfce are used as they don't have much depdencies.

noctuid/tdrop: A Glorified WM-Independent Dropdown Creator
Turn Your Window Manager Into A Desktop Environment - YouTube

Eww - Widgets for everyone! - eww documentation
elkowar/eww: ElKowars wacky widgets

Polybar - A fast and easy-to-use tool for creating status bars resource intensive
polybar/polybar: A fast and easy-to-use status bar
adi1090x/polybar-themes: A huge collection of polybar themes with different styles, colors and variants.
How to Install and Customize Polybar- Ultimate Polybar Beginner's Guide - YouTube

notification
Desktop notifications - ArchWiki
How To Receive Desktop Notifications With A Window Manager - YouTube
Home · Dunst
dunst-project/dunst: Lightweight and customizable notification daemon
Dunst - ArchWiki
Dunst: How To Make Your Notifications Actually Look Good - YouTube
How To Receive Desktop Notifications With A Window Manager - YouTube

Notify OSD in Launchpad

florentc/xob: A lightweight overlay volume (or anything) bar for the X Window System.
Xob: Bar Overlays Add Extra Flair To Any Linux Desktop - YouTube

phuhl/linux_notification_center: A notification daemon/center for linux
Deadd: Windows Like Desktop Independent Notification Center - YouTube

wallpaper
Nitrogen - ArchWiki
Nitrogen & Feh — ArchLabs Linux Documentation

compositors:
for transparency, shadows
chjj/compton: A compositor for X11.
yshui/picom: A lightweight compositor for X11
Picom: Window Blur Should Always Be This Easy - YouTube

cdown/clipmenu: Clipboard management using dmenu

slock, betterlockscreen: screen lock
Linux: How To Setup A Lockscreen To Run On Sleep/Suspend - YouTube
Betterlockscreen: The Pretty Minimal Lock Screen For Lazy People - YouTube

apcid: power management
volume-icon: volume control
setxkbmap: keyboard layout
udiskie: drive management
app launcher
pcmanfm, thunar: file manager
trayer: system tray
xshkd: key binding
coldfix/udiskie: automount usb storage

Window Tiling as DE extension

PackageRemark
gTileFor Cinnomon
Tiling-AssistantGNOME extension
xtile
ctrlwm
PyGrid
pytyle3
QuickTileno UI
wumwum

See also WinSplit Revolution (Windows), Komorebi (Windows), Divvy (Windows/Mac).

Bluetile - full-featured tiling for the GNOME desktop environment

gTile (Cinnamon)
gTile/gTile: A window tiling extension for Gnome. This is the new official home of the vibou.gTile extension.
emasab/shelltile: A tiling window extension for GNOME Shell
shellshape - a tiling window extension for gnome-shell
codic12/worm: A dynamic, tag-based window manager written in Nim

paperwm/PaperWM: Tiled scrollable window management for Gnome Shell
PaperWM, the Tiling Window Manager for GNOME

Material Shell - A new desktop experience
Tiling Window Manager for Everyone - Material Shell GNOME Extension - YouTube

Material Shell

Material Shell - A new desktop experience
material-shell/material-shell: A modern desktop interface for Linux. Improve your user experience and get rid of the anarchy of traditional desktop workflows. Designed to simplify navigation and reduce the need to manipulate windows in order to improve productivity. It's meant to be 100% predictable and bring the benefits of tools coveted by professionals to everyone.
'Material Shell' is an Impressive Tiling GNOME Shell Extension - OMG! Ubuntu!
DistroTube - YouTube

Pop Shell

pop-os/shell: Pop!_OS Shell
How To Install Pop Shell Window Tiling Extension On Ubuntu 20.04, 20.10 Or 21.04, Fedora 32, 33 Or 34, Debian Bullseye Or Sid, And Arch Linux Or Manjaro - Linux Uprising Blog
How to Install Pop Shell Window Tiling Extension on Ubuntu 20.04
Pop!_Shell - Window Tiling Extension for GNOME - YouTube

KDE

Bismuth-Forge/bismuth: KDE Plasma add-on, that tiles your windows automatically and lets you manage them via keyboard, similarly to i3, Sway or dwm.
EASY Window Tiling in KDE Plasma with Bismuth - YouTube

esjeon/krohnkite: A dynamic tiling extension for KWin
Window Manager Script for KDE Plasma! - Krohnkite (DWM) - YouTube

kwin-scripts/kwin-tiling: Tiling script for kwin

xdotool

jordansissel/xdotool: fake keyboard/mouse input, window management, and more
Linux Fu: X Command | Hackaday
xdotool - fake keyboard/mouse input, window management, and more - semicomplete
Ubuntu Manpage: xdotool - command-line X11 automation tool

xwm

mcpcpc/xwm: A tiny XCB floating window manager.
xwm: a tiny XCB floating window manager | xwm Commands | Man Pages | ManKier

wmctrl

wmctrl - man page - ManKier
http://tomas.styblo.name/wmctrl/
http://spiralofhope.com/wmctrl-examples.html
http://www.linuxjournal.com/magazine/hack-and-automate-your-desktop-wmctrl
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1282386

stiler, forum

Tiling in XFCE | Sjaak van den Berg

Linux Fu: X Command | Hackaday wmctrl + xdotool for windows control

#!/bin/sh

# Single window to 66% width
set -- $(xwininfo -root| awk -F '[ :]+' '/ (Width|Height):/ { print $3 }')
width=$1
height=$2

wmctrl -r :ACTIVE: -e 0,0,0,$((width*2/3)),$height
#!/bin/sh

# Two windows each to 50% width
set -- $(xwininfo -root| awk -F '[ :]+' '/ (Width|Height):/ { print $3 }')
width=$1
height=$2

win1=$(xwininfo| awk '/^xwininfo: W/ { print $4 }')
win2=$(xwininfo| awk '/^xwininfo: W/ { print $4 }')

wmctrl -i -r $win1 -e 0,0,0,$((width/2)),$height
wmctrl -i -r $win2 -e 0,$((width/2)),0,$((width/2)),$height

gnome - How to make application windows always on top in Linux mint? - Unix & Linux Stack Exchange
wmctrl -r :SELECT: -b add,above

Node X11 interface

sidorares/node-x11
AirWM/AirWM
Airblader/node-tinywm
anko/basedwm
bu/OdieWM
dominictarr/tiles
santigimeno/node-ewmh

Python X11 interface

BurntSushi/xpyb: A clone of xorg-xpyb. 😴inactive
tych0/xcffib: A drop-in replacement for xpyb based on cffi

OS X

OS X Window Manager Apps | CSS-Tricks

Mizage - Divvy

sdegutis/mjolnir: Lightweight automation and productivity app for OS X
nathankot/mjolnir.tiling: Add tiling window management powers to your mjolnir
koekeishiya/yabai: A tiling window manager for macOS based on binary space partitioning
Hammerspoon Team