1ICEWM(1) User Commands ICEWM(1)
2
6 icewm - lightweight X11 window manager
7
9 icewm [OPTIONS]
10
12 icewm is a window manager for the X11 window system. It aims to be
13 small, fast and familiar to new users.
14 icewm is called a re-parenting window manager, because it draws small
16 frames around application windows. By dragging this frame with the
17 mouse, windows are resized or moved.
18 Because windows may overlap, icewm is also a stacking window manager.
20 Many windows may exist, some hidden behind others.
21 icewm supports a configurable number of virtual desktops. These are
23 called workspaces. Related windows are grouped on a dedicated
24 workspace. By switching between workspaces, the user can attend to
25 different tasks, while keeping oversight. This is supported by a task
26 bar and a pager.
27 The installation comes with several themes. Choose a theme via a menu.
29 icewm is compliant with the ICCCM and EWMH window manager
31 specifications.
32 PROGRAMS
34 The icewm package includes several programs:
35 icewm(1)
37 The actual window manager. It positions application windows on
38 screen and decorates them with borders. It gives input focus to the
39 current active application. icewm supports different focus modes,
40 which are explained below. It draws a small task bar at the bottom
41 of the screen, which gives easy access to programs, to virtual
42 desktops, to active applications, and to a small set of monitoring
43 applets.
44 icewmbg(1)
46 The background setting application. It can assign plain background
47 color or images in different formats to the X background. Each
48 workspace can have its own background. It supports semi-
49 transparency. Semitransparent background image and colour can be
50 configured. When the background image has changed then icewmbg(1)
51 can be notified to update the background. Multi-head monitor
52 setups are fully supported. See the icewmbg(1).
53 icewm-session(1)
55 icewm-session(1) is the preferred program to start the IceWM
56 system. It first loads additional environment variables from the
57 optional env file. Then it starts icewmbg(1) and icewm. It also
58 runs the startup script and implements basic session management.
59 On termination the shutdown script will be run first, then
60 icewm-session(1) will terminate icewm and icewmbg(1).
61 icewm-session(1) will also start the optional icesound(1) if you
62 give it the --sound option. See icewm-session(1).
63 icesh(1)
65 A powerful tool to control window properties and to interact with
66 the window manager. It is typically used in shell scripts. See
67 icesh(1).
68 icehelp(1)
70 A small document browser, which is used by icewm to display the
71 'IceWM manual' and some man pages.
72 icewmhint(1)
74 A utility for passing IceWM-specific window options to icewm. The
75 options are used to configure the first application which is
76 started subsequently. See icewmhint(1).
77 icesound(1)
79 Plays audio files on GUI events which are raised by icewm. It
80 supports ALSA, AO and OSS. See the icesound(1) man page.
81 icewm-menu-fdo(1)
83 Generate an icewm menu with executable desktop applications
84 according to XDG specifications. See the icewm-menu-fdo(1) man
85 page.
86 icewm-set-gnomewm(1)
88 Configures GNOME to start IceWM instead of its own WM.
89
91 COMMON OPTIONS
92 Each of the IceWM executables supports the following options:
93 -c, --config=FILE
95 Use FILE as the source of configuration options. By default icewm
96 looks for a file named preferences. This is a readable text file
97 which can be modified with the help of a text editor.
98 -t, --theme=NAME
100 Use NAME as the name of the icewm theme to use. A theme defines
101 the look and feel of icewm, like colors, fonts and buttons.
102 --display=DISPLAY
104 DISPLAY specifies the connection to the X11 server. By default the
105 environment variable "DISPLAY" is used.
106 --sync
108 This option specifies to use a slower synchronous communication
109 mode with the X11 server. This is irrelevant for normal use.
110 -h, --help
112 Gives a complete list of all the available command-line options
113 with some very brief explanation.
114 -V, --version
116 Shows the software release version for this program.
117 ICEWM OPTIONS
119 The icewm program supports some additional options:
120 -a, --alpha
122 Use a 32-bit visual for translucency. This can also be set in the
123 preferences file as "Alpha=1".
124 --replace
126 Instructs icewm to replace an existing window manager. Provided
127 that the window manager being replaced is ICCCM 2.0 compliant, once
128 it notices that it is to be replaced it will cease operations and
129 typically stop execution. This allows icewm to establish itself as
130 the only active window manager.
131 -r, --restart
133 Tell icewm to restart itself. This reloads the configuration from
134 file.
135 -s, --splash=IMAGE
137 Briefly show IMAGE on startup in the center of the screen. This
138 can also be set in the preferences file as Splash="image.jpg".
139 --configured
141 Shows a list of configuration options which were enabled when icewm
142 was compiled from source code. This can be helpful if one suspects
143 some functionality may be missing.
144 --directories
146 Gives a list of directories where icewm will look for configuration
147 data. This list is printed in the actual order in which icewm uses
148 it to search for configuration files.
149 -l, --list-themes
151 icewm will search all the configuration directories for theme files
152 and print a list of all found themes.
153 -p, --postpreferences
155 This gives a long list of all the internal icewm options with their
156 actual values after icewm has processed all of the configuration
157 and theme files. In some advanced scenarios this can be helpful to
158 inspect which configuration was chosen or whether option formatting
159 was correct.
160 --rewrite-preferences
162 Overwrite an existing preferences file with an icewm default
163 preferences, but preserve all modifications insofar they deviate
164 from the defaults.
