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Window Focus Commands

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focusstack

Focus the next or previous window in the tiling stack order.
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arg->i
int
required
Direction: NEXT or PREV to cycle through windows
Example: 
bind=SUPER,Tab,focusstack,next
Behavior:
  • Focuses next/previous tiled window on current monitor
  • Skips floating windows
  • Wraps around to first window when reaching the end
  • Optionally warps cursor to focused window if warpcursor=1

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focusdir

Focus window in a specific direction (left, right, up, down).
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arg->i
direction
required
Direction: LEFT, RIGHT, UP, or DOWN
Examples: 
bind=ALT,Left,focusdir,left
bind=ALT,Right,focusdir,right
bind=ALT,Up,focusdir,up
bind=ALT,Down,focusdir,down
Behavior:
  • Focuses window in the specified direction based on spatial layout
  • If no window found in direction and focus_cross_tag=1, switches to adjacent tag
  • If no window found and focus_cross_monitor=1, switches to adjacent monitor
  • Works with both tiled and floating windows

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focusmon

Focus a different monitor.
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arg->i
direction
required
Direction: LEFT, RIGHT, or monitor name
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arg->v
string
Monitor name/spec to focus
Examples: 
bind=alt+shift,Left,focusmon,left
bind=alt+shift,Right,focusmon,right
Behavior:
  • Switches focus to specified monitor
  • Focuses topmost window on target monitor
  • Optionally warps cursor to target monitor if warpcursor=1

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focuslast

Focus the last focused window. Example: 
bind=SUPER,grave,focuslast,
Behavior:
  • Cycles through focus history
  • Switches to the tag containing the last focused window
  • Useful for quickly switching between two windows

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Window State Commands

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togglefloating

Toggle floating state of focused window. Example: 
bind=ALT,backslash,togglefloating,
Behavior:
  • Makes tiled window floating or floating window tiled
  • Floating windows can be freely moved and resized
  • Tiled windows participate in automatic layout
  • Preserves window geometry when toggling

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togglefullscreen

Toggle fullscreen state of focused window. Example: 
bind=ALT,f,togglefullscreen,
Behavior:
  • Expands window to cover entire monitor
  • Hides borders and gaps
  • Window is on top of all other windows
  • Restores previous state when toggled off

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togglefakefullscreen

Toggle fake fullscreen state. Example: 
bind=ALT+SHIFT,f,togglefakefullscreen,
Behavior:
  • Window appears fullscreen but only within its workspace area
  • Allows other windows to remain visible on other monitors
  • Useful for applications that don’t handle true fullscreen well

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togglemaximizescreen

Toggle maximized state of focused window. Example: 
bind=ALT,a,togglemaximizescreen,
Behavior:
  • Expands window to fill available space
  • Respects gaps and borders
  • Different from fullscreen (not always on top)
  • Window border changes to maximizescreencolor

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toggleglobal

Toggle global state (visible on all tags). Example: 
bind=SUPER,g,toggleglobal,
Behavior:
  • Makes window visible on all tags/workspaces
  • Useful for monitoring applications, chat clients
  • Window border changes to globalcolor
  • Window exits scroller stack if in one

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toggleoverlay

Toggle overlay mode for focused window. Example: 
bind=SUPER,o,toggleoverlay,
Behavior:
  • Places window in overlay layer (above all other windows)
  • Window remains on top regardless of focus
  • Border changes to overlaycolor
  • Cannot be used with fullscreen windows

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minimized

Minimize the focused window. Example: 
bind=SUPER,i,minimized,
Behavior:
  • Hides window from view
  • Window remains in compositor but not visible
  • Can be restored with restore_minimized
  • Does not work in overview mode

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restore_minimized

Restore the last minimized window. Example: 
bind=SUPER+SHIFT,I,restore_minimized
Behavior:
  • Restores most recently minimized window
  • Focuses and shows the window
  • Switches to the tag containing the window
  • Warps cursor to window if warpcursor=1

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toggle_scratchpad

Toggle scratchpad visibility. Example: 
bind=ALT,z,toggle_scratchpad
Behavior:
  • Shows/hides scratchpad windows
  • Scratchpad is a hidden workspace for temporary windows
  • Window appears centered on screen with configured size
  • Border changes to scratchpadcolor

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toggle_named_scratchpad

Toggle a named scratchpad (specific application).
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arg->v
string
required
Application ID
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arg->v2
string
Window title
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arg->v3
string
Command to spawn if window doesn’t exist
Example: 
bind=SUPER,t,toggle_named_scratchpad,id:foot,title:dropdown,spawn:foot --title=dropdown
Behavior:
  • Shows/hides a specific application as scratchpad
  • Launches application if it doesn’t exist
  • Useful for dropdown terminals, calculators, etc.

