1I3(1)                              i3 Manual                             I3(1)
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4

NAME

6       i3 - an improved dynamic, tiling window manager
7

SYNOPSIS

9       i3 [-a] [-c configfile] [-C] [-d all] [-v] [-V]
10

OPTIONS

12       -a
13           Disables autostart.
14
15       -c
16           Specifies an alternate configuration file path.
17
18       -C
19           Check the configuration file for validity and exit.
20
21       -d all
22           Enables debug logging. The all parameter is present for historical
23           reasons.
24
25       -v
26           Display version number (and date of the last commit).
27
28       -V
29           Be verbose.
30
31       --force-xinerama
32           Use Xinerama instead of RandR. This option should only be used if
33           you are stuck with the old nVidia closed source driver (older than
34           302.17) which does not support RandR.
35
36       --get-socketpath
37           Retrieve the i3 IPC socket path from X11, print it, then exit.
38
39       --shmlog-size <limit>
40           Limits the size of the i3 SHM log to <limit> bytes. Setting this to
41           0 disables SHM logging entirely. The default is 0 bytes.
42
43       --replace
44           Replace an existing window manager.
45

DESCRIPTION

47   INTRODUCTION
48       i3 was created because wmii, our favorite window manager at the time,
49       didn’t provide some features we wanted (multi-monitor done right, for
50       example), had some bugs, didn’t progress since quite some time and
51       wasn’t easy to hack at all (source code comments/documentation
52       completely lacking). Still, we think the wmii developers and
53       contributors did a great job. Thank you for inspiring us to create i3.
54
55       Please be aware that i3 is primarily targeted at advanced users and
56       developers.
57
58   IMPORTANT NOTE TO nVidia BINARY DRIVER USERS
59       If you are using the nVidia binary graphics driver (also known as blob)
60       before version 302.17, you need to use the --force-xinerama flag (in
61       your ~/.xsession) when starting i3, like so:
62
63           exec i3 --force-xinerama -V >>~/.i3/i3log 2>&1
64
65       See also docs/multi-monitor for the full explanation.
66
67   TERMINOLOGY
68       Tree
69           i3 keeps your layout in a tree data structure.
70
71       Window
72           An X11 window, like the Firefox browser window or a terminal
73           emulator.
74
75       Floating Window
76           A window which "floats" on top of other windows. This style is used
77           by i3 to display X11 windows with type "dialog", such as the
78           "Print" or "Open File" dialog boxes in many GUI applications. Use
79           of floating windows can be fine-tuned with the for_window command
80           (see HTML userguide).
81
82       Split container
83           A split container contains multiple other split containers or
84           windows.
85
86           Containers can be used in various layouts. The default mode is
87           called "default" and just resizes each client equally so that it
88           fits.
89
90       Workspace
91           A workspace is a set of containers. Other window managers call this
92           "Virtual Desktops".
93
94           In i3, each workspace is assigned to a specific virtual screen. By
95           default, screen 1 has workspace 1, screen 2 has workspace 2 and so
96           on... However, when you create a new workspace (by simply switching
97           to it), it’ll be assigned the screen you are currently on.
98
99       Output
100           Using XRandR, you can have an X11 screen spanning multiple real
101           monitors. Furthermore, you can set them up in cloning mode or with
102           positions (monitor 1 is left of monitor 2).
103
104           i3 uses the RandR API to query which outputs are available and
105           which screens are connected to these outputs.
106

KEYBINDINGS

108       Here is a short overview of the default keybindings:
109
110       Mod1+Enter
111           Open a new terminal emulator window.
112
113       Mod1+d
114           Open dmenu for starting any application by typing (part of) its
115           name.
116
117       j/k/l/;
118           Direction keys (left, down, up, right). They are on your homerow
119           (see the mark on your "j" key). Alternatively, you can use the
120           cursor keys.
121
122       Mod1+<direction>
123           Focus window in <direction>.
124
125       Mod1+Shift+<direction>
126           Move window to <direction>.
127
128       Mod1+<number>
129           Switch to workspace <number>.
130
131       Mod1+Shift+<number>
132           Move window to workspace <number>.
133
134       Mod1+f
135           Toggle fullscreen mode.
136
137       Mod1+s
138           Enable stacking layout for the current container.
139
140       Mod1+e
141           Enable default layout for the current container.
142
143       Mod1+w
144           Enable tabbed layout for the current container.
145
146       Mod1+Shift+Space
147           Toggle tiling/floating for the current container.
148
149       Mod1+Space
150           Select the first tiling container if the current container is
151           floating and vice-versa.
152
153       Mod1+Shift+q
154           Kills the current window. This is equivalent to "clicking on the
155           close button", meaning a polite request to the application to close
156           this window. For example, Firefox will save its session upon such a
157           request. If the application does not support that, the window will
158           be killed and it depends on the application what happens.
159
160       Mod1+Shift+r
161           Restarts i3 in place. Your layout will be preserved.
162
163       Mod1+Shift+e
164           Exits i3.
165

