March 2013
This document contains all the information you need to configure and use the i3
-window manager. If it does not, please check http://faq.i3wm.org/ first, then
-contact us on IRC (preferred) or post your question(s) on the mailing list.
+window manager. If it does not, please check https://www.reddit.com/r/i3wm/
+first, then contact us on IRC (preferred) or post your question(s) on the
+mailing list.
== Default keybindings
== Using i3
Throughout this guide, the keyword +$mod+ will be used to refer to the
-configured modifier. This is the Alt key (Mod1) by default, with the Windows
-key (Mod4) being a popular alternative.
+configured modifier. This is the Alt key (+Mod1+) by default, with the Windows
+key (+Mod4+) being a popular alternative.
=== Opening terminals and moving around
One very basic operation is opening a new terminal. By default, the keybinding
-for this is $mod+Enter, that is Alt+Enter in the default configuration. By
-pressing $mod+Enter, a new terminal will be opened. It will fill the whole
-space available on your screen.
+for this is +$mod+Enter+, that is Alt+Enter (+Mod1+Enter+) in the default
+configuration. By pressing +$mod+Enter+, a new terminal will be opened. It
+will fill the whole space available on your screen.
image:single_terminal.png[Single terminal]
To move the focus between the two terminals, you can use the direction keys
which you may know from the editor +vi+. However, in i3, your homerow is used
for these keys (in +vi+, the keys are shifted to the left by one for
-compatibility with most keyboard layouts). Therefore, +$mod+J+ is left, +$mod+K+
-is down, +$mod+L+ is up and `$mod+;` is right. So, to switch between the
-terminals, use +$mod+K+ or +$mod+L+. Of course, you can also use the arrow keys.
+compatibility with most keyboard layouts). Therefore, +$mod+j+ is left, +$mod+k+
+is down, +$mod+l+ is up and `$mod+;` is right. So, to switch between the
+terminals, use +$mod+k+ or +$mod+l+. Of course, you can also use the arrow keys.
At the moment, your workspace is split (it contains two terminals) in a
specific direction (horizontal by default). Every window can be split
=== Closing windows
If an application does not provide a mechanism for closing (most applications
-provide a menu, the escape key or a shortcut like +Control+W+ to close), you
+provide a menu, the escape key or a shortcut like +Control+w+ to close), you
can press +$mod+Shift+q+ to kill a window. For applications which support
the WM_DELETE protocol, this will correctly close the application (saving
any modifications or doing other cleanup). If the application doesn’t support
The easiest way to resize a container is by using the mouse: Grab the border
and move it to the wanted size.
-See <<resizingconfig>> for how to configure i3 to be able to resize
-columns/rows with your keyboard.
+You can also use <<binding_modes>> to define a mode for resizing via the
+keyboard. To see an example for this, look at the
+https://github.com/i3/i3/blob/next/etc/config.keycodes[default config] provided
+by i3.
=== Restarting i3 inplace
can also do that by using the <<floating_modifier>>. Another way to resize
floating windows using the mouse is to right-click on the titlebar and drag.
-For resizing floating windows with your keyboard, see <<resizingconfig>>.
+For resizing floating windows with your keyboard, see the resizing binding mode
+provided by the i3 https://github.com/i3/i3/blob/next/etc/config.keycodes[default config].
Floating windows are always on top of tiling windows.
image::tree-layout2.png["layout2",float="right"]
image::tree-shot4.png["shot4",title="Two terminals on standard workspace"]
-=== Orientation and Split Containers
-
[[OrientationSplit]]
+=== Orientation and Split Containers
It is only natural to use so-called +Split Containers+ in order to build a
layout when using a tree as data structure. In i3, every +Container+ has an
On first start (and on all following starts, unless you have a configuration
file), i3 will offer you to create a configuration file. You can tell the
-wizard to use either Alt (Mod1) or Windows (Mod4) as modifier in the config
+wizard to use either Alt (+Mod1+) or Windows (+Mod4+) as modifier in the config
file. Also, the created config file will use the key symbols of your current
keyboard layout. To start the wizard, use the command +i3-config-wizard+.
Please note that you must not have +~/.i3/config+, otherwise the wizard will
exit.
+Since i3 4.0, a new configuration format is used. i3 will try to automatically
+detect the format version of a config file based on a few different keywords,
+but if you want to make sure that your config is read with the new format,
+include the following line in your config file:
+
+---------------------
+# i3 config file (v4)
+---------------------
+
=== Comments
It is possible and recommended to use comments in your configuration file to
-------------------
[[fonts]]
-
=== Fonts
i3 has support for both X core fonts and FreeType fonts (through Pango) to
--------------------------------------------------------------
[[keybindings]]
-
=== Keyboard bindings
A keyboard binding makes i3 execute a command (see below) upon pressing a
alias for Group2.
