KWin Rules Window Attributes

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Window Attributes

The attributes which can be set are grouped by function in three tabs:

Size & Position
Arrangement & Access
Appearance & Fixes

Each attribute has a set of parameters which determines its disposition.

Parameters

Each attribute, minimally, accepts one of the following parameters. Additional, attribute-specific arguments are listed within each attribute definition.

Do Not Affect: Ensure a subsequent rule, which matches the window, does not affect the attribute.

Apply Initially: Start the window with the attribute and allow it to be changed at run-time.

Remember: Use the attribute setting as defined in the rule and if changed at run-time, save and use the new value instead.

Force: The setting cannot be changed at run-time.

Apply Now, Force Temporarily: Apply/Force the setting once and unset the attribute.

The difference between the two is at run-time, Apply Now allows the attribute to be changed and Force Temporarily prohibits it to be altered until all affected windows exit.

Warning

For Apply Now, if the rule has no other attributes set, the rule is deleted after evaluation whereas Force Temporarily, the rule is deleted after the last affected window terminates.

Attributes

Tip

The Detect Window