165 --extensions
167 Give a list of the current X extensions, their versions and status.
168 --trace=conf,icon,prog,systray
170 Enable tracing of the paths which are used to load configuration,
171 and/or icons, and/or executed programs, and/or system tray applets.
172
174 TASKBAR
175 On startup icewm launches the task bar at the bottom of the screen.
176 The task bar consists from left to right of the following components:
177 The Menu button in the lower left corner gives access to the icewm root
179 menu. This menu has sub-menus to start applications, to control icewm
180 settings, and the icewm Logout menu.
181 The Show Desktop button unmaps all application windows to fully uncover
183 the desktop.
184 The Window List Menu button gives access to a menu with a list of
186 active windows for the current workspace and a list of workspaces with
187 sub-menus for their active application windows.
188 The Toolbar is a list of icons for applications which are defined in
190 the toolbar configuration file.
191 The Workspace Pane shows one button for each workspace. The current
193 workspace is indicated by a pressed button. Clicking another workspace
194 switches to that workspace. Press left mouse, then the Shift key, then
195 release the left mouse, takes the current window to that workspace.
196 Press left, then Alt, then release left, moves only the focused window
197 to other workspace, without changing the current workspace.
198 The workspaces are defined in the preferences file. To change a name
200 for only this session, double click, edit the name and hit Enter. When
201 "PagerShowPreview" is turned on, a small graphical window summary for
202 each workspace is shown. They support drag-and-drop: dragging a Firefox
203 tab to a workspace button changes the current workspace.
204 The Task Pane consists of a list of wide buttons for each application
206 which is running on the current workspace, or all workspaces if
207 "TaskBarShowAllWindows=1". Each task button shows the application icon
208 and the application title. The active application is indicated by a
209 pressed button. This is the application which has input focus.
210 Pressing another button activates that application: it is brought to
211 the foreground and receives input focus. Other mouse controlled
212 activities on the window buttons are: dragging window buttons with the
213 left mouse button to rearrange the order, closing the application
214 window with "Alt" + middle button, lowering the application window with
215 "Ctrl" + middle button, or bringing the application window to the
216 current workspace with "Shift" + middle button if
217 "TaskBarShowAllWindows=1".
218 If there are not many application buttons then a stretch of plain task
220 bar is visible. Clicking on it with the right mouse button gives the
221 task bar menu. Even with a full task pane, this menu can be usually
222 accessed by right-clicking the bottom right corner of the taskbar.
223 The Tray Applet shows system tray objects.
225 The APM Applet shows battery power status.
227 The Net Applet shows network activity. Network devices to monitor are
229 given by the "NetworkStatusDevice" option.
230 The Memory Applet monitors memory usage.
232 The CPU Applet monitors processor utilization.
234 The Mailbox Applet monitors mailbox status changes. See the section
236 MAILBOX MONITORING below.
237 The Clock Applet shows the current time and date. It is configured by
239 the "TimeFormat" option.
240 The Task Bar Collapse button collapses the task bar and hides it.
242 Not all icewm applets may show up on the task bar. They must have been
244 enabled during configuration of the icewm software. Their appearance
245 is also controlled by options in the preferences file.
246 INPUT FOCUS
248 Of all visible windows only one can be the active window. This is the
249 window which has input focus. It is the primary receiver of keyboard
250 and mouse events and hence one can interact with the application which
251 created that window. A primary task of a window manager is to allow
252 the user to switch input focus between different windows. The primary
253 means to do this is the mouse pointer. By moving the mouse pointer
254 over the screen to another window, and perhaps also by clicking on a
255 window, input focus can be directed.
256 The "FocusMode" option controls the way icewm gives input focus to
258 applications. It is initialized by the focus_mode configuration file.
259 The focus mode is set via the Focus menu. icewm supports six focus
260 models:
261 1. Click-to-focus
263 The default focus mode. In this mode changing input focus requires
264 to click a window with the left mouse button. The window is raised
265 if needed. When an application requests focus its task pane button
266 flashes. This gives the option to honor this request or to ignore
267 it. When a new application window appears it automatically
268 receives focus. Also when a hidden application raises to the front
269 it receives focus.
270 2. Sloppy-mouse-focus
272 Sets input focus merely by moving the mouse pointer over a window.
273 It is called sloppy, because if the mouse then leaves the window
274 and moves to the desktop background the input focus remains with
275 the last active window. When a window receives focus it is raised.
276 When an application requests focus its task pane button flashes. A
277 new application or an application which raises to the front
278 automatically receives focus.
279 3. Explicit-focus
281 Focus is even more user-controlled than Click-to-focus. When a
282 window receives focus it is not raised by default, unless the frame
283 border is clicked. No flashing occurs when an application requests
284 focus. When a new application window appears it does not receive
285 focus. Only by explicit clicking on a window is focus directed.
286 4. Strict-mouse-focus
288 Like Sloppy but focus remains with the last window. New
289 applications don't receive focus and are mapped behind other
290 windows. When an application raises to the front it still does not
291 get focus.
292 5. Quiet-sloppy-focus
294 Like Sloppy but no disturbing flashing occurs on the task bar when
295 an application requests focus.
296 6. Custom-mode
298 A focus mode which is defined in detail by ten options in the
299 preferences file. These are: "ClickToFocus", "FocusOnAppRaise",
300 "RequestFocusOnAppRaise", "RaiseOnFocus", "RaiseOnClickClient",
301 "FocusChangesWorkspace", "FocusOnMap", "FocusOnMapTransient",
302 "FocusOnMapTransientActive", "MapInactiveOnTop".