[[mousebindings]]
-
=== Mouse bindings
A mouse binding makes i3 execute a command upon pressing a specific mouse
can configure mouse bindings in a similar way to key bindings.
*Syntax*:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-bindsym [--release] [--border] [--whole-window] [<Modifiers>+]button<n> command
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+bindsym [--release] [--border] [--whole-window] [--exclude-titlebar] [<Modifiers>+]button<n> command
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By default, the binding will only run when you click on the titlebar of the
window. If the +--release+ flag is given, it will run when the mouse button
of the window is clicked, with the exception of the border. To have a bind run
when the border is clicked, specify the +--border+ flag.
+If the +--exclude-titlebar+ flag is given, the titlebar will not be considered
+for the keybinding.
+
*Examples*:
--------------------------------
# The middle button over a titlebar kills the window
bindsym button8 move right
--------------------------------
-[[floating_modifier]]
+[[binding_modes]]
+=== Binding modes
+
+You can have multiple sets of bindings by using different binding modes. When
+you switch to another binding mode, all bindings from the current mode are
+released and only the bindings defined in the new mode are valid for as long as
+you stay in that binding mode. The only predefined binding mode is +default+,
+which is the mode i3 starts out with and to which all bindings not defined in a
+specific binding mode belong.
+
+Working with binding modes consists of two parts: defining a binding mode and
+switching to it. For these purposes, there are one config directive and one
+command, both of which are called +mode+. The directive is used to define the
+bindings belonging to a certain binding mode, while the command will switch to
+the specified mode.
+
+It is recommended to use binding modes in combination with <<variables>> in
+order to make maintenance easier. Below is an example of how to use a binding
+mode.
+
+Note that it is advisable to define bindings for switching back to the default
+mode.
+
+Note that it is possible to use <<pango_markup>> for binding modes, but you
+need to enable it explicitly by passing the +--pango_markup+ flag to the mode
+definition.
+
+*Syntax*:
+----------------------------
+# config directive
+mode [--pango_markup] <name>
+
+# command
+mode <name>
+----------------------------
+*Example*:
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Press $mod+o followed by either f, t, Escape or Return to launch firefox,
+# thunderbird or return to the default mode, respectively.
+set $mode_launcher Launch: [f]irefox [t]hunderbird
+bindsym $mod+o mode "$mode_launcher"
+
+mode "$mode_launcher" {
+ bindsym f exec firefox
+ bindsym t exec thunderbird
+
+ bindsym Escape mode "default"
+ bindsym Return mode "default"
+}
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+[[floating_modifier]]
=== The floating modifier
To move floating windows with your mouse, you can either grab their titlebar
---------------------
-=== Hiding vertical borders
+[[_hiding_vertical_borders]]
+=== Hiding borders adjacent to the screen edges
-You can hide vertical borders adjacent to the screen edges using
+You can hide container borders adjacent to the screen edges using
+hide_edge_borders+. This is useful if you are using scrollbars, or do not want
-to waste even two pixels in displayspace. Default is none.
+to waste even two pixels in displayspace. The "smart" setting hides borders on
+workspaces with only one window visible, but keeps them on workspaces with
+multiple windows visible. Default is none.
*Syntax*:
-----------------------------------------------
-hide_edge_borders none|vertical|horizontal|both
+hide_edge_borders none|vertical|horizontal|both|smart
-----------------------------------------------
*Example*:
hide_edge_borders vertical
----------------------
-=== Arbitrary commands for specific windows (for_window)
-
[[for_window]]
+=== Arbitrary commands for specific windows (for_window)
With the +for_window+ command, you can let i3 execute any command when it
encounters a specific window. This can be used to set windows to floating or to
The valid criteria are the same as those for commands, see <<command_criteria>>.
-=== Don't focus window upon opening
-
[[no_focus]]
+=== Don't focus window upon opening
When a new window appears, it will be focused. The +no_focus+ directive allows preventing
this from happening and must be used in combination with <<command_criteria>>.
no_focus [window_role="pop-up"]
-------------------------------
+[[variables]]
=== Variables
As you learned in the section about keyboard bindings, you will have
you should create a little script which generates a configuration file and run
it before starting i3 (for example in your +~/.xsession+ file).
-=== Automatically putting clients on specific workspaces
+Also see <<xresources>> to learn how to create variables based on resources
+loaded from the X resource database.
