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Wayland, Switching between & focusing windows with just hotkeys? (lemmy.world)
submitted 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) by TheTwelveYearOld@lemmy.world to c/linux@lemmy.ml
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Edit: I want a graphical window switcher that's fully keyboard controlled, so I can see the windows before switching them.

The screenshot is from hyprland-easymotion which only shows labels for visible windows. I want a switcher that allows for both switching to windows or the same, or from any app, using just the keyboard and no mouse.

Ideally I could go to a window without pressing tab or another key a bunch of times, perhaps select any window (visible or not) with a letter like easymotion.

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[-] jaxxed@lemmy.world 5 points 3 days ago

Have you tried "niri" wm? Pair it with dankmaterialshell or noctalia-shell for a desktop feeling (cosmic is also and option.)

The keyboard based control you are looking for is almost met, but not quite. That said, you might find this kind of a navigational wm works well for you, based on your description.

The niri website has a decent video demo.

[-] juipeltje@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago

I think Mangowm and maybe even base dwl have a feature like this, where it shows you windows from other workspaces as well in an overview and you can switch between them, but not entirely sure because i personally don't use it much aside from trying it once or twice.

[-] ogeist@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

Thanks, friend, I spend 4 hours configuring Mangowc and DMS yesterday. It was fun. I have not heard of these projects.

[-] Hotrod54chevy@lemmy.ml 2 points 3 days ago

MangoWC*

[-] juipeltje@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

Oh you're right, i'm still getting used to it not being called maomaowm anymore lol

[-] DieserTypMatthias@lemmy.ml 3 points 3 days ago

Try sway. It's great and just works.

[-] teawrecks@sopuli.xyz 4 points 2 days ago

Does sway have the feature OP is asking for, or are you just suggesting a different tiling window manager, and they would still be left solving the same problem?

[-] markstos@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago

Sway does not allow you to jump directly to a non-adjacent window natively, no.

But find sway-easyfocus which I contributed to. It does exactly this.

https://github.com/edzdez/sway-easyfocus

[-] myrmidex@belgae.social 4 points 3 days ago

+Left, +Right, for windows. +1,2,3,... for screens. Doesn't get easier than that. Love Sway!!

[-] wuphysics87@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 days ago

While I love sway, it's not the easiest to work with if you want to do something specific. swaymsg -t get_tree and get good at jq 🤣

[-] tekato@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago

How many windows do you usually have open in a workspace? Wouldn’t the usual Meta+Direction shortcuts be quick enough for 2-4 windows?

[-] Ephera@lemmy.ml 1 points 3 days ago

I guess, those don't work for hidden/minimized windows.

Perhaps worth considering a bspwm-like workflow. Rather than minimizing windows, you put them onto another workspace. Just absolves you from dealing with the whole concept of minimized windows...

[-] markstos@lemmy.world 0 points 2 days ago

On a 4k monitor, I sometimes have 6 or 8 visible plus 3 or 4 more on a second and another on a third.

So something like sway-easyfocus for direct jumping via keyboard is quite nice.

https://github.com/edzdez/sway-easyfocus

[-] teawrecks@sopuli.xyz 1 points 2 days ago

Idk if I follow. I believe the default keybinds in hyprland allow you to switch between windows using super+J/K/L/;, and between workspaces using super+number. Hyprland, like all tiled window managers, are specifically designed to be used exclusively with a keyboard.

Are you asking for something more like alt+tab on windows? Where it shows a little preview of all the windows? I think that's kind of obviated by the concept of a tiled window manager.

[-] markstos@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago

This is better than directional arrows or alt tab because you can go directly to any window with one binding to open the utility and a second key to type a window label.

https://github.com/edzdez/sway-easyfocus

The beauty is that it’s the same short process to go to any window no matter if if you 15 visible windows across 3 monitors.

You don’t have to conceptually switch to an output and then to a window or type a string of directional keys like Super+LLLLLJJ

[-] teawrecks@sopuli.xyz 1 points 2 days ago

Ahhh I see. That's really neat, I'll have to try that.

[-] TheTwelveYearOld@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

On Hyprland I have all my windows float & stack by default. I use Hyprland since it can be easily customized with dotfiles.

this post was submitted on 13 Dec 2025
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