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Window Movement Commands

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exchange_client

Swap focused window with window in specified direction.
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arg->i
direction
required
Direction: LEFT, RIGHT, UP, or DOWN
Examples: 
bind=SUPER+SHIFT,Up,exchange_client,up
bind=SUPER+SHIFT,Down,exchange_client,down
bind=SUPER+SHIFT,Left,exchange_client,left
bind=SUPER+SHIFT,Right,exchange_client,right
Behavior:
  • Swaps position of focused window with adjacent window
  • Only works with tiled windows
  • Does not work in fullscreen or maximized state
  • Maintains layout structure

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exchange_stack_client

Swap focused window with next/previous in stack.
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arg->i
int
required
Direction: NEXT or PREV
Example: 
bind=SUPER,j,exchange_stack_client,next
bind=SUPER,k,exchange_stack_client,prev
Behavior:
  • Swaps window with next/previous in stack order
  • Only works with tiled windows
  • Does not work with floating, fullscreen, or maximized windows

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movewin

Move floating window by pixel offset.
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arg->ui
operator
Operation type: NUM_TYPE_PLUS, NUM_TYPE_MINUS, or absolute
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arg->i
int
required
X offset in pixels
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arg->ui2
operator
Operation type for Y
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arg->i2
int
required
Y offset in pixels
Examples: 
bind=CTRL+SHIFT,Up,movewin,+0,-50
bind=CTRL+SHIFT,Down,movewin,+0,+50
bind=CTRL+SHIFT,Left,movewin,-50,+0
bind=CTRL+SHIFT,Right,movewin,+50,+0
Behavior:
  • Moves window by specified pixel offset
  • Automatically makes window floating if tiled
  • Does not work with fullscreen windows
  • Use + prefix for relative movement

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smartmovewin

Intelligently move floating window avoiding collisions.
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arg->i
direction
required
Direction: LEFT, RIGHT, UP, or DOWN
Example: 
bind=SUPER,Left,smartmovewin,left
Behavior:
  • Moves window in direction while avoiding other windows
  • Snaps to edges of other windows
  • Automatically makes window floating
  • Respects monitor boundaries

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centerwin

Center window on monitor. Example: 
bind=SUPER,c,centerwin,
Behavior:
  • Centers floating window on current monitor
  • For scroller layout, centers tiled window horizontally/vertically
  • Does not work with fullscreen or maximized windows

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Window Resizing Commands

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resizewin

Resize window by pixel offset.
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arg->ui
operator
Operation type: NUM_TYPE_PLUS, NUM_TYPE_MINUS, or absolute
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arg->i
int
required
Width change in pixels
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arg->ui2
operator
Operation type for height
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arg->i2
int
required
Height change in pixels
Examples: 
bind=CTRL+ALT,Up,resizewin,+0,-50
bind=CTRL+ALT,Down,resizewin,+0,+50
bind=CTRL+ALT,Left,resizewin,-50,+0
bind=CTRL+ALT,Right,resizewin,+50,+0
Behavior:
  • Resizes window by specified pixel amount
  • Works with both floating and tiled windows
  • For tiled windows, adjusts window proportion
  • Does not work with fullscreen or maximized windows
  • Use + prefix for relative sizing

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smartresizewin

Intelligently resize window avoiding collisions.
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arg->i
direction
required
Direction: LEFT, RIGHT, UP, or DOWN
Example: 
bind=SUPER+ALT,Right,smartresizewin,right
Behavior:
  • Resizes window in direction while avoiding other windows
  • Snaps to edges of other windows
  • Automatically makes window floating
  • Respects monitor boundaries

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moveresize

Interactive move/resize with mouse.
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arg->ui
mode
required
Mode: CurMove or CurResize
Examples: 
mousebind=SUPER,btn_left,moveresize,curmove
mousebind=SUPER,btn_right,moveresize,curresize
Behavior:
  • Enters interactive move/resize mode
  • curmove: Drag to move window
  • curresize: Drag to resize window from nearest corner
  • Automatically makes window floating if tiled
  • Does not work with fullscreen or maximized windows

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Other Window Commands

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killclient

Close the focused window. Example: 
bind=ALT,q,killclient,
Behavior:
  • Sends close request to focused window
  • Application may prompt to save changes
  • If application doesn’t respond, may need force quit

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zoom

Move focused window to master position. Example: 
bind=SUPER,Return,zoom,
Behavior:
  • Swaps focused window with master window
  • Only works with tiled windows in layouts with master area
  • Does not work with floating windows

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toggle_render_border

Toggle border rendering on/off. Example: 
bind=SUPER,b,toggle_render_border,
Behavior:
  • Globally enables/disables window borders
  • Affects all windows
  • Useful for screenshots or maximizing screen space

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See Also

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