303 All non-Custom focus modes override these ten options.
305 Apart from the mouse, icewm supports changing input focus in two ways
307 by keyboard. By pressing "Alt+Esc" or "Alt+Shift+Esc", input focus is
308 immediately changed to the next or previous window, which will be
309 raised to make it fully visible. The other method involves the quick
310 switch.
311 QUICK SWITCH
313 The QuickSwitch is a means to quickly and interactively change the
314 input focus to another window. It is activated by pressing the
315 "Alt+Tab" or "Alt+Shift+Tab" key combination. A window pops up in the
316 centre of the screen with a list of windows to choose from. A narrow
317 band indicates a selection: the candidate window that will be activated
318 to receive input focus when the Alt key is released.
319 The selection can be changed. By repeatedly pressing the Tab key, one
321 can cycle over all windows. If a Shift key is down, the direction of
322 traversal is reversed. Or use the scroll wheel of the mouse. Or use
323 one of the digit keys to select the corresponding window from the list.
324 Arrow keys are also supported, as well as the Home and End key.
325 To make a selected window the active window, just release the Alt key,
327 or hit the Return key, or click on it. To cancel the QuickSwitch,
328 press Escape or click outside of the QuickSwitch window.
329 A selected window can be closed by Delete, "Alt+F4", or the middle
331 mouse button. While the QuickSwitch window is up, one can still change
332 workspace with the usual workspace hotkeys.
333 The QuickSwitch has two distinct modes: vertical and horizontal. The
335 window list can include all windows or be limited to the current
336 workspace. See the many preferences available for the QuickSwitch.
337 WINDOW PLACEMENT
339 A second important task of a window manager is to place new windows on
340 the screen. By default icewm chooses a placement with minimal overlap,
341 but this is determined by the "SmartPlacement" option in the
342 preferences file. If "SmartPlacement" is turned off then windows are
343 placed in sequence from left to right and top to bottom. One can also
344 turn on "ManualPlacement". Then new windows appear initially in the
345 top left corner and the mouse cursor changes into a fist. By moving
346 the fist cursor to a suitable location and clicking the new window will
347 appear at the mouse click location.
348 WINDOW LAYERS
350 Windows can overlap. Which window appears on top is determined by
351 three features. Newer windows appear over older windows. By clicking
352 on a window it is raised to the top. But both are overruled by the
353 window layer. Windows can be placed in different layers via the Layers
354 menu. Click with the right mouse button on the window frame and select
355 Layer. From there choose one of seven window layers. These are
356 ordered from higher to lower. Windows in higher layers appear over
357 windows in lower layers.
358 WORKSPACES
360 icewm supports multiple virtual desktops called workspaces. A
361 workspace is like a screen where a subset of all application windows
362 are mapped. Thanks to multiple workspaces we can more easily manage a
363 large number of applications. The number of workspaces and their names
364 are configurable in the preferences file through the "WorkspaceNames"
365 option. By default four workspaces are created with the names 1, 2, 3
366 and 4 thus:
367 WorkspaceNames=" 1 ", " 2 ", " 3 ", " 4 "
369 This syntax is typical for icewm options which receive multiple values.
371 It is a list of comma-separated values each of which can be quoted.
372 The workspaces are visible on the toolbar. One can switch to a
374 different workspace by pressing the workspace button in the toolbar,
375 but after becoming familiar with the 'keyboard shortcuts' below one
376 will want to use a hotkey to choose a workspace. If the "EdgeSwitch"
377 options is enabled in the preferences file (with sub-options
378 "HorizontalEdgeSwitch" and "VerticalEdgeSwitch") then one can move to
379 the next or previous workspace by moving the mouse to the edge of the
380 screen. The "ContinuousEdgeSwitch" option enables continuous movement
381 to subsequent workspaces. The "EdgeSwitchDelay" option says how long
382 to wait before a change of workspace occurs.
383 To move an application window to a different workspace one can use a
385 keyboard shortcut. Another option is to select the Move To submenu in
386 the window menu of the window frame.
387 ADDRESS BAR
389 If EnableAddressBar=1 then KeySysAddressBar="Alt+Ctrl+Space" activates
390 the address bar in the task bar. If ShowAddressBar=1 it is always
391 shown. This is a command-line in the task bar where a shell command can
392 be typed. Pressing "Enter" will execute the command.
393 AddressBarCommand="/bin/sh" will be used to execute the command. On
394 "Control+Enter" the command is executed in a terminal as given by
395 TerminalCommand. The address bar maintains a history which is
396 navigable by the Up and Down keys. It supports command completion
397 using "Tab" or "Ctrl+I". A rich set of editing operations is
398 supported, including cut-/copy-/paste-operations.
399 WINDOW LIST
401 The window list window shows a list of all workspaces. For each
402 workspace it shows the window titles of the windows which are mapped on
403 it. The bottom entry reads "All Workspaces". It holds the sticky
404 windows. These windows are mapped in all workspaces.
405 The window list window is normally hidden. Choose one of the following
407 four methods to make it visible:
408 • Select the bottom window list menu entry.
410 • Press the "KeySysWindowList=Ctrl+Alt+Esc" key.
412 • Press the right Windows key if "Win95Keys=1"
414 • Press the "DesktopWinListButton=2" mouse button in the root window.
