Questions tagged [window-manager]
A window manager takes care of the placement and appearance of windows in a GUI-driven operating system. Sometimes, the term also refers to plugins that extend this basic functionality.
449
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How to move windows that open up offscreen?
I have a dual monitor setup, and I recently played around with the positioning settings, and some of my single window applications do the favour of preserving where they were last closed, and opening ...
190
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Keyboard shortcut to unhide or unminimize a window in OS X
I know how to Hide (Cmd+H) or Minimize (Cmd+M) a focused window in OS X, but I can't find a keyboard shortcut or even a menu item to restore, unhide, unminimize, or otherwise show a window that I've ...
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What keyboard shortcuts move, resize, and maximize windows under Mac OS X?
I just checked http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_of_keyboard_shortcuts but the following "Window management" entries are blank for Mac OS X:
Move the focused window
Resize the focused window
...
154
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3
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What Tiling Window Manager for Windows do you recommend? [closed]
What is the best tiling window manager for Windows?
I'm looking for something like awesome.
It would be nice if it removes the title bar and has "comfortable" shortcut keys (for me that's vi keys, ...
84
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11
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Make any windowed application 'Always On Top' without keyboard shortcut?
I've checked the previous question here, but unfortunately:
DeskPin mostly doesn't work since Windows 8, and it still doesn't work in Windows 10
PowerMenu hasn't been updated since 2002, and does not ...
68
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7
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How to disable sticky corners in Windows 8?
I have 2 monitors and in Windows 7 I used to just mouse-flick maximized windows from one monitor to the other.
With Windows 8 however (charms disabled), my mouse hangs in the corners while doing this. ...
65
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2
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How can I view the WMClass attribute of a window in Xorg (linux)?
I am trying to find a workaround for incorrect grouping of windows in Docky, and I believe the problem lies with the WMClass attribute that is set for each window. However, I do not know how to view ...
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Make window always on top?
Some applications do not have the functionality like Task Manager's "Always on top" feature.
Is there a way around this?
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3
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Windows utility to save/restore window size & position history? [closed]
Is there a Windows utility that keeps a record of the size and position of all active windows for later retrieval? For example, if I have my text editor and web browser open side-by-side, and then ...
47
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14
answers
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Juggling between 2 Chrome windows in Mac OS X
I open a lot of separate windows of Chrome on my Mac. However, juggling between two separate windows of Chrome doesn't work with Command+tab. When I press command+tab, only one instance of Chrome can ...
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Why use a tiling window manager?
I've been hearing a lot about tiling window managers lately. People seem to love them, swear by them, even wonder why everyone doesn't use them. But after searching for a little bit, I couldn't find ...
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4
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KDE - move app window between monitors via keyboard
I'm looking for a utility that moves app windows between multiple monitors in KDE.
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How do I quickly position two windows side by side?
Sometimes you need to see two windows side by side, e.g. when following instructions or when working on a translation. How do I quickly arrange two windows like that?
edit: interested in answers for ...
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What exactly does the little green "+" button do in Mac OS X?
OK, I must admit that I am from the Windows world and started using Leopard not for long.
One really annoying thing when using my shiny new OS is that I can't predict what exact behavior it brings ...
27
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Tiling Window Manager
I've been looking into tiling window managers because I'm tired of manually positioning and resizing all my windows whenever I want to see some information side by side. However, the tiling window ...
27
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Windows 11 desktop switching is slow since latest update
Since a recent Windows Update (2023-09 Cumulative Update Preview for Windows 11 Version 22H2 for x64-based Systems (KB5030310) probably?), switching desktops is much slower.
I normally use Win+Tab, ...
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3
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Window Manager vs. Desktop Environment vs. Window System? What's the difference?
I'm confused as to what these terms actually mean AND as to what they do/how they contribute to the system as a whole. In particular, back when I was running Ubuntu, there were several keywords like:
...