+
+[[xresources]]
+=== X resources
+
+<<variables>> can also be created using a value configured in the X resource
+database. This is useful, for example, to avoid configuring color values within
+the i3 configuration. Instead, the values can be configured, once, in the X
+resource database to achieve an easily maintainable, consistent color theme
+across many X applications.
+
+Defining a resource will load this resource from the resource database and
+assign its value to the specified variable. A fallback must be specified in
+case the resource cannot be loaded from the database.
+
+*Syntax*:
+----------------------------------------------------
+set_from_resource $<name> <resource_name> <fallback>
+----------------------------------------------------
+
+*Example*:
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# The ~/.Xresources should contain a line such as
+# *color0: #121212
+# and must be loaded properly, e.g., by using
+# xrdb ~/.Xresources
+# This value is picked up on by other applications (e.g., the URxvt terminal
+# emulator) and can be used in i3 like this:
+set_from_resource $black i3wm.color0 #000000
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------
[[assign_workspace]]
+=== Automatically putting clients on specific workspaces
To automatically make a specific window show up on a specific workspace, you
can use an *assignment*. You can match windows by using any criteria,
window (mapping means actually displaying it on the screen), you’d need to have
to match on 'Firefox' in this case.
+You can also assign a window to show up on a specific output. You can use RandR
+names such as +VGA1+ or names relative to the output with the currently focused
+workspace such as +left+ and +down+.
+
Assignments are processed by i3 in the order in which they appear in the config
file. The first one which matches the window wins and later assignments are not
considered.
*Syntax*:
------------------------------------------------------------
-assign <criteria> [→] [workspace] <workspace>
+assign <criteria> [→] [workspace] [number] <workspace>
+assign <criteria> [→] output left|right|up|down|primary|<output>
------------------------------------------------------------
*Examples*:
# Assignment to a named workspace
assign [class="^URxvt$"] → work
+# Assign to the workspace with number 2, regardless of name
+assign [class="^URxvt$"] → number 2
+
+# You can also specify a number + name. If the workspace with number 2 exists, assign will skip the text part.
+assign [class="^URxvt$"] → number "2: work"
+
# Start urxvt -name irssi
assign [class="^URxvt$" instance="^irssi$"] → 3
+
+# Assign urxvt to the output right of the current one
+assign [class="^URxvt$"] → output right
+
+# Assign urxvt to the primary output
+assign [class="^URxvt$"] → output primary
----------------------
-Note that the arrow is not required, it just looks good :-). If you decide to
+Note that you might not have a primary output configured yet. To do so, run:
+-------------------------
+xrandr --output <output> --primary
+-------------------------
+
+Also, the arrow is not required, it just looks good :-). If you decide to
use it, it has to be a UTF-8 encoded arrow, not `->` or something like that.
To get the class and instance, you can use +xprop+. After clicking on 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 window’s actual class, instance and
title when starting up.
See <<command_chaining>> for details on the special meaning of +;+ (semicolon)
and +,+ (comma): they chain commands together in i3, so you need to use quoted
-strings if they appear in your command.
+strings (as shown in <<exec_quoting>>) if they appear in your command.
*Syntax*:
---------------------------------------
The flag --no-startup-id is explained in <<exec>>.
[[workspace_screen]]
-
=== Automatically putting workspaces on specific screens
If you assign clients to workspaces, it might be handy to put the
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 “DP1” and “DP2”, but the
+monitor name is “Dell UP2414Q”.
+
+(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*:
You can change all colors which i3 uses to draw the window decorations.
*Syntax*:
-------------------------------------------------------
-<colorclass> <border> <background> <text> <indicator>
-------------------------------------------------------
+--------------------------------------------------------------------
+<colorclass> <border> <background> <text> <indicator> <child_border>
+--------------------------------------------------------------------
Where colorclass can be one of:
Colors are in HTML hex format (#rrggbb), see the following example:
*Examples (default colors)*:
----------------------------------------------------------
-# class border backgr. text indicator
-client.focused #4c7899 #285577 #ffffff #2e9ef4
-client.focused_inactive #333333 #5f676a #ffffff #484e50
-client.unfocused #333333 #222222 #888888 #292d2e
-client.urgent #2f343a #900000 #ffffff #900000
-client.placeholder #000000 #0c0c0c #ffffff #000000
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+# class border backgr. text indicator child_border
+client.focused #4c7899 #285577 #ffffff #2e9ef4 #285577
+client.focused_inactive #333333 #5f676a #ffffff #484e50 #5f676a
+client.unfocused #333333 #222222 #888888 #292d2e #222222
+client.urgent #2f343a #900000 #ffffff #900000 #900000
+client.placeholder #000000 #0c0c0c #ffffff #000000 #0c0c0c
client.background #ffffff
----------------------------------------------------------
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
Note that for the window decorations, the color around the child window is the
-background color, and the border color is only the two thin lines at the top of
-the window.