416 • Press the middle mouse button in a workspace button on the task
418 bar.
419 A single-click on a window entry selects it. A group of windows can be
421 selected by "Shift+Pointer_Button1" or by dragging with the left mouse
422 button. Use "Ctrl+Pointer_Button1" to individually select windows in a
423 multi-selection. A right mouse click over a selection will popup the
424 system menu for this selection. To close the selected windows, press
425 "Delete". Press "Shift+Delete" to forcefully kill them. Right mouse
426 click below the sticky windows for a menu with window arranging
427 actions.
428 Double-click on a workspace to switch to it. Double-click on a window
430 to activate it. Or navigate by arrow keys and press Enter. The space
431 bar toggles a selection of a window. "Ctrl+a" and "Ctrl+/" will select
432 the entire list of windows. "Ctrl+\\" deselects everything. Press the
433 first letter of a window title to navigate to it and select it. If
434 titles of multiple windows start with the same letter then repeatedly
435 pressing the first letter cycles over those windows. "Home" selects
436 the first entry and "End" the last. "PageUp" and "PageDown" move up or
437 down by ten entries. Combine this with the "Shift" key to extend a
438 selection over the range of motion.
439 MAILBOX MONITORING
441 The task bar can show one or more icons to reflect the status of a
442 mailbox. The mailbox can be a local file or a remote POP or IMAP
443 account. For this a couple of options must be set. First,
444 TaskBarShowMailboxStatus must be enabled, which it is by default. Then
445 the location of the mailbox must be set. Icewm first looks for
446 MailBoxPath in preferences. If this is unset, it looks at the
447 environment variables "MAILPATH" and "MAIL". MailBoxPath may contain a
448 space-separated list of mailboxes, while "MAILPATH" may contain a
449 colon-separated list of mailboxes. If a mailbox starts with a slash
450 "/", then it is a local file, otherwise a URL. These are six examples
451 of possible mailboxes:
452 file:///var/spool/mail/captnmark
454 file:///home/captnmark/Maildir/
455 pop3://markus:%2f%40%3a@maol.ch/
456 pop3s://markus:password@pop.gmail.com/
457 imap://mathias@localhost/INBOX.Maillisten.icewm-user
458 imaps://mathias:password@imap.gmail.com/INBOX
459 The POP3S and IMAPS schemes use "openssl" for TLS/SSL encryption. Note
461 that for IceWM to access Gmail you must first configure your Gmail
462 account to enable POP3 or IMAP access. Make sure you have secure file
463 permissions on your IceWM preferences file and the directory which
464 contains it.
465 Reserved characters in the password, like slash, at and colon can be
467 specified using escape sequences with a hexadecimal encoding like %2f
468 for the slash or %40 for the at sign. For example, to hex-encode
469 "!p@a%s&s~" use this Perl snippet:
470 perl -e 'foreach(split("", $ARGV[0])) { printf "%%%02x", ord($_); };
472 print "\n";' '!p@a%s&s~'
473 Which will print:
475 %21%40%23%24%25%5e%26%2a%7e
477 This is the hex-encoded password. However, it is unwise to store a
479 password in your preferences. Consider a wallet extension for IceWM.
480 IceWM will check a mailbox periodically. The period in seconds can be
482 set by the MailCheckDelay option, which is 30 seconds by default.
483 Whenever new mail arrives, the mailbox icon will be highlighted. The
485 color will indicate if the mail has been read or not. Hovering the
486 mouse over the mailbox icon will show a tooltip with more details. A
487 command can be also be run on new mail. Set the NewMailCommand option.
488 Its environment will have these variables set by IceWM:
489 ICEWM_MAILBOX
491 The mailbox index number of MailBoxPath starting from 1.
492 ICEWM_COUNT
494 The total number of messages in this mailbox.
495 ICEWM_UNREAD
497 The number of unread messages in this mailbox.
498 KEYBOARD LAYOUT SWITCHING
500 To control keyboard layouts on the task bar, define in preferences the
501 option KeyboardLayouts to a comma-separated list of your preferred
502 keyboard layouts. For example:
503 KeyboardLayouts="de","fr","jp"
505 A keyboard layout can simply be a name. Usually this is a two-letter
507 country code. See the directory /usr/share/X11/xkb/symbols for a list
508 of available keyboard layouts for your system. If it is enclosed in
509 double quotes, it can also be a space-separated list of command-line
510 arguments to an invocation of the "setxkbmap" program.
511 The first layout is the default. It will be installed when icewm
513 starts. The task bar will show the current keyboard layout. If an icon
514 can be found for the first two letters of the layout, then that icon
515 will be shown. Otherwise the first two letters of the name of the
516 layout will be shown.
517 Click on the current keyboard layout to cycle through all the available
519 keyboard layouts. Click with the right mouse button to open a menu of
520 all available keyboard layouts.
521 It is also possible to configure a default keyboard layout for each
523 program individually in the icewm-winoptions(5) file. Whenever such a
524 program receives input focus, icewm will install this configured
525 keyboard layout automatically. The keyboard status on the task bar will
526 be updated to reflect this.
527 Please note that for keyboard layout switching to work, the "setxkbmap"
529 program must be installed. To see your current keyboard layout
530 settings, do "setxkbmap -query".
531 KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS
533 icewm supports a large number of hotkeys to activate some behaviour
534 with a single key combination. These are all configurable in the
535 preferences file. Here we give their preferences name, followed by
536 their default value in double quotes, and a short descriptions of their
537 effect.
