i3 FAQ - Individual question feed

How do I find an app buried in some workspace by its title?

Sun, 08 Jul 2012 20:26:57 +0000

For example, when opening PDFs from Thunderbird, they just go to existing Adobe Reader instance. Which could already be sitting in some other workspace, but I usually don't remember where. Awesome lets you right-click the menubar and get a list of all windows on all workspaces. Something like that would be nice.

Answer by TonyC for
For example, when opening PDFs from Thunderbird, they just go to existing Adobe Reader instance. Which could already be sitting in some other workspace, but I usually don't remember where.

Awesome lets you right-click the menubar and get a list of all windows on all workspaces. Something like that would be nice.

Thu, 10 Apr 2014 00:39:49 +0000

While the freedom to create complicated layouts and make full use of workspaces is a great strength of i3wm, it's probably the only window manager out there where it's quite easy to lose a window if you aren't paying attention. Try [i3-container-commander](https://github.com/acrisci/i3ipc-python/blob/master/examples/i3-container-commander.py) from the [i3ipc-python](https://github.com/acrisci/i3ipc-python) project. It is a dmenu-based script that lets you drill down into your open windows based on class and title.

Comment by phairland for
While the freedom to create complicated layouts and make full use of workspaces is a great strength of i3wm, it's probably the only window manager out there where it's quite easy to lose a window if you aren't paying attention.

Try i3-container-commander from the i3ipc-python project. It is a dmenu-based script that lets you drill down into your open windows based on class and title.

Fri, 18 Jul 2014 11:26:47 +0000

@TonyC I tried your script and after installing all dependencies is running ok. I just trying to change the font of dmenu. I put the flag -fn inside your script where the dmenu command is on line 59, but it trows an error. How can I change the font?

Comment by phairland for
While the freedom to create complicated layouts and make full use of workspaces is a great strength of i3wm, it's probably the only window manager out there where it's quite easy to lose a window if you aren't paying attention.

Try i3-container-commander from the i3ipc-python project. It is a dmenu-based script that lets you drill down into your open windows based on class and title.

Fri, 18 Jul 2014 18:18:08 +0000

@TonyC Thank you, it works !!!

Comment by TonyC for
While the freedom to create complicated layouts and make full use of workspaces is a great strength of i3wm, it's probably the only window manager out there where it's quite easy to lose a window if you aren't paying attention.

Try i3-container-commander from the i3ipc-python project. It is a dmenu-based script that lets you drill down into your open windows based on class and title.

Fri, 18 Jul 2014 18:08:18 +0000

Pass arguments to dmenu by adding `--` and then dmenu arguments. Example: `~/.i3/scripts/i3-container-commander.py -- -fn 'Fira Mono -20' -f -i `

Answer by Michael for
For example, when opening PDFs from Thunderbird, they just go to existing Adobe Reader instance. Which could already be sitting in some other workspace, but I usually don't remember where.

Awesome lets you right-click the menubar and get a list of all windows on all workspaces. Something like that would be nice.

Sun, 08 Jul 2012 20:31:35 +0000

You can solve that with a script using the IPC interface. See http://i3wm.org/docs/ipc.html. It certainly won’t be introduced as a feature in i3 itself :). In general, I’d recommend not using apps which don’t properly behave, like Adobe Reader. There are plenty more PDF readers out there which are FOSS and open one window per PDF, so that you won’t have that specific problem anymore.

Comment by lkraav for
You can solve that with a script using the IPC interface. See http://i3wm.org/docs/ipc.html. It certainly won’t be introduced as a feature in i3 itself :).

In general, I’d recommend not using apps which don’t properly behave, like Adobe Reader. There are plenty more PDF readers out there which are FOSS and open one window per PDF, so that you won’t have that specific problem anymore.

Mon, 09 Jul 2012 08:32:55 +0000

No doubt, but it actually has been my preference so far to have the PDFs consolidated. Even if they aren't, then I will have the same problem: "in which f'n workspace is that particular PDF now" :> btw I do rock mupdf on the side already as well.

Answer by joepd for
For example, when opening PDFs from Thunderbird, they just go to existing Adobe Reader instance. Which could already be sitting in some other workspace, but I usually don't remember where.

Awesome lets you right-click the menubar and get a list of all windows on all workspaces. Something like that would be nice.

Tue, 18 Sep 2012 10:35:03 +0000

Just ran across [simpleswitcher](https://github.com/seanpringle/simpleswitcher), which does exactly what it needs to do. It asks the available windows directly from Xorg, which happens to be a lot faster than i3-py / IPC. Arch-users can try it without thinking with [AUR](http://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?ID=60424). **Edit:** Should test stuff a bit longer before telling about it. What works is to get a list of open windows on the current workspace, when asking for open windows on all workspaces. Using it to find on which workspace an app is buried, does not work. simpleswitcher relies on some EWM-Hints that are as yet not implemented in i3, and they are according to Michael not trivial to implement. **EDIT2:** Here is [a fork](https://github.com/DaveDavenport/simpleswitcher) that has support for i3. It works really well. Archers: The AUR you should install is `simpleswitcher-dd-git`. **EDIT3:** The Fork has been renamed to [rofi](https://github.com/DaveDavenport/rofi). It is excellent!

Answer by KJ44 for
For example, when opening PDFs from Thunderbird, they just go to existing Adobe Reader instance. Which could already be sitting in some other workspace, but I usually don't remember where.

Awesome lets you right-click the menubar and get a list of all windows on all workspaces. Something like that would be nice.

Fri, 21 Feb 2014 17:54:00 +0000

**Run or focus in i3** https://faq.i3wm.org/question/2473/run-or-focus-in-i3/ My solution >blush< https://faq.i3wm.org/question/2473/run-or-focus-in-i3/?answer=2479#post-id-2479 *Type a string and the corresponding program is brought into focus; if it is already running focus moves to its associated workspace, otherwise it is launched in the current workspace.*

Answer by joepd for
For example, when opening PDFs from Thunderbird, they just go to existing Adobe Reader instance. Which could already be sitting in some other workspace, but I usually don't remember where.

Awesome lets you right-click the menubar and get a list of all windows on all workspaces. Something like that would be nice.

Sun, 08 Jul 2012 22:34:32 +0000

Have a look at the winmenu example of a python IPC library, [i3-py](https://github.com/ziberna/i3-py). It makes use of dmenu to select a particular window, and jumps to it. **EDIT:** Since most will not scroll down: i3-py is depreciated. Use TonyC's python bindings + solution, or rofi. IMHO [rofi](https://github.com/DaveDavenport/rofi) is currently the most convenient solution. See also [this answer](https://faq.i3wm.org/question/228/how-do-i-find-an-app-buried-in-some-workspace-by-its-title/?answer=229#post-id-229).

Comment by joepd for
Have a look at the winmenu example of a python IPC library, i3-py. It makes use of dmenu to select a particular window, and jumps to it.

EDIT: Since most will not scroll down: i3-py is depreciated. Use TonyC's python bindings + solution, or rofi.

IMHO rofi is currently the most convenient solution. See also this answer.

Thu, 17 Jul 2014 11:52:04 +0000

Watch out, i3-py has bugs and is currently not maintained.

Comment by Piotr Domagalski for
Have a look at the winmenu example of a python IPC library, i3-py. It makes use of dmenu to select a particular window, and jumps to it.

EDIT: Since most will not scroll down: i3-py is depreciated. Use TonyC's python bindings + solution, or rofi.

IMHO rofi is currently the most convenient solution. See also this answer.

Tue, 18 Sep 2012 16:28:50 +0000

This is really great, thanks!

Comment by Nishant for
Have a look at the winmenu example of a python IPC library, i3-py. It makes use of dmenu to select a particular window, and jumps to it.

EDIT: Since most will not scroll down: i3-py is depreciated. Use TonyC's python bindings + solution, or rofi.

IMHO rofi is currently the most convenient solution. See also this answer.

Sun, 12 Apr 2015 14:34:36 +0000

Awesome project.

Comment by lkraav for
Have a look at the winmenu example of a python IPC library, i3-py. It makes use of dmenu to select a particular window, and jumps to it.

EDIT: Since most will not scroll down: i3-py is depreciated. Use TonyC's python bindings + solution, or rofi.

IMHO rofi is currently the most convenient solution. See also this answer.

Mon, 09 Jul 2012 08:41:42 +0000

Frickin fantastic! :>

Answer by chilicuil for
For example, when opening PDFs from Thunderbird, they just go to existing Adobe Reader instance. Which could already be sitting in some other workspace, but I usually don't remember where.

Awesome lets you right-click the menubar and get a list of all windows on all workspaces. Something like that would be nice.

Mon, 08 Jun 2015 21:56:50 +0000

If you're looking for a way to list all windows apps and then switch to any of them, you may be interested in dmenu-i3-window-jumper, a sh script (no python nor bash required) who just do that. https://github.com/minos-org/minos-tools/blob/master/tools/dmenu-i3-window-jumper

Answer by tigrezno for
For example, when opening PDFs from Thunderbird, they just go to existing Adobe Reader instance. Which could already be sitting in some other workspace, but I usually don't remember where.

Awesome lets you right-click the menubar and get a list of all windows on all workspaces. Something like that would be nice.

Fri, 18 Jul 2014 20:54:00 +0000

Why don't you assign all pdf readers (adobe in your case) to the "pdf" workspace?

Comment by joepd for
Why don't you assign all pdf readers (adobe in your case) to the "pdf" workspace?

Fri, 18 Jul 2014 22:06:39 +0000

**Reductio ad absurdum**: How many applications do you have, and how many workspaces do you have available? **Experientially**: if ever I have a pdf open, it is to enable me doing X. So it should be on the workspace dedicated to X.

i3 FAQ - Individual question feed

How do I find an app buried in some workspace by its title?

Comment by joepd for Why don't you assign all pdf readers (adobe in your case) to the "pdf" workspace?

Comment by joepd for
Why don't you assign all pdf readers (adobe in your case) to the "pdf" workspace?