+"child_border", and "border" color is only the two thin lines around the
+titlebar.
The indicator color is used for indicating where a new window will be opened.
For horizontal split containers, the right border will be painted in indicator
=== Focus follows mouse
-By default, window focus follows your mouse movements. However, if you have a
-setup where your mouse usually is in your way (like a touchpad on your laptop
-which you do not want to disable completely), you might want to disable 'focus
-follows mouse' and control focus only by using your keyboard. The mouse will
-still be useful inside the currently active window (for example to click on
-links in your browser window).
+By default, window focus follows your mouse movements as the mouse crosses
+window borders. However, if you have a setup where your mouse usually is in your
+way (like a touchpad on your laptop which you do not want to disable
+completely), you might want to disable 'focus follows mouse' and control focus
+only by using your keyboard. The mouse will still be useful inside the
+currently active window (for example to click on links in your browser window).
*Syntax*:
--------------------------
=== Focus wrapping
-When being in a tabbed or stacked container, the first container will be
-focused when you use +focus down+ on the last container -- the focus wraps. If
-however there is another stacked/tabbed container in that direction, focus will
-be set on that container. This is the default behavior so you can navigate to
-all your windows without having to use +focus parent+.
+By default, when in a container with several windows or child containers, the
+opposite window will be focused when trying to move the focus over the edge of
+a container (and there are no other containers in that direction) -- the focus
+wraps.
+
+If desired, you can disable this behavior by setting the +focus_wrapping+
+configuration directive to the value +no+.
+
+When enabled, focus wrapping does not occur by default if there is another
+window or container in the specified direction, and focus will instead be set
+on that window or container. This is the default behavior so you can navigate
+to all your windows without having to use +focus parent+.
If you want the focus to *always* wrap and you are aware of using +focus
-parent+ to switch to different containers, you can use the
-+force_focus_wrapping+ configuration directive. After enabling it, the focus
-will always wrap.
+parent+ to switch to different containers, you can instead set +focus_wrapping+
+to the value +force+.
*Syntax*:
---------------------------
-force_focus_wrapping yes|no
----------------------------
+focus_wrapping yes|no|force
-*Example*:
-------------------------
+# Legacy syntax, equivalent to "focus_wrapping force"
force_focus_wrapping yes
-------------------------
+---------------------------
+
+*Examples*:
+-----------------
+# Disable focus wrapping
+focus_wrapping no
+
+# Force focus wrapping
+focus_wrapping force
+-----------------
=== Forcing Xinerama
-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 don’t provide support for
force_display_urgency_hint 500 ms
---------------------------------
-=== Focus on window activation
-
[[focus_on_window_activation]]
+=== Focus on window activation
If a window is activated, e.g., via +google-chrome www.google.com+, it may request
to take focus. Since this may not preferable, different reactions can be configured.
none::
The window will neither be focused, nor be marked urgent.
+[[show_marks]]
=== Drawing marks on window decoration
-If activated, marks on windows are drawn in their window decoration. However,
-any mark starting with an underscore in its name (+_+) will not be drawn even if
-this option is activated.
+If activated, marks (see <<vim_like_marks>>) on windows are drawn in their window
+decoration. However, any mark starting with an underscore in its name (+_+) will
+not be drawn even if this option is activated.
The default for this option is +yes+.
--------------
[[line_continuation]]
-
=== Line continuation
Config files support line continuation, meaning when you end a line in a
backslash character (`\`), the line-break will be ignored by the parser. This
feature can be used to create more readable configuration files.
+Commented lines are not continued.
*Examples*:
-------------------
bindsym Mod1+f \
fullscreen toggle
+
+# this line is not continued \
+bindsym Mod1+F fullscreen toggle
-------------------
== Configuring i3bar
-------------------------
mode dock|hide|invisible
hidden_state hide|show
-modifier <Modifier>
+modifier <Modifier>|none
------------------------
*Example*:
}
----------------
-Available modifiers are Mod1-Mod5, Shift, Control (see +xmodmap(1)+).
+Available modifiers are Mod1-Mod5, Shift, Control (see +xmodmap(1)+). You can
+also use "none" if you don't want any modifier to trigger this behavior.