538 Note that all use one or more key modifiers. Icewm supports the
540 following modifiers: Alt, AltGr, Ctrl, Hyper, Meta, Shift, Super.
541 Setting ModSuperIsCtrlAlt=1 makes the Super modifier an alias for
542 Ctrl+Alt.
543 KeyWinRaise="Alt+F1"
545 Raises the window which currently has input focus.
546 KeyWinOccupyAll="Alt+F2"
548 Makes the active window occupy all workspaces.
549 KeyWinLower="Alt+F3"
551 Lowers the window which currently has input focus.
552 KeyWinClose="Alt+F4"
554 Closes the active window.
555 KeyWinRestore="Alt+F5"
557 Restores the active window to its visible state.
558 KeyWinNext="Alt+F6"
560 Switches focus to the next window.
561 KeyWinPrev="Alt+Shift+F6"
563 Switches focus to the previous window.
564 KeyWinMove="Alt+F7"
566 Starts movement of the active window.
567 KeyWinSize="Alt+F8"
569 Starts resizing of the active window.
570 KeyWinMinimize="Alt+F9"
572 Iconifies the active window.
573 KeyWinMaximize="Alt+F10"
575 Maximizes the active window with borders.
576 KeyWinMaximizeVert="Alt+Shift+F10"
578 Maximizes the active window vertically.
579 KeyWinMaximizeHoriz="undefined"
581 Maximizes the active window horizontally.
582 KeyWinFullscreen="Alt+F11"
584 Maximizes the active window without borders.
585 KeyWinRollup="Alt+F12"
587 Rolls up the active window.
588 KeyWinHide="Alt+Shift+F12"
590 Hides the active window.
591 KeyWinMenu="Alt+Space"
593 Posts the window menu.
594 KeyWinArrangeNW="Ctrl+Alt+KP_7"
596 Moves the active window to the top left corner of the screen.
597 KeyWinArrangeN="Ctrl+Alt+KP_8"
599 Moves the active window to the top middle of the screen.
600 KeyWinArrangeNE="Ctrl+Alt+KP_9"
602 Moves the active window to the top right of the screen.
603 KeyWinArrangeE="Ctrl+Alt+KP_6"
605 Moves the active window to the middle right of the screen.
606 KeyWinArrangeSE="Ctrl+Alt+KP_3"
608 Moves the active window to the bottom right of the screen.
609 KeyWinArrangeS="Ctrl+Alt+KP_2"
611 Moves the active window to the bottom middle of the screen.
612 KeyWinArrangeSW="Ctrl+Alt+KP_1"
614 Moves the active window to the bottom left of the screen.
615 KeyWinArrangeW="Ctrl+Alt+KP_4"
617 Moves the active window to the middle left of the screen.
618 KeyWinArrangeC="Ctrl+Alt+KP_5"
620 Moves the active window to the center of the screen.
621 KeyWinSmartPlace="Ctrl+Alt+Shift+KP_5"
623 Smart place the active window.
624 KeySysWinMenu="Shift+Esc"
626 Posts the system window menu.
627 KeySysWinNext="Alt+Esc"
629 Give focus to the next window and raise it.
630 KeySysWinPrev="Alt+Shift+Esc"
632 Give focus to the previous window and raise it.
633 KeySysDialog="Alt+Ctrl+Del"
635 Opens the IceWM system dialog in the center of the screen.
636 KeySysMenu="Ctrl+Esc"
638 Activates the IceWM root menu in the lower left corner.
639 KeySysWindowList="Alt+Ctrl+Esc"
641 Opens the IceWM system window list in the center of the screen.
642 KeySysAddressBar="Alt+Ctrl+Space"
644 Opens the address bar in the task bar where a command can be typed.
645 KeySysWorkspacePrev="Alt+Ctrl+Left"
647 Goes one workspace to the left.
648 KeySysWorkspaceNext="Alt+Ctrl+Right"
650 Goes one workspace to the right.
651 KeySysWorkspaceLast="Alt+Ctrl+Down"
653 Goes to the previous workspace.
654 KeySysWorkspacePrevTakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+Left"
656 Takes the active window one workspace to the left.
657 KeySysWorkspaceNextTakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+Right"
659 Takes the active window one workspace to the right.
660 KeySysWorkspaceLastTakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+Down"
662 Takes the active window to the previous workspace.
663 KeySysWorkspace1="Alt+Ctrl+1"
665 Goes to workspace 1.
666 KeySysWorkspace2="Alt+Ctrl+2"
668 Goes to workspace 2.
669 KeySysWorkspace3="Alt+Ctrl+3"
671 Goes to workspace 3.
672 KeySysWorkspace4="Alt+Ctrl+4"
674 Goes to workspace 4.
675 KeySysWorkspace5="Alt+Ctrl+5"
677 Goes to workspace 5.
678 KeySysWorkspace6="Alt+Ctrl+6"
680 Goes to workspace 6.
681 KeySysWorkspace7="Alt+Ctrl+7"
683 Goes to workspace 7.
684 KeySysWorkspace8="Alt+Ctrl+8"
686 Goes to workspace 8.
687 KeySysWorkspace9="Alt+Ctrl+9"
689 Goes to workspace 9.
690 KeySysWorkspace10="Alt+Ctrl+0"
692 Goes to workspace 10.
693 KeySysWorkspace11="Alt+Ctrl+bracketleft"
695 Goes to workspace 11.
696 KeySysWorkspace12="Alt+Ctrl+bracketright"
698 Goes to workspace 12.
699 KeySysWorkspace1TakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+1"
701 Takes the active window to workspace 1.
702 KeySysWorkspace2TakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+2"
704 Takes the active window to workspace 2.
705 KeySysWorkspace3TakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+3"
707 Takes the active window to workspace 3.