22
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7
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Minimize/Maximize current window keyboard shortcut
Are there any Keyboard Shortcuts for maximizing, minimizing and resizing the current window?
I am on Ubuntu 13.04, Gnome-latest version.
22
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How to switch back to previous window on OS X?
As a long time Windows users I'm used to switch between two windows using keyboard. Now at Mac I just can't figure out how to do that!
Command-Tab works nicely between apps, but how to do the same ...
22
votes
5
answers
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Browser instead of window manager?
Is it possible to have just a browser (for example, just a canvas that renders with webkit) running on top of X11 (or any other way in Linux) as my window manager, as if I'm viewing my normal web ...
22
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2
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Is Cinnamon a desktop environment or a window manager? (Or both?)
As far as I understand it:
X11 is how you draw primitive things;
A (compositing) window manager is something that uses X11 to provide the tools for drawing more complex things, and position them in ...
22
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1
answer
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Windows 10: How to save a virtual desktop session?
I work on multiple projects involving many different tools and therefore windows in my taskbar.
I use the virtual desktop feature of Windows 10 to avoid having a messy desktop.
I can let my laptop go ...
21
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4
answers
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Keyboard shortcut for moving a window to another screen
When working with two (or more screens), a common problem is that launched applications appear on the "wrong" screen. I especially find this annoying when launching a text editor from the command line,...
21
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4
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Use ALT to move windows in Windows like in Linux
In most Linux window managers, one can use the Alt key while clicking and dragging to rearrange windows. This is one of my favorite features of Linux window managers.
Is there a way to do this in ...
20
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5
answers
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Is there a name for the close, minimize and restore buttons?
It seems to me that there should be a generic name for the close, restore, and minimize buttons on the title bar in window managers. It's been getting hard to search for answers associated with them. ...
19
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3
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Gnome (Ubuntu): how to bring a program window to the front using a command line from the terminal?
I have a certain work environment with dozens of open Windows. How can I bring to the front a window with a known name/title programatically or using the command line?
19
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6
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Is there a Linux window manager that allows separate virtual desktops (workspaces) on separate monitors? [closed]
For instance, in Gnome, I can set up multiple Gnome workspaces. But when I add a second monitor, all I get is my current workspace extended onto the second monitor. I hate it. Every time I run a ...
16
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4
answers
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What's the simplest way to display a browser-based interface on a computer without a GUI?
I am converting an old laptop into what will basically just be a terminal for some of my other computers. For the most part, I only need to ssh into my computers, and that I can do with any CLI-based ...
15
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4
answers
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How to keep any Window "Always on Top"? [duplicate]
Some software have an option for their window to be "Always on Top". Is there any way to get the same functionality for any window.
Let me give an example where this would be useful.
Suppose I have a ...
14
votes
4
answers
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Windows 7 Aero Snap two windows horizontally [duplicate]
As many people already know, there are several ways to trigger Windows 7 Aero Snap feature.
A user can either press Win+{Left,Right,Up,Down} to snap the window to the left or right or maximize or ...
14
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4
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Is it possible to get the Ubuntu 'Always on top' functionality in Windows? [duplicate]
In Ubuntu when you right click on a window, you get the option to keep it 'Always on Top'. This is incredibly useful sometimes when I want a window to take up the whole desktop (e.g. Internet Browser) ...
14
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8
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What to do if a window is bigger than the screen resolution?
I'm using Windows 7 on a 8.9' monitor with 1280x768 screen resolution. Using the might of arithmetics, I'm able to determine that my dpi (actually ppi) should be 167. Win7 is really helpful in that it ...
14
votes
2
answers
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How to remove window decoration under OSX?
I want to try a tiling window manager for OSX like this one: https://github.com/fjolnir/xnomad.
I found a tool to remove window shadow here: https://github.com/pufuwozu/toggle-osx-shadows
But ...
14
votes
2
answers
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disabling focus stealing in Mac OS X?