=== Mouse button commands
*Syntax*:
---------------
-output <output>
+output primary|<output>
---------------
*Example*:
statusline #ffffff
}
}
+
+# show bar on the primary monitor and on HDMI2
+bar {
+ output primary
+ output HDMI2
+ status_command i3status
+}
+
-------------------------------
+Note that you might not have a primary output configured yet. To do so, run:
+-------------------------
+xrandr --output <output> --primary
+-------------------------
=== Tray output
You can configure on which output (monitor) the icons should be displayed or
you can turn off the functionality entirely.
+You can use multiple +tray_output+ directives in your config to specify a list
+of outputs on which you want the tray to appear. The first available output in
+that list as defined by the order of the directives will be used for the tray
+output.
+
*Syntax*:
---------------------------------
tray_output none|primary|<output>
Specifies whether the current binding mode indicator should be shown or not.
This is useful if you want to hide the workspace buttons but still be able
-to see the current binding mode indicator.
-For an example of a +mode+ definition, see <<resizingconfig>>.
+to see the current binding mode indicator. See <<binding_modes>> to learn what
+modes are and how to use them.
The default is to show the mode indicator.
Text color to be used for the statusline.
separator::
Text color to be used for the separator.
+focused_background::
+ Background color of the bar on the currently focused monitor output. If
+ not used, the color will be taken from +background+.
+focused_statusline::
+ Text color to be used for the statusline on the currently focused
+ monitor output. If not used, the color will be taken from +statusline+.
+focused_separator::
+ Text color to be used for the separator on the currently focused
+ monitor output. If not used, the color will be taken from +separator+.
focused_workspace::
Border, background and text color for a workspace button when the workspace
has focus.
# enable floating mode and move container to workspace 4
for_window [class="^evil-app$"] floating enable, move container to workspace 4
+
+# move all floating windows to the scratchpad
+bindsym $mod+x [floating] move scratchpad
------------------------------------
The criteria which are currently implemented are:
class::
Compares the window class (the second part of WM_CLASS). Use the
- special value +__focused__+ to match all windows having the same window
+ special value +\_\_focused__+ to match all windows having the same window
class as the currently focused window.
instance::
Compares the window instance (the first part of WM_CLASS). Use the
- special value +__focused__+ to match all windows having the same window
+ special value +\_\_focused__+ to match all windows having the same window
instance as the currently focused window.
window_role::
Compares the window role (WM_WINDOW_ROLE). Use the special value
- +__focused__+ to match all windows having the same window role as the
+ +\_\_focused__+ to match all windows having the same window role as the
currently focused window.
window_type::
Compare the window type (_NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE). Possible values are
+normal+, +dialog+, +utility+, +toolbar+, +splash+, +menu+, +dropdown_menu+,
- +popup_menu+ and +tooltip+.
+ +popup_menu+, +tooltip+ and +notification+.
id::
Compares the X11 window ID, which you can get via +xwininfo+ for example.
title::
- Compares the X11 window title (_NET_WM_NAME or WM_NAME as fallback).
- Use the special value +__focused__+ to match all windows having the
+ Compares the X11 window title (\_NET_WM_NAME or WM_NAME as fallback).
+ Use the special value +\_\_focused__+ to match all windows having the
same window title as the currently focused window.
urgent::
Compares the urgent state of the window. Can be "latest" or "oldest".
(The following aliases are also available: newest, last, recent, first)
workspace::
Compares the workspace name of the workspace the window belongs to. Use
- the special value +__focused__+ to match all windows in the currently
+ the special value +\_\_focused__+ to match all windows in the currently
focused workspace.
con_mark::
- Compares the mark set for this container, see <<vim_like_marks>>.
+ Compares the marks set for this container, see <<vim_like_marks>>. A
+ match is made if any of the container's marks matches the specified
+ mark.
con_id::
Compares the i3-internal container ID, which you can get via the IPC
- interface. Handy for scripting.
+ interface. Handy for scripting. Use the special value +\_\_focused__+
+ to match only the currently focused window.
+floating::
+ Only matches floating windows. This criterion requires no value.
+tiling::
+ Only matches tiling windows. This criterion requires no value.
The criteria +class+, +instance+, +role+, +title+, +workspace+ and +mark+ are
actually regular expressions (PCRE). See +pcresyntax(3)+ or +perldoc perlre+ for
information on how to use them.
[[exec]]
-
=== Executing applications (exec)
What good is a window manager if you can’t actually start any applications?
See <<command_chaining>> for details on the special meaning of +;+ (semicolon)
and +,+ (comma): they chain commands together in i3, so you need to use quoted
-strings if they appear in your command.
+strings (as shown in <<exec_quoting>>) if they appear in your command.
*Syntax*:
--------------------------------
and Qt using applications seem to be, though), you will end up with a watch
cursor for 60 seconds.
+[[exec_quoting]]
+If the command to be executed contains a +;+ (semicolon) and/or a +,+ (comma),
+the entire command must be quoted. For example, to have a keybinding for the
+shell command +notify-send Hello, i3+, you would add an entry to your
+configuration file like this:
+
+*Example*:
+------------------------------
+# Execute a command with a comma in it
+bindsym $mod+p exec "notify-send Hello, i3"
+------------------------------
+
+If however a command with a comma and/or semicolon itself requires quotes, you
+must escape the internal quotation marks with double backslashes, like this:
+
+*Example*:
+------------------------------
+# Execute a command with a comma, semicolon and internal quotes
+bindsym $mod+p exec "notify-send \\"Hello, i3; from $USER\\""
+------------------------------
+
=== Splitting containers
The split command makes the current window a split container. Split containers
If you apply this command to a split container with the same orientation,
nothing will happen. If you use a different orientation, the split container’s
-orientation will be changed (if it does not have more than one window). Use
-+layout toggle split+ to change the layout of any split container from splitv
-to splith or vice-versa.
+orientation will be changed (if it does not have more than one window).
+The +toggle+ option will toggle the orientation of the split container if it
+contains a single window. Otherwise it makes the current window a split
+container with opposite orientation compared to the parent container.
+Use +layout toggle split+ to change the layout of any split container from
+splitv to splith or vice-versa. You can also define a custom sequence of layouts
+to cycle through with +layout toggle+, see <<manipulating_layout>>.
*Syntax*:
--------------------------
-split vertical|horizontal
--------------------------
+--------------------------------
+split vertical|horizontal|toggle
+--------------------------------
*Example*:
-------------------------------
+-------------------------------
bindsym $mod+v split vertical
bindsym $mod+h split horizontal
-------------------------------
+bindsym $mod+t split toggle
+-------------------------------
=== Manipulating layout
or +layout splith+ to change the current container layout to splith/splitv,
stacking, tabbed layout, splitv or splith, respectively.
+Specify up to four layouts after +layout toggle+ to cycle through them. Every
+time the command is executed, the layout specified after the currently active
+one will be applied. If the currently active layout is not in the list, the
+first layout in the list will be activated.
+
To make the current window (!) fullscreen, use +fullscreen enable+ (or
+fullscreen enable global+ for the global mode), to leave either fullscreen
mode use +fullscreen disable+, and to toggle between these two states use
--------------------------------------------
layout default|tabbed|stacking|splitv|splith
layout toggle [split|all]
+layout toggle [split|tabbed|stacking|splitv|splith] [split|tabbed|stacking|splitv|splith]…
--------------------------------------------
*Examples*:
# Toggle between stacking/tabbed/splith/splitv:
bindsym $mod+x layout toggle all
+# Toggle between stacking/tabbed/splith:
+bindsym $mod+x layout toggle stacking tabbed splith
+
+# Toggle between splitv/tabbed
+bindsym $mod+x layout toggle splitv tabbed
+
+# Toggle between last split layout/tabbed/stacking
+bindsym $mod+x layout toggle split tabbed stacking
+
# Toggle fullscreen
bindsym $mod+f fullscreen toggle
--------------
[[_focusing_moving_containers]]
-
=== Focusing containers
To change focus, you can use the +focus+ command. The following options are
----------------------------------------------
focus left|right|down|up
focus parent|child|floating|tiling|mode_toggle
-focus output left|right|up|down|<output>
+focus output left|right|up|down|primary|<output>
----------------------------------------------
*Examples*:
# Focus the big output
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:
+-------------------------
+xrandr --output <output> --primary
+-------------------------
+
=== Moving containers
Use the +move+ command to move a container.
# 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 [[<px> px] [<px> px]|center]
+move [absolute] position <pos_x> [px] <pos_y> [px]
+move [absolute] position center
# Moves the container to the current position of the
# mouse cursor. Only affects floating containers.
bindsym $mod+m move position mouse
-------------------------------------------------------
+=== Swapping containers
+
+Two containers can be swapped (i.e., move to each other's position) by using
+the +swap+ command. They will assume the position and geometry of the container
+they are swapped with.
+
+The first container to participate in the swapping can be selected through the
+normal command criteria process with the focused window being the usual
+fallback if no criteria are specified. The second container can be selected
+using one of the following methods:
+
++id+:: The X11 window ID of a client window.
++con_id+:: The i3 container ID of a container.
++mark+:: A container with the specified mark, see <<vim_like_marks>>.
