i3 FAQ - Individual question feedhttps://faq.i3wm.org/questions/Frequently asked questions and answers about the i3 window managerenCopyright i3, 2012Fri, 29 Jun 2012 17:15:02 +0000Is there a way to switch the config file during runtime?https://faq.i3wm.org/question/175/is-there-a-way-to-switch-the-config-file-during-runtime/Is there a way to switch the config file during runtime? So i could `mod+Shift+r` into the new(other) one? Reason is, that i don't want to logout and login when changing the external monitor to be primary (in combination with using an external keyboard). As the external monitor is bigger, it makes sense (in my usecase) to have different workspace settings. Fri, 29 Jun 2012 11:20:30 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/175/is-there-a-way-to-switch-the-config-file-during-runtime/Answer by Michael for <p>Is there a way to switch the config file during runtime? So i could <code>mod+Shift+r</code> into the new(other) one?</p> <p>Reason is, that i don't want to logout and login when changing the external monitor to be primary (in combination with using an external keyboard). As the external monitor is bigger, it makes sense (in my usecase) to have different workspace settings. </p> https://faq.i3wm.org/question/175/is-there-a-way-to-switch-the-config-file-during-runtime/?answer=177#post-id-177There’s no way to do that within i3. However, it’s easy to build a solution which works: Just have two configuration files (`~/.i3/config.large_monitor` and `~/.i3/config.small_monitor`) and then symlink `~/.i3/config` to the appropriate one. You can change the symlink at runtime and then just trigger an i3 reload or i3 restart.Fri, 29 Jun 2012 15:32:12 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/175/is-there-a-way-to-switch-the-config-file-during-runtime/?answer=177#post-id-177Comment by luciusf for <p>There’s no way to do that within i3. However, it’s easy to build a solution which works: Just have two configuration files (<code>~/.i3/config.large_monitor</code> and <code>~/.i3/config.small_monitor</code>) and then symlink <code>~/.i3/config</code> to the appropriate one. You can change the symlink at runtime and then just trigger an i3 reload or i3 restart.</p> https://faq.i3wm.org/question/175/is-there-a-way-to-switch-the-config-file-during-runtime/?comment=178#comment-178All too easy. Thanks a lot!!Fri, 29 Jun 2012 17:15:02 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/175/is-there-a-way-to-switch-the-config-file-during-runtime/?comment=178#comment-178