The red keys are the modifiers you need to press (by default), the blue keys
are your homerow.
+Note that when starting i3 without a config file, i3-config-wizard will offer
+you to create a config file in which the key positions (!) match what you see
+in the image above, regardless of the keyboard layout you are using. If you
+prefer to use a config file where the key letters match what you are seeing
+above, just decline i3-config-wizard’s offer and base your config on
++/etc/i3/config+.
+
== 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/i3.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/i3.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
-------------------
[[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
*Syntax*:
----------------------------------
-bindsym [--release] [<Modifiers>+]<keysym> command
-bindcode [--release] [<Modifiers>+]<keycode> command
+bindsym [--release] [<Group>+][<Modifiers>+]<keysym> command
+bindcode [--release] [<Group>+][<Modifiers>+]<keycode> command
----------------------------------
*Examples*:
Mod1-Mod5, Shift, Control::
Standard modifiers, see +xmodmap(1)+
-Mode_switch::
-Unlike other window managers, i3 can use Mode_switch as a modifier. This allows
-you to remap capslock (for example) to Mode_switch and use it for both: typing
-umlauts or special characters 'and' having some comfortably reachable key
-bindings. For example, when typing, capslock+1 or capslock+2 for switching
-workspaces is totally convenient. Try it :-).
+Group1, Group2, Group3, Group4::
+When using multiple keyboard layouts (e.g. with `setxkbmap -layout us,ru`), you
+can specify in which XKB group (also called “layout”) a keybinding should be
+active. By default, keybindings are translated in Group1 and are active in all
+groups. If you want to override keybindings in one of your layouts, specify the
+corresponding group. For backwards compatibility, the group “Mode_switch” is an
+alias for Group2.
[[mousebindings]]
-
=== Mouse bindings
A mouse binding makes i3 execute a command upon pressing a specific mouse
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, Esc 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 Esc mode "default"
+ bindsym Return mode "default"
+}
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+[[floating_modifier]]
=== The floating modifier
To move floating windows with your mouse, you can either grab their titlebar
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 can be used in combination with <<command_criteria>>.
+this from happening and must be used in combination with <<command_criteria>>.
Note that this does not apply to all cases, e.g., when feeding data into a running application
causing it to request being focused. To configure the behavior in such cases, refer to
<<focus_on_window_activation>>.
++no_focus+ will also be ignored for the first window on a workspace as there shouldn't be
+a reason to not focus the window in this case. This allows for better usability in
+combination with +workspace_layout+.
+
*Syntax*:
-------------------
no_focus <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
-
[[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,
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
client.placeholder::
Background and text color are used to draw placeholder window contents
(when restoring layouts). Border and indicator are ignored.
-
-You can also specify the color to be used to paint the background of the client
-windows. This color will be used to paint the window on top of which the client
-will be rendered.
-
-*Syntax*:
--------------------------
-client.background <color>
--------------------------
-
-Only clients that do not cover the whole area of this window expose the color
-used to paint it.
+client.background::
+ Background color which will be used to paint the background of the
+ client window on top of which the client will be rendered. Only clients
+ which do not cover the whole area of this window expose the color. Note
+ that this colorclass only takes a single color.
Colors are in HTML hex format (#rrggbb), see the following example:
client.unfocused #333333 #222222 #888888 #292d2e
client.urgent #2f343a #900000 #ffffff #900000
client.placeholder #000000 #0c0c0c #ffffff #000000
+
+client.background #ffffff
---------------------------------------------------------
Note that for the window decorations, the color around the child window is the
force_display_urgency_hint 500 ms
---------------------------------
-=== Delaying exiting on zero displays
-
-Outputs may disappear momentarily and come back later. For example,
-using a docking station that does not announce the undock (e.g. ACPI Undock
-event triggered through manually pushing a button before actually ejecting
-the notebook). During the removal of the notebook from the docking station,
-all outputs disappear momentarily.
-
-To prevent i3 from exiting when no output is available momentarily, you can
-tell i3 to delay a certain time first and check available outputs again using
-the +delay_exit_on_zero_displays+ directive. Setting the value to 0 disables
-this feature.
-
-The default is 500ms.
-
-*Syntax*:
-----------------------------------------
-delay_exit_on_zero_displays <timeout> ms
-----------------------------------------
-
-*Example*:
-----------------------------------
-delay_exit_on_zero_displays 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,
--------------
[[line_continuation]]
-
=== Line continuation
-Config files support line continuation, which is indicated by \ before the
-new line character.
+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.
*Examples*:
-------------------
}
# show tray icons on the primary monitor
-tray_output primary
+bar {
+ tray_output primary
+}
# show tray icons on the big monitor
bar {
xrandr --output <output> --primary
-------------------------
+Note that when you use multiple bar configuration blocks, either specify
+`tray_output primary` in all of them or explicitly specify `tray_output none`
+in bars which should not display the tray, otherwise the different instances
+might race each other in trying to display tray icons.
+
=== Tray padding
The tray is shown on the right-hand side of the bar. By default, a padding of 2
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.
The criteria which are currently implemented are:
class::
- Compares the window class (the second part of WM_CLASS)
+ Compares the window class (the second part of WM_CLASS). Use the
+ 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)
+ Compares the window instance (the first part of WM_CLASS). Use the
+ 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).
+ Compares the window role (WM_WINDOW_ROLE). Use the special value
+ +\_\_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 +toolti+.
+ Compare the window type (_NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE). Possible values are
+ +normal+, +dialog+, +utility+, +toolbar+, +splash+, +menu+, +dropdown_menu+,
+ +popup_menu+ and +tooltip+.
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).
+ 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".
Matches the latest or oldest urgent window, respectively.
(The following aliases are also available: newest, last, recent, first)
workspace::
- Compares the workspace name of the workspace the window belongs to.
+ Compares the workspace name of the workspace the window belongs to. Use
+ 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.
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?
--------------
[[_focusing_moving_containers]]
-
=== Focusing containers
To change focus, you can use the +focus+ command. The following options are
bindsym $mod+m move position mouse
-------------------------------------------------------
+=== Sticky floating windows
+
+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
+window.
+
+Note that while any window can be made sticky through this command, it will
+only take effect if the window is floating.
+
+*Syntax*:
+----------------------------
+sticky enable|disable|toggle
+----------------------------
+
+*Examples*:
+------------------------------------------------------
+# make a terminal sticky that was started as a notepad
+for_window [instance=notepad] sticky enable
+------------------------------------------------------
+
=== 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
container to the next/previous workspace and +move container to workspace current+
(the last one makes sense only when used with criteria).
++workspace next+ cycles through either numbered or named workspaces. But when it
+reaches the last numbered/named workspace, it looks for named workspaces after
+exhausting numbered ones and looks for numbered ones after exhausting named ones.
+
See <<move_to_outputs>> for how to move a container/workspace to a different
RandR output.
-----------------------------------
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>
i3-msg 'rename workspace 5 to 6'
i3-msg 'rename workspace 1 to "1: www"'
i3-msg 'rename workspace "1: www" to "10: www"'
-i3-msg 'rename workspace to "2: mail"
+i3-msg 'rename workspace to "2: mail"'
bindsym $mod+r exec i3-input -F 'rename workspace to "%s"' -P 'New name: '
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
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+,
bindsym $mod+x move container to output VGA1
--------------------------------------------------------
-=== Moving containers/workspaces to marks
+=== 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
*Syntax*:
-------------------------------------------------------
resize grow|shrink <direction> [<px> px [or <ppt> ppt]]
+resize set <width> [px] <height> [px]
-------------------------------------------------------
Direction can either be one of +up+, +down+, +left+ or +right+. Or you can be
how many pixels a *floating container* should be grown or shrunk (the default
is 10 pixels). The ppt argument means percentage points and specifies by how
many percentage points a *tiling container* should be grown or shrunk (the
-default is 10 percentage points).
-
-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"
-}
+default is 10 percentage points). Note that +resize set+ will only work for
+floating containers.
-# Enter resize mode
-bindsym $mod+r mode "resize"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
+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/i3.config.keycodes[default config] for more
+context.
+
+*Example*:
+------------------------------------------------
+for_window [class="urxvt"] resize set 640 480
+------------------------------------------------
=== Jumping to specific windows
bindsym $mod+a [class="urxvt" title="VIM"] focus
------------------------------------------------
-=== VIM-like marks (mark/goto)
-
[[vim_like_marks]]
+=== VIM-like marks (mark/goto)
This feature is like the jump feature: It allows you to directly jump to a
specific window (this means switching to the appropriate workspace and setting
can also prefix this command and display a custom prompt for the input dialog.
The additional +--toggle+ option will remove the mark if the window already has
-this mark, add it if the window has none or replace the current mark if it has
-another mark.
+this mark or add it otherwise. Note that you may need to use this in
+combination with +--add+ (see below) as any other marks will otherwise be
+removed.
+
+By default, a window can only have one mark. You can use the +--add+ flag to
+put more than one mark on a window.
-Refer to +show_marks+ if you don't want marks to be shown in the window decoration.
+Refer to <<show_marks>> if you don't want marks to be shown in the window decoration.
*Syntax*:
-------------------------------
-mark [--toggle] <identifier>
+----------------------------------------------
+mark [--add|--replace] [--toggle] <identifier>
[con_mark="identifier"] focus
unmark <identifier>
-------------------------------
+----------------------------------------------
*Example (in a terminal)*:
-------------------------------
-$ 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
seperate 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+,
+%title+::
The X11 window title (_NET_WM_NAME or WM_NAME as fallback).
++%class+::
+ The X11 window class (second part of WM_CLASS). This corresponds to the
+ +class+ criterion, see <<command_criteria>>.
++%instance+::
+ The X11 window instance (first part of WM_CLASS). This corresponds to the
+ +instance+ criterion, see <<command_criteria>>.
Using the <<for_window>> directive, you can set the title format for any window
based on <<command_criteria>>.
----------------------------------------------
[[shmlog]]
-
=== Enabling shared memory logging
As described in http://i3wm.org/docs/debugging.html, i3 can log to a shared
------------------------------------------------
[[multi_monitor]]
-
== Multiple monitors
As you can see in the goal list on the website, i3 was specifically developed
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