+
+Note that swapping does not work with all containers. Most notably, swapping
+floating containers or containers that have a parent-child relationship to one
+another does not work.
+
+*Syntax*:
+----------------------------------------
+swap container with id|con_id|mark <arg>
+----------------------------------------
+
+*Examples*:
+-----------------------------------------------------------------
+# Swaps the focused container with the container marked »swapee«.
+swap container with mark swapee
+
+# Swaps container marked »A« and »B«
+[con_mark="^A$"] swap container with mark B
+-----------------------------------------------------------------
+
=== Sticky floating windows
If you want a window to stick to the glass, i.e., have it stay on screen even
=== Changing (named) workspaces/moving to workspaces
To change to a specific workspace, use the +workspace+ command, followed by the
-number or name of the workspace. To move containers to specific workspaces, use
-+move container to workspace+.
+number or name of the workspace. Pass the optional flag
++--no-auto-back-and-forth+ to disable <<back_and_forth>> for this specific call
+only.
+
+To move containers to specific workspaces, use +move container to workspace+.
You can also switch to the next and previous workspace with the commands
+workspace next+ and +workspace prev+, which is handy, for example, if you have
workspace using +move container to workspace back_and_forth+.
*Syntax*:
------------------------------------
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
workspace next|prev|next_on_output|prev_on_output
workspace back_and_forth
-workspace <name>
-workspace number <name>
+workspace [--no-auto-back-and-forth] <name>
+workspace [--no-auto-back-and-forth] number <name>
-move [window|container] [to] workspace <name>
-move [window|container] [to] workspace number <name>
+move [--no-auto-back-and-forth] [window|container] [to] workspace <name>
+move [--no-auto-back-and-forth] [window|container] [to] workspace number <name>
move [window|container] [to] workspace prev|next|current
------------------------------------
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Examples*:
-------------------------
bindsym $mod+r exec i3-input -F 'rename workspace to "%s"' -P 'New name: '
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
+If you want to rename workspaces on demand while keeping the navigation stable,
+you can use a setup like this:
+
+*Example*:
+-------------------------
+bindsym $mod+1 workspace number "1: www"
+bindsym $mod+2 workspace number "2: mail"
+...
+-------------------------
+
+If a workspace does not exist, the command +workspace number "1: mail"+ will
+create workspace "1: mail".
+
+If a workspace with number 1 does already exist, the command will switch to this
+workspace and ignore the text part. So even when the workspace has been renamed
+to "1: web", the above command will still switch to it.
+
=== Moving workspaces to a different screen
See <<move_to_outputs>> for how to move a container/workspace to a different
RandR output.
-=== Moving containers/workspaces to RandR outputs
-
[[move_to_outputs]]
+[[_moving_containers_workspaces_to_randr_outputs]]
+=== Moving containers/workspaces to RandR outputs
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:
*Syntax*:
-----------------------------------------------------
-move container to output left|right|down|up|<output>
-move workspace to output left|right|down|up|<output>
-----------------------------------------------------
+------------------------------------------------------------
+move container to output left|right|down|up|current|primary|<output>
+move workspace to output left|right|down|up|current|primary|<output>
+------------------------------------------------------------
*Examples*:
--------------------------------------------------------
# Put this window on the presentation output.
bindsym $mod+x move container to output VGA1
+
+# Put this window on the primary output.
+bindsym $mod+x move container to output primary
--------------------------------------------------------
-=== Moving containers/workspaces to marks
+Note that you might not have a primary output configured yet. To do so, run:
+-------------------------
+xrandr --output <output> --primary
+-------------------------
+
+=== Moving containers/windows to marks
To move a container to another container with a specific mark (see <<vim_like_marks>>),
you can use the following command.
--------------------------------------------------------
[[resizingconfig]]
-
=== Resizing containers/windows
If you want to resize containers/windows using your keyboard, you can use the
default is 10 percentage points). Note that +resize set+ will only work for
floating containers.
-I recommend using the resize command inside a so called +mode+:
-
-.Example: Configuration file, defining a mode for resizing
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
-mode "resize" {
- # These bindings trigger as soon as you enter the resize mode
-
- # Pressing left will shrink the window’s width.
- # Pressing right will grow the window’s width.
- # Pressing up will shrink the window’s height.
- # Pressing down will grow the window’s height.
- bindsym j resize shrink width 10 px or 10 ppt
- bindsym k resize grow height 10 px or 10 ppt
- bindsym l resize shrink height 10 px or 10 ppt
- bindsym semicolon resize grow width 10 px or 10 ppt
-
- # same bindings, but for the arrow keys
- bindsym Left resize shrink width 10 px or 10 ppt
- bindsym Down resize grow height 10 px or 10 ppt
- bindsym Up resize shrink height 10 px or 10 ppt
- bindsym Right resize grow width 10 px or 10 ppt
-
- # back to normal: Enter or Escape
- bindsym Return mode "default"
- bindsym Escape mode "default"
-}
+It is recommended to define bindings for resizing in a dedicated binding mode.
