Note that you might not have a primary output configured yet. To do so, run:+
xrandr --output <output> --primary
So, how can you open a new terminal window to the right of the current one? -The solution is to use focus parent, which will focus the Parent Container of +The solution is to use focus parent ($mod+a by default), which will focus the Parent Container of the current Container. In this case, you would focus the Vertical Split Container which is inside the horizontally oriented workspace. Thus, now new windows will be opened to the right of the Vertical Split Container:
The first part of the WM_CLASS is the instance ("irssi" in this example), the second part is the class ("URxvt" in this example).
Should you have any problems with assignments, make sure to check the i3 -logfile first (see http://i3wm.org/docs/debugging.html). It includes more +logfile first (see https://i3wm.org/docs/debugging.html). It includes more details about the matching process and the windowâs actual class, instance and title when starting up.
Note that if you want to start an application just once on a specific @@ -909,6 +909,16 @@ the second screen and so on).
The output is the name of the RandR output you attach your screen to. On a laptop, you might have VGA1 and LVDS1 as output names. You can see the available outputs by running xrandr --current.
If your X server supports RandR 1.5 or newer, i3 will use RandR monitor objects +instead of output objects. Run xrandr --listmonitors to see a list. Usually, +a monitor object contains exactly one output, and has the same name as the +output; but should that not be the case, you may specify the name of either the +monitor or the output in i3’s configuration. For example, the Dell UP2414Q uses +two scalers internally, so its output names might be âDP1â and âDP2â, but the +monitor name is âDell UP2414Qâ.
(Note that even if you specify the name of an output which doesn’t span the +entire monitor, i3 will still use the entire area of the containing monitor +rather than that of just the output’s.)
If you use named workspaces, they must be quoted:
Examples:
As explained in-depth in http://i3wm.org/docs/multi-monitor.html, some X11 +
As explained in-depth in https://i3wm.org/docs/multi-monitor.html, some X11 video drivers (especially the nVidia binary driver) only provide support for Xinerama instead of RandR. In such a situation, i3 must be told to use the inferior Xinerama API explicitly and therefore donât provide support for @@ -2230,77 +2240,97 @@ bindsym $mod+x focus output HDMI-2 # Focus the primary output bindsym $mod+x focus output primary
Note that you might not have a primary output configured yet. To do so, run:
Note that you might not have a primary output configured yet. To do so, run:+
xrandr --output <output> --primary
xrandr --output <output> --primary
Use the move command to move a container.
Syntax:
=== Moving containers - -Use the +move+ command to move a container. - -*Syntax*:-
# Moves the container into the given direction. +
# Moves the container into the given direction. # The optional pixel argument specifies how far the # container should be moved if it is floating and # defaults to 10 pixels. -move <left|right|down|up> [<px> px]
# Moves the container either to a specific location -# or to the center of the screen. If absolute is +move <left|right|down|up> [<px> px] + +# Moves the container either to a specific location +# or to the center of the screen. If 'absolute' is # used, it is moved to the center of all outputs. move [absolute] position <pos_x> [px] <pos_y> [px] -move [absolute] position center
# Moves the container to the current position of the +move [absolute] position center + +# Moves the container to the current position of the # mouse cursor. Only affects floating containers. -move position mouse
Examples:
*Examples*:-
# Move container to the left, bottom, top, right +
# Move container to the left, bottom, top, right bindsym $mod+j move left bindsym $mod+k move down bindsym $mod+l move up -bindsym $mod+semicolon move right
# Move container, but make floating containers +bindsym $mod+semicolon move right + +# Move container, but make floating containers # move more than the default -bindsym $mod+j move left 20 px
# Move floating container to the center of all outputs -bindsym $mod+c move absolute position center
# Move container to the current position of the cursor -bindsym $mod+m move position mouse
=== Swapping containers +bindsym $mod+j move left 20 px -Two containers can be swapped (i.e., move to each other's position) by using -the +swap+ command. They will assume the position and geometry of the container -they are swapped with. +# Move floating container to the center of all outputs +bindsym $mod+c move absolute position center -The first container to participate in the swapping can be selected through the +# Move container to the current position of the cursor +bindsym $mod+m move position mouse+
Two containers can be swapped (i.e., move to each other’s position) by using +the swap command. They will assume the position and geometry of the container +they are swapped with.
The first container to participate in the swapping can be selected through the normal command criteria process with the focused window being the usual fallback if no criteria are specified. The second container can be selected -using one of the following methods: - -+id+:: The X11 window ID of a client window. -+con_id+:: The i3 container ID of a container. -+mark+:: A container with the specified mark, see <<vim_like_marks>>. - -Note that swapping does not work with all containers. Most notably, swapping +using one of the following methods:
+The X11 window ID of a client window. +
++The i3 container ID of a container. +
++A container with the specified mark, see [vim_like_marks]. +
+Note that swapping does not work with all containers. Most notably, swapping floating containers or containers that have a parent-child relationship to one -another does not work. - -*Syntax*: +another does not work.
