DWM Keybindings - Dynamic Window Manager Shortcuts

Master DWM with our comprehensive keybinding guide. Learn essential shortcuts for launching applications, managing windows, navigating tags, and controlling layouts in the Dynamic Window Manager.

DWM Keybindings Guide

This page provides a comprehensive cheat sheet for the Dynamic Window Manager (DWM), a highly configurable and efficient tiling window manager for X. Mastering these keybindings will significantly enhance your productivity and workflow in a Linux environment.

Basic DWM Operations

These are the fundamental commands for launching applications and managing the DWM bar.

# Launch terminal.
[Shift]+[Mod]+[Enter]
   
# Show/hide the status bar.
[Mod]+[b]               

# Use dmenu for running programs like the web browser.
[Mod]+[p]               

# Push active window from stack to master, or pull last used window from stack onto master.
[Mod]+[Enter]          

# Focus on next/previous window in the current tag.
[Mod] + [j / k]        

# Increase/decrease master area size.
[Mod] + [h / l]        

DWM Navigation and Tag Management

Learn how to navigate between different tags (workspaces) and move windows across them, as well as manage multiple monitors.

# Move focus to tag 2.
[Mod]+[2]      

# Move active window to tag 2.
[Shift]+[Mod]+[2]      

# Increase/decrease the number of windows in the master area.
[Mod] + [i / d]        

# Move focus between screens (for multi-monitor setups).
[Mod] + [, / .]        

# Move active window to a different screen.
[Shift]+[Mod]+[, / .]   

# View all windows on the screen.
[Mod]+[0]               

# Make the focused window appear on all tags.
[Shift]+[Mod]+[0]       

# Kill the active window.
[Shift]+[Mod]+[c]      

# Quit DWM cleanly.
[Shift]+[Mod]+[q]       

DWM Layout Control

Switch between different window tiling layouts to suit your current task.

# Switch to tiled mode. []=
[Mod]+[t]               

# Switch to floating mode. ><>
[Mod]+[f]               

# Switch to monocle mode. [M] (single window fullscreen)
[Mod]+[m]              

Floating Window Manipulation

Commands for resizing and moving windows when in floating mode.

# Resize the floating window.
[Mod]+[R M B]           

# Move the floating window around.
[Mod]+[L M B]           

# Toggle to the previous layout mode.
[Mod]+[Space]           

# Make an individual window float.
[Mod]+[Shift]+[Space]  

# Make an individual window unfloat.
[Mod]+[M M B]           

Understanding and utilizing these DWM keybindings is crucial for efficient desktop management. For more advanced configurations and customization, refer to the official DWM documentation and community resources.

Further Resources: