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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.

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308 votes
22 answers
708k views

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 ...
Matthew Scharley's user avatar
190 votes
10 answers
110k views

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 ...
brandonjp's user avatar
  • 2,215
163 votes
16 answers
290k views

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 ...
Philip Durbin's user avatar
154 votes
3 answers
131k views

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, ...
voyager's user avatar
  • 2,750
84 votes
11 answers
341k views

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 ...
Nur's user avatar
  • 1,220
68 votes
7 answers
37k views

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. ...
Arista2's user avatar
  • 781
65 votes
2 answers
53k views

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 ...
Ryan C. Thompson's user avatar
62 votes
9 answers
31k views

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?
user avatar
48 votes
3 answers
60k views

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 ...
James Sulak's user avatar
47 votes
14 answers
72k views

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 ...
Tina's user avatar
  • 479
41 votes
8 answers
32k views

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 ...
itsadok's user avatar
  • 1,770
39 votes
4 answers
24k views

KDE - move app window between monitors via keyboard

I'm looking for a utility that moves app windows between multiple monitors in KDE.
Jarek's user avatar
  • 1,753
30 votes
7 answers
134k views

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 ...
wcoenen's user avatar
  • 2,320
27 votes
3 answers
18k views

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 ...
keithchau's user avatar
  • 353
27 votes
13 answers
5k views

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 ...
Kyle Cronin's user avatar
  • 7,419
27 votes
5 answers
12k views

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, ...
Brad's user avatar
  • 6,262
26 votes
3 answers
9k views

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: ...
nopcorn's user avatar
  • 16.7k
22 votes
7 answers
59k views

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.
Ionică Bizău's user avatar
22 votes
8 answers
24k views

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 ...
user avatar
22 votes
5 answers
22k views

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 ...
RyanScottLewis's user avatar
22 votes
2 answers
9k views

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 ...
Adam Barnes's user avatar
22 votes
1 answer
14k views

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 ...
jacq's user avatar
  • 329
21 votes
4 answers
80k views

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,...
wcoenen's user avatar
  • 2,320
21 votes
4 answers
10k views

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 ...
Corey D's user avatar
  • 407
20 votes
5 answers
83k views

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. ...
beatgammit's user avatar
  • 1,445
19 votes
3 answers
22k views

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?
GJ.'s user avatar
  • 9,883
19 votes
6 answers
16k views

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 ...
John Thompson's user avatar
16 votes
4 answers
9k views

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 ...
Valiant's user avatar
  • 191
15 votes
4 answers
21k views

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 ...
Devdatta Tengshe's user avatar
14 votes
4 answers
26k views

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 ...
Patrick's user avatar
  • 1,919
14 votes
4 answers
18k views

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) ...
Connor W's user avatar
  • 3,951
14 votes
8 answers
48k views

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 ...
syockit's user avatar
  • 771
14 votes
2 answers
6k views

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 ...
0xfg's user avatar
  • 141
14 votes
2 answers
5k views

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 ...
Brian Postow's user avatar
  • 1,635
13 votes
4 answers
7k views

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 ...
Delirium tremens's user avatar
13 votes
4 answers
21k views

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 ...
Volomike's user avatar
  • 751
12 votes
5 answers
14k views

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 ...
Sridhar Ratnakumar's user avatar
12 votes
12 answers
21k views

The best lightweight window manager for linux? [closed]

What is the best lightweight window manager (optimized for running over a network) for Linux?
12 votes
3 answers
12k views

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 ...
Vik's user avatar
  • 262
12 votes
1 answer
8k views

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 ...
lang2's user avatar
  • 2,282
12 votes
1 answer
77k views

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 ...
OverTheRainbow's user avatar
12 votes
2 answers
1k views

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 ...
palacsint's user avatar
  • 627
12 votes
1 answer
2k views

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 ...
William Casarin's user avatar
11 votes
1 answer
39k views

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 ...
kLy's user avatar
  • 563
11 votes
4 answers
6k views

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 ...
Mechanical snail's user avatar
11 votes
6 answers
2k views

"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 ...
adrianbanks's user avatar
  • 1,104
11 votes
2 answers
4k views

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 votes
1 answer
5k views

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 ...
bobbaluba's user avatar
  • 325
11 votes
2 answers
6k views

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 ...
esamatti's user avatar
  • 322
10 votes
2 answers
5k views

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 ...
groovehunter's user avatar

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