I have a program that works in the background but whenever it does something, it steals mouse focus. Often, while I'm in the middle of typing something. Needless to say, this is very annoying.
Is it ...
13
votes
4
answers
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Why was the close button moved to the left side in Ubuntu?
I was using Ubuntu 9. After automatically updating it to 10, the minimize, maximize and close buttons that used to be on top right were moved to the top left. Among the three buttons, close was moved ...
13
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4
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Can I install an alternative window manager on Mac OS X?
I come from the Windows and Linux world. Is there an alternative window manager for OS X such that I can move the "stoplight" icons from the left to the right on the titlebar of the window, and also ...
12
votes
5
answers
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Fast window switching without Alt-Tab or Command-Tab?
Alt-Tab or Command-Tab can sometimes be slow, especially when you have many windows open and you frequently switch to only a few of those windows. How do you work around this problem -- any tool to ...
12
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12
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The best lightweight window manager for linux? [closed]
What is the best lightweight window manager (optimized for running over a network) for Linux?
12
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3
answers
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Is there a command line utility equivalent to wmctrl on Windows
I'm trying to write a remote window manager so that I can control my open windows via bluetooth using anyremote. There's wmctrl for Linux that manages windows from the command line. Is there similar ...
12
votes
1
answer
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ALT + Left Click to Drag and ALT + Right Click to resize windows on Windows? [duplicate]
Coming from Linux, I really miss some features of window manager like xfwm, etc...
One thing I got used to was to be able to drag or resize a window while holding the ALT key.
Is there such a tool ...
12
votes
1
answer
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Alternative to PuTTY Connection Manager? [closed]
Development of the free application Putty Connection Manager that can display more than one Putty sessions stopped in 2009, and it sometimes triggers this error when I double-click on any host in the ...
12
votes
2
answers
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How to disable flashing VirtuaWin systray icon? Window is not responding
I have to run an application which is not responding so ViruaWin isn't able to manage it. (There is a "1 window not responding" tooltip on its systray icon.) Because of the hanging VirtuaWin flashes ...
12
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1
answer
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Moving windows between GNU screen sessions
Is there a way to move windows between different screen sessions?
For example lets say I have this scenario:
screen -S screen1
vim *.cpp
C-a d
screen -S screen2
Is there any way to move my shell ...
11
votes
1
answer
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Windows 10: How to hide window without closing?
Coming from a Mac OS background, I find it immensely useful to be able to have an app running, loaded in memory, and doing updates but having no visible open windows. This allows things like Facebook ...
11
votes
4
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Move windows between KDE activties
KDE 4.6 Plasma Workspaces added support for managing windows in Activities, which are a sort of combination between virtual desktops and session management. But I still haven't figured out some basic ...
11
votes
6
answers
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"Ghost" UI elements
Occasionally, I get part of an application lingering behind on my desktop:
This is part of a context menu for an application. It is always top-most, meaning that it is always on the screen, and I ...
11
votes
2
answers
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Practical tips when transitioning to xmonad?
I like the idea and concept of xmonad, however I still keep going back to gnome after an hour or so. This feels like when I first tried to learn vim, but I've gotten past the learning curve point and ...
11
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1
answer
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Window manager which allows multiple active windows/multiple input devices?
I have a huge desktop, with multiple monitors, and one pretty good computer.
I also have multiple mice and keyboards laying around.
Now I would really like to make use of all the hardware. Say a ...
11
votes
2
answers
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Window tiling in Gnome without Compiz?
I really do like the Grid plugin in Compiz, but at work I cannot use Compiz on my workstation (Fedora 12). Is there anything similar for plain X or Metacity?
The Grid-plugin gives you a few keyboard ...
10
votes
2
answers
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netbeans (java) shows empty window in tiling window manager (awesome wm)
I use the "awesome" (tiling) window manager (with default config) and want to run netbeans (java app).
But the window is completely grey. The installer window was it too, so i installed under KDE.
I ...