+See <<binding_modes>> and the example in the i3
+https://github.com/i3/i3/blob/next/etc/config.keycodes[default config] for more
+context.
-# Enter resize mode
-bindsym $mod+r mode "resize"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-*Example 2 - setting urxvt size to 640x480:*
+*Example*:
------------------------------------------------
for_window [class="urxvt"] resize set 640 480
------------------------------------------------
bindsym $mod+a [class="urxvt" title="VIM"] focus
------------------------------------------------
-=== VIM-like marks (mark/goto)
-
[[vim_like_marks]]
+=== VIM-like marks (mark/goto)
This feature is like the jump feature: It allows you to directly jump to a
specific window (this means switching to the appropriate workspace and setting
can also prefix this command and display a custom prompt for the input dialog.
The additional +--toggle+ option will remove the mark if the window already has
-this mark, add it if the window has none or replace the current mark if it has
-another mark.
+this mark or add it otherwise. Note that you may need to use this in
+combination with +--add+ (see below) as any other marks will otherwise be
+removed.
-Refer to +show_marks+ if you don't want marks to be shown in the window decoration.
+By default, a window can only have one mark. You can use the +--add+ flag to
+put more than one mark on a window.
+
+Refer to <<show_marks>> if you don't want marks to be shown in the window decoration.
*Syntax*:
-------------------------------
-mark [--toggle] <identifier>
+----------------------------------------------
+mark [--add|--replace] [--toggle] <identifier>
[con_mark="identifier"] focus
unmark <identifier>
-------------------------------
+----------------------------------------------
*Example (in a terminal)*:
-------------------------------
-$ i3-msg mark irssi
-$ i3-msg '[con_mark="irssi"] focus'
-$ i3-msg unmark irssi
-------------------------------
+---------------------------------------------------------
+# marks the focused container
+mark irssi
+
+# focus the container with the mark "irssi"
+'[con_mark="irssi"] focus'
+
+# remove the mark "irssi" from whichever container has it
+unmark irssi
+
+# remove all marks on all firefox windows
+[class="(?i)firefox"] unmark
+---------------------------------------------------------
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
TODO: make i3-input replace %s
---------------------------------------
Alternatively, if you do not want to mess with +i3-input+, you could create
-seperate bindings for a specific set of labels and then only use those labels.
+separate bindings for a specific set of labels and then only use those labels.
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+[[pango_markup]]
=== Window title format
By default, i3 will simply print the X11 window title. Using +title_format+,
and the following placeholders which will be replaced:
+%title+::
- The X11 window title (_NET_WM_NAME or WM_NAME as fallback).
+ For normal windows, this is the X11 window title (_NET_WM_NAME or WM_NAME
+ as fallback). When used on containers without a window (e.g., a split
+ container inside a tabbed/stacked layout), this will be the tree
+ representation of the container (e.g., "H[xterm xterm]").
+%class+::
The X11 window class (second part of WM_CLASS). This corresponds to the
+class+ criterion, see <<command_criteria>>.
There is also +border toggle+ which will toggle the different border styles.
+Note that "pixel" refers to logical pixel. On HiDPI displays, a logical pixel
+may be represented by multiple physical pixels, so +pixel 1+ might not
+necessarily translate into a single pixel row wide border.
+
*Syntax*:
-----------------------------------------------
border normal|pixel [<n>]
----------------------------------------------
[[shmlog]]
-
=== Enabling shared memory logging
-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.
------------------------------------------------
[[multi_monitor]]
-
== Multiple monitors
As you can see in the goal list on the website, i3 was specifically developed
track of which window you put where. Thus, you can use vim-like marks to
quickly switch between windows. See <<vim_like_marks>>.
4. For information on how to move existing workspaces between monitors,
- see <<_moving_containers_workspaces_to_randr_outputs>>.
+ see <<move_to_outputs>>.
== i3 and the rest of your software world
on which hint the application sets. With i3bar, you can configure its position,
see <<i3bar_position>>.
+[[presentations]]
=== Giving presentations (multi-monitor)
When giving a presentation, you typically want the audience to see what you see
which only you can see on your screen, while the audience can only see the
slides.
-[[presentations]]
==== Case 1: everybody gets the same output
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
projects / i3 / i3 / blobdiff