FILES

167   ~/.config/i3/config (or ~/.i3/config)
168       When starting, i3 looks for configuration files in the following order:
169
170        1. ~/.config/i3/config (or $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/i3/config if set)
171
172        2. ~/.i3/config
173
174        3. /etc/xdg/i3/config (or $XDG_CONFIG_DIRS/i3/config if set)
175
176        4. /etc/i3/config
177
178       You can specify a custom path using the -c option.
179
180       Sample configuration.
181
182           # i3 config file (v4)
183
184           # Font for window titles. Will also be used by the bar unless a different font
185           # is used in the bar {} block below.
186           # This font is widely installed, provides lots of unicode glyphs, right-to-left
187           # text rendering and scalability on retina/hidpi displays (thanks to pango).
188           font pango:DejaVu Sans Mono 8
189           # Before i3 v4.8, we used to recommend this one as the default:
190           # font -misc-fixed-medium-r-normal--13-120-75-75-C-70-iso10646-1
191           # The font above is very space-efficient, that is, it looks good, sharp and
192           # clear in small sizes. However, its unicode glyph coverage is limited, the old
193           # X core fonts rendering does not support right-to-left and this being a bitmap
194           # font, it doesn’t scale on retina/hidpi displays.
195
196           # use Mouse+Mod1 to drag floating windows to their wanted position
197           floating_modifier Mod1
198
199           # start a terminal
200           bindsym Mod1+Return exec /usr/bin/urxvt
201
202           # kill focused window
203           bindsym Mod1+Shift+q kill
204
205           # start dmenu (a program launcher)
206           bindsym Mod1+d exec /usr/bin/dmenu_run
207
208           # change focus
209           bindsym Mod1+j focus left
210           bindsym Mod1+k focus down
211           bindsym Mod1+l focus up
212           bindsym Mod1+semicolon focus right
213
214           # alternatively, you can use the cursor keys:
215           bindsym Mod1+Left focus left
216           bindsym Mod1+Down focus down
217           bindsym Mod1+Up focus up
218           bindsym Mod1+Right focus right
219
220           # move focused window
221           bindsym Mod1+Shift+j move left
222           bindsym Mod1+Shift+k move down
223           bindsym Mod1+Shift+l move up
224           bindsym Mod1+Shift+semicolon move right
225
226           # alternatively, you can use the cursor keys:
227           bindsym Mod1+Shift+Left move left
228           bindsym Mod1+Shift+Down move down
229           bindsym Mod1+Shift+Up move up
230           bindsym Mod1+Shift+Right move right
231
232           # split in horizontal orientation
233           bindsym Mod1+h split h
234
235           # split in vertical orientation
236           bindsym Mod1+v split v
237
238           # enter fullscreen mode for the focused container
239           bindsym Mod1+f fullscreen toggle
240
241           # change container layout (stacked, tabbed, default)
242           bindsym Mod1+s layout stacking
243           bindsym Mod1+w layout tabbed
244           bindsym Mod1+e layout default
245
246           # toggle tiling / floating
247           bindsym Mod1+Shift+space floating toggle
248
249           # change focus between tiling / floating windows
250           bindsym Mod1+space focus mode_toggle
251
252           # focus the parent container
253           bindsym Mod1+a focus parent
254
255           # focus the child container
256           #bindsym Mod1+d focus child
257
258           # switch to workspace
259           bindsym Mod1+1 workspace 1
260           bindsym Mod1+2 workspace 2
261           # ..
262
263           # move focused container to workspace
264           bindsym Mod1+Shift+1 move workspace 1
265           bindsym Mod1+Shift+2 move workspace 2
266           # ...
267
268           # reload the configuration file
269           bindsym Mod1+Shift+c reload
270           # restart i3 inplace (preserves your layout/session, can be used to upgrade i3)
271           bindsym Mod1+Shift+r restart
272           # exit i3 (logs you out of your X session)
273           bindsym Mod1+Shift+e exit
274
275           # display workspace buttons plus a statusline generated by i3status
276           bar {
277               status_command i3status
278           }
279
280
281   ~/.xsession
282       This file is where you should configure your locales and start i3. It
283       is run by your login manager (xdm, slim, gdm, ...) as soon as you
284       login.
285
286       Sample xsession.
287
288           # Disable DPMS turning off the screen
289           xset -dpms
290           xset s off
291
292           # Disable bell
293           xset -b
294
295           # Enable zapping (C-A-<Bksp> kills X)
296           setxkbmap -option terminate:ctrl_alt_bksp
297
298           # Enforce correct locales from the beginning:
299           # LC_ALL is unset since it overwrites everything
300           # LANG=de_DE.UTF-8 is used, except for:
301           # LC_MESSAGES=C never translates program output
302           # LC_TIME=en_DK leads to yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm date/time output
303           unset LC_ALL
304           export LANG=de_DE.UTF-8
305           export LC_MESSAGES=C
306           export LC_TIME=en_DK.UTF-8
307
308           # Use XToolkit in java applications
309           export AWT_TOOLKIT=XToolkit
310
311           # Set background color
312           xsetroot -solid "#333333"
313
314           # Enable core dumps in case something goes wrong
315           ulimit -c unlimited
316
317           # Start i3 and log to ~/.local/share/i3/log
318           mkdir -p ~/.local/share/i3
319           echo "Starting at $(date)" >> ~/.local/share/i3/log
320           exec /usr/bin/i3 -V -d all >> ~/.local/share/i3/log
321
322

ENVIRONMENT

324   I3SOCK
325       This variable overwrites the IPC socket path (see userguide for default
326       location). The IPC socket is used by external programs like i3-msg(1),
327       i3bar(1) or user-made scripts.
328

SEE ALSO

330       You should have a copy of the userguide (featuring nice
331       screenshots/graphics which is why this is not integrated into this
332       manpage), the debugging guide, and the "how to hack" guide.
333
334       You can also access these documents online at https://i3wm.org/
335
336       i3-input(1), i3-msg(1), i3bar(1), i3-nagbar(1), i3-config-wizard(1),
337       i3-migrate-config-to-v4(1)
338

AUTHOR

340       Michael Stapelberg and contributors
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344i3 4.23                           10/29/2023                             I3(1)
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