708 KeySysWorkspace4TakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+4"
710 Takes the active window to workspace 4.
711 KeySysWorkspace5TakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+5"
713 Takes the active window to workspace 5.
714 KeySysWorkspace6TakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+6"
716 Takes the active window to workspace 6.
717 KeySysWorkspace7TakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+7"
719 Takes the active window to workspace 7.
720 KeySysWorkspace8TakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+8"
722 Takes the active window to workspace 8.
723 KeySysWorkspace9TakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+9"
725 Takes the active window to workspace 9.
726 KeySysWorkspace10TakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+0"
728 Takes the active window to workspace 10.
729 KeySysWorkspace11TakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+bracketleft"
731 Takes the active window to workspace 11.
732 KeySysWorkspace12TakeWin="Alt+Ctrl+Shift+bracketright"
734 Takes the active window to workspace 12.
735 KeySysTileVertical="Alt+Shift+F2"
737 Tiles all windows from left to right maximized vertically.
738 KeySysTileHorizontal="Alt+Shift+F3"
740 Tiles all windows from top to bottom maximized horizontally.
741 KeySysCascade="Alt+Shift+F4"
743 Makes a horizontal cascade of all windows which are maximized
744 vertically.
745 KeySysArrange="Alt+Shift+F5"
747 Rearranges the windows.
748 KeySysUndoArrange="Alt+Shift+F7"
750 Undoes arrangement.
751 KeySysArrangeIcons="Alt+Shift+F8"
753 Rearranges icons.
754 KeySysMinimizeAll="Alt+Shift+F9"
756 Minimizes all windows.
757 KeySysHideAll="Alt+Shift+F11"
759 Hides all windows.
760 KeySysShowDesktop="Alt+Ctrl+d"
762 Unmaps all windows to show the desktop.
763 KeySysCollapseTaskBar="Alt+Ctrl+h"
765 Hides the task bar.
766 KeyTaskBarSwitchNext="undefined"
768 Switches to the next window in the task bar.
769 KeyTaskBarSwitchPrev="undefined"
771 Switches to the previous window in the task bar.
772 KeyTaskBarMoveNext="undefined"
774 Moves the task bar button of the current window right.
775 KeyTaskBarMovePrev="undefined"
777 Moves the task bar button of the current window left.
778 KeySysWinListMenu="undefined"
780 Shows the window list menu.
781 KeySysSwitchNext="Alt+Tab"
783 Opens the "QuickSwitch" popup (see "INPUT FOCUS") and/or moves the
784 selector in the "QuickSwitch" popup.
785 KeySysSwitchLast="Alt+Shift+Tab"
787 Works like "KeySysSwitchNext" but moving in the opposite direction.
788 KeySysSwitchClass="Alt+grave"
790 Is like "KeySysSwitchNext" but only for windows with the same
791 WM_CLASS property as the currently focused window.
792 MOUSE BINDINGS
794 You can control windows by a modified mouse button press:
795 MouseWinMove="Alt+Pointer_Button1"
797 Moves the window under the mouse over the screen.
798 MouseWinSize="Alt+Pointer_Button3"
800 Resizes the window. Keep the key and button pressed. To enlarge
801 the window move the mouse button away from the center. To shrink
802 it move towards the centre.
803 MouseWinRaise="Ctrl+Alt+Pointer_Button1"
805 Raises the window under the mouse.
806 MouseWinLower="Ctrl+Alt+Pointer_Button1"
808 Lowers the window under the mouse. If this is equal to
809 "MouseWinRaise" and the window can be raised then "MouseWinRaise"
810 takes preference over "MouseWinLower".
811 The title frame of a window also listens for mouse clicks. Left double
813 clicking maximizes the window ("TitleBarMaximizeButton=1"). Press Shift
814 to only maximize vertically. Press Alt+Shift for horizontally. Middle
815 double clicking rolls up the window ("TitleBarRollupButton=2"). Also
816 press Shift to maximize horizontally. If TitleBarRollupButton is either
817 4 or 5 then the scroll wheel controls rolling up or down. Pressing a
818 mouse button and moving it will move the window. "Alt+Pointer_Button1"
819 lowers the window.
820 When the mouse is on the window frame then a left click raises the
822 window. Dragging with the left button down resizes the window.
823 Clicking the right button pops up the context menu. Dragging with the
824 right button moves the window.
825 Clicking on the desktop activates a menu. The middle button shows the
827 window list ("DesktopWinListButton=2"). The right button shows the
828 root menu ("DesktopMenuButton=3"). If you press "Ctrl+Alt" then the
829 mouse wheel will focus all applications in turn.
830
832 icewm supports the following signals:
833 SIGHUP
835 icewm will restart itself. It is a way to reload the configuration.
836 SIGINT, SIGTERM
838 icewm will cease to manage application windows and terminate.
839 SIGQUIT
841 icewm will initiate the logout procedure. If a "LogoutCommand"
842 preferences option was configured it will be executed.
843 SIGUSR2
845 Toggle the logging of X11 events, if "logevents" was configured.
846
848 ICEWM_PRIVCFG
849 The directory for user private configuration files. When this
850 environment variable is not specified, the default directory is
851 $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/icewm when that directory exists, otherwise the
852 default value is $HOME/.icewm.
853 DISPLAY
855 The name of the X11 server. See Xorg(1) or Xserver(1). This value
856 can be overridden by the --display option.
857 MAILPATH, MAIL
859 Gives the location of your mailbox. If the schema is omitted the
860 local "file" schema is assumed. This is used by the mailbox applet
861 in the task bar to show the status of your mailbox. If the
862 "MailBoxPath" option in the preferences file is set, then that one
863 takes precedence.
864
866 CONFIGURATION DIRECTORIES
867 icewm looks for configuration files in the following directories, in
868 the given order, until it finds one:
869 $ICEWM_PRIVCFG/
871 Contains user-specific configurations. When ICEWM_PRIVCFG is
872 specified, this directory takes precedence over
873 $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/icewm and $HOME/.icewm.
874 $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/icewm/
876 Contains user-specific configurations. When this directory exists
877 it take precedence over $HOME/.icewm.
878 $HOME/.icewm/
880 Contains user-specific configurations. This is the historical
881 default directory.
882 /etc/icewm/
884 Contains system-wide customized defaults. Please note that your
885 local installation may have been configured to use a different
886 system location. The output of "icewm --directories" will show
887 this location.
888 /usr/share/icewm/
890 Default local installation settings.
891 CONFIGURATION FILES
893 env icewm-session(1) loads additional environment variables from the
894 file env. Each line is subjected to POSIX shell expansion by
895 wordexp(3). Comment lines starting by a hash-sign ("#") are
896 ignored. icewm-session(1) will load those expanded lines which
897 contain a name, followed by an equals sign, followed by the value
898 (which may be empty).
899 See icewm-env(5).
901 focus_mode
903 Defines the initial value for "FocusMode". Its default value is
904 "FocusMode=1" (Click-to-focus). This can be changed via the menu.
905 icewm will save the Focus menu choice in this file.
906 See icewm-focus_mode(5).
908 keys
910 Global keybindings to launch applications, which need not be window
911 manager related. Each non-empty line starts with the word "key".
912 After one or more spaces follows a double-quoted string of the
913 bound X11 key combination like "Alt+Ctrl+Shift+X". Then after at
914 least one space follows a shell command-line which will be executed
915 by icewm whenever this key combination is pressed. For example,
916 the following line creates a hotkey to reload the icewm
917 configuration:
918 key "Ctrl+Shift+r" icesh restart
920 See icewm-keys(5).
922 menu
924 A menu of applications; usually customized by the user. icewm
925 provides the icewm-menu-fdo(1) program to generate a default menu.
926 Similar programs are xdg_menu(1), mmaker(1) (MenuMaker),
927 xde-menu(1), xdgmenumaker(1).
928 See icewm-menu(5).
930 preferences
932 Contains general settings like paths, colors and fonts, but also
933 options to control the icewm focus behaviour and the applets which
934 are started in the task bar. The icewm installation will provide a
935 default preferences file, which can be copied to the icewm user
936 configuration directory and modified.
937 See icewm-preferences(5).
939 prefoverride
941 Settings which override the settings from a theme. Some of the
942 icewm configuration options from the preferences file which control
943 the look-and-feel may be overridden by the theme, if the theme
944 designer thinks this is desirable. However, this prefoverride file
945 will again override this for a few specific options of your
946 choosing. It is safe to leave this file empty initially.
947 See icewm-prefoverride(5).
949 programs
951 An automatically generated menu of applications. This could be
952 used by wmconfig(1), menu or similar programs to give easy access
953 to all the desktop applications which are installed on the system.
954 See icewm-programs(5).
956 theme
958 This file contains the name of the default theme. On startup icewm
959 reads this file to obtain the theme name, unless icewm was started
960 with the --theme option. Whenever a different theme is selected
961 from the icewm Menu then the theme file is overwritten with the
962 name of the selected theme. This theme file contains the keyword
963 "Theme", followed by an equals sign, followed by a double-quoted
964 string with the theme name. The theme name is the name of the
965 theme directory, followed by a slash, followed by the theme file.
966 Usually the theme file is just default.theme, but a theme may have
967 alternatives. Alternatives are small tweaks of a theme. These are
968 specified in their own .theme file, which replaces default.theme.
969 If no theme file exists then icewm will use the default setting of
970 "Theme="default/default.theme"".
971 See icewm-theme(5).
973 toolbar
975 Contains names of quick to launch applications with icons for the
976 task bar. Each non-empty non-comment line starts with the keyword
977 prog. After one or more spaces follows a name, which is displayed
978 in a tool tip whenever the mouse cursor hovers over the toolbar
979 icon. This name may be a double quoted string. Then follows the
980 bare name of the icon to use without extensions. This icon will be
981 shown in the toolbar. The last component is a shell command-line
982 which will be executed whenever the user presses the icon in the
983 toolbar. For example, the following line in toolbar will create a
984 button with tool tip "Mozilla Firefox" with the firefox icon which
985 launches firefox(1) when clicked:
986 prog "Mozilla Firefox" firefox /usr/bin/firefox --private-window
988 See icewm-toolbar(5).
990 winoptions
992 Contains settings to control window appearance and behaviour which
993 are specific to applications or groups of applications. Options
994 can control the border, whether it appears on the task bar, the
995 window list, the system tray and the workspaces. Also its layer,
996 geometry, whether it can be moved, resized and closed.
997 See icewm-winoptions(5).
999 startup
1001 Contains commands to be executed on icewm startup. This is an
1002 executable script with commands to tweak X11 settings and launch
1003 some applications which need to be active whenever icewm is
1004 started. It is run by icewm-session(1) when icewm starts.
1005 See icewm-startup(5).
1007 shutdown
1009 Contains commands to be executed on icewm shutdown. This is an
1010 executable script with commands to be executed in the last stage of
1011 icewm termination. Typically they may undo some of the effects of
1012 the startup script. It is run by icewm-session(1) when icewm
1013 terminates.
1014 See icewm-shutdown(5).
1016 CONFIGURATION SUBDIRECTORIES
1018 icons
1019 Contains icons which are used to identify applications. Usually
1020 these files are in the XPM format, but the PNG and SVG image
1021 formats are also supported. The names of icon files may follow a
1022 specific naming pattern, like app_32x32.xpm. They start with a
1023 base name, usually this is just a single word. Then follows an
1024 underscore, followed by a size specification in the format
1025 "SIZExSIZE". This is followed by a dot and the file extension,
1026 where the extension denotes the icon image format. Common sizes
1027 are 16, 32 and 48 for small, large and huge icons. This depends on
1028 the respective "IconSize" preferences options.
1029 ledclock
1031 Pictures of digits for the LED clock which is displayed in the
1032 bottom-right corner of the task bar. These can be seen when the
1033 "TaskBarShowClock" and "TaskBarClockLeds" options are both set to
1034 1.
1035 mailbox
1037 Icons which are used to display different states of the mailbox
1038 applet in the task bar. There are five states and each has its own
1039 icon: mail.xpm, newmail.xpm, unreadmail.xpm, nomail.xpm,
1040 errmail.xpm.
1041 sounds
1043 Audio files which are played by icesound(1) on GUI events. These
1044 are: startup.wav, shutdown.wav, restart.wav, launchApp.wav,
1045 workspaceChange.wav, windowOpen.wav, windowClose.wav,
1046 dialogOpen.wav, dialogClose.wav, windowMax.wav, windowRestore.wav,
1047 windowMin.wav, windowHide.wav, windowRollup.wav, windowMoved.wav,
1048 windowSized.wav, windowLower.wav.
1049 taskbar
1051 Pictures to customize the look of the task bar. These include:
1052 taskbarbg.xpm, taskbuttonactive.xpm, taskbuttonbg.xpm,
1053 taskbuttonminimized.xpm, toolbuttonbg.xpm,
1054 workspacebuttonactive.xpm, workspacebuttonbg.xpm.
1055 themes
1057 A directory to store themes. Each theme is stored in its own sub-
1058 directory in the themes directory. A theme contains at least a
1059 default.theme file, and optionally theme alternatives which are
1060 additional files which have a .theme file name extension and which
1061 contain tweaks of the default.theme file. How to create a theme is
1062 explained in the IceWM Theme Creation Howto.
1063 OPACITY
1065 IceWM supports window opacity and transparency in connection with an
1066 external compositor like compton(1) or picom(1). If a client window
1067 sets the "_NET_WM_WINDOW_OPACITY" property on its window, then icewm
1068 will copy this to the outer frame window, where the compositor will
1069 read it and adjust the opacity accordingly.
1070 The opacity can also be set in the icewm-winoptions(5) file. icesh(1)
1072 can control the opacity level of running applications.
1073 The _NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE properties which icewm sets on its windows are
1075 DIALOG, NOTIFICATION, POPUP_MENU and TOOLTIP. The output of "icesh
1076 windows" shows their WM_CLASS values. These can be helpful to configure
1077 compton.
1078
1080 Examples of the above configuration files can be found in the default
1081 installation path or in the system-wide defaults. See the output of
1082 "icewm --directories" for their locations.
1083
1085 ICCCM 2.0: partial. NetWM/EWMH: extensive. See the file COMPLIANCE in
1086 the distribution for full details.
1087
1089 icehelp(1), icesh(1), icesound(1), icewm-env(5), icewm-focus_mode(5),
1090 icewm-keys(5), icewm-menu(5), icewm-menu-fdo(1), icewm-menu-xrandr(1),
1091 icewm-preferences(5), icewm-prefoverride(5), icewm-programs(5),
1092 icewm-session(1), icewm-set-gnomewm(1), icewm-shutdown(5),
1093 icewm-startup(5), icewm-theme(5), icewm-toolbar(5),
1094 icewm-winoptions(5), icewmbg(1), icewmhint(1), setxkbmap(1), Xorg(1),
1095 Xserver(1), xinit(1), xprop(1), xwininfo(1), wmctrl(1).
1096
1098 icewm had no known bugs at the time of release. Please report bugs for
1099 current versions to the source code repository at
1100 <https://github.com/bbidulock/icewm/issues>.
1101
1103 Brian Bidulock <mailto:bidulock@openss7.org>.
1104 See --copying for full copyright notice and copying permissions.
1106
1108 IceWM is licensed under the GNU Library General Public License. See
1109 the COPYING file in the distribution or use the --copying flag to
1110 display copying permissions.
1111icewm 2.3.4 2021-05-10 ICEWM(1)