Syntax:
swap container with id|con_id|mark <arg>
Examples:
If you want a window to stick to the glass, i.e., have it stay on screen even if you switch to another workspace, you can use the sticky command. For example, this can be useful for notepads, a media player or a video chat @@ -2331,7 +2362,7 @@ for_window [instance=notepad] sticky enable
To change to a specific workspace, use the workspace command, followed by the number or name of the workspace. Pass the optional flag --no-auto-back-and-forth to disable [back_and_forth] for this specific call @@ -2391,7 +2422,7 @@ bindsym $mod+x move workspace to output right bindsym $mod+F1 [class="Firefox"] move workspace current
Workspaces are identified by their name. So, instead of using numbers in the workspace command, you can use an arbitrary name:
Example:
You can rename workspaces. This might be useful to start with the default numbered workspaces, do your work, and rename the workspaces afterwards to reflect whatâs actually on them. You can also omit the old name to rename @@ -2457,12 +2488,12 @@ to "1: web", the above command will still switch to it.
See [move_to_outputs] for how to move a container/workspace to a different RandR output.
To move a container to another RandR output (addressed by names like LVDS1 or VGA1) or to a RandR output identified by a specific direction (like left, right, up or down), there are two commands:
Example:
for_window [instance="tabme"] move window to mark target
If you want to resize containers/windows using your keyboard, you can use the resize command:
Syntax:
Often when in a multi-monitor environment, you want to quickly jump to a specific window. For example, while working on workspace 3 you may want to jump to your mail client to email your boss that youâve achieved some @@ -2565,7 +2596,7 @@ bindsym $mod+a [class="urxvt" title="VIM"] focus
This feature is like the jump feature: It allows you to directly jump to a specific window (this means switching to the appropriate workspace and setting focus to the windows). However, you can directly mark a specific window with @@ -2608,7 +2639,7 @@ unmark irssi
By default, i3 will simply print the X11 window title. Using title_format, this can be customized by setting the format to the desired output. This directive supports @@ -2666,7 +2697,7 @@ for_window [class="(?i)firefox"] title_format "<span foreground='red'>%tit
To change the border of the current client, you can use border normal to use the normal border (including window title), border pixel 1 to use a 1-pixel border (no window title) and border none to make the client borderless.
As described in http://i3wm.org/docs/debugging.html, i3 can log to a shared +
As described in https://i3wm.org/docs/debugging.html, i3 can log to a shared memory buffer, which you can dump using i3-dump-log. The shmlog command allows you to enable or disable the shared memory logging at runtime.
Note that when using shmlog <size_in_bytes>, the current log will be @@ -2719,7 +2750,7 @@ i3-msg shmlog $((50*1024*1024))
The debuglog command allows you to enable or disable debug logging at runtime. Debug logging is much more verbose than non-debug logging. This command does not activate shared memory logging (shmlog), and as such is most @@ -2737,7 +2768,7 @@ bindsym $mod+x debuglog toggle
You can make i3 reload its configuration file with reload. You can also restart i3 inplace with the restart command to get it out of some weird state (if that should ever happen) or to perform an upgrade without having to restart @@ -2752,7 +2783,7 @@ bindsym $mod+Shift+e exit
There are two commands to use any existing window as scratchpad window. move scratchpad will move a window to the scratchpad workspace. This will make it invisible until you show it again. There is no way to open that workspace. @@ -2787,7 +2818,7 @@ bindsym mod4+s [title="^Sup ::"] scratchpad show
There is a no operation command nop which allows you to override default behavior. This can be useful for, e.g., disabling a focus change on clicks with the middle mouse button.
There are two options in the configuration of each i3bar instance that can be changed during runtime by invoking a command through i3. The commands bar hidden_state and bar mode allow setting the current hidden_state @@ -2841,7 +2872,7 @@ bindsym $mod+Shift+b bar mode invisible bar-1
As you can see in the goal list on the website, i3 was specifically developed with support for multiple monitors in mind. This section will explain how to @@ -2864,7 +2895,7 @@ create an unlimited number of workspaces in i3 and tie them to specific screens, you can have the "traditional" approach of having X workspaces per screen by changing your configuration (using modes, for example).
To help you get going if you have never used multiple monitors before, here is a short overview of the xrandr options which will probably be of interest to you. It is always useful to get an overview of the current screen configuration. @@ -2927,7 +2958,7 @@ only what you can see in xrandr.
See also [presentations] for more examples of multi-monitor setups.
There are several things to configure in i3 which may be interesting if you have more than one monitor:
A very common thing amongst users of exotic window managers is a status line at some corner of the screen. It is an often superior replacement to the widget approach you have in the task bar of a traditional desktop environment.
When giving a presentation, you typically want the audience to see what you see on your screen and then go through a series of slides (if the presentation is simple). For more complex presentations, you might want to have some notes which only you can see on your screen, while the audience can only see the slides.
This is the simple case. You connect your computer to the video projector, turn on both (computer and video projector) and configure your X server to clone the internal flat panel of your computer to the video output:
This case is a bit harder. First of all, you should configure the VGA output somewhere near your internal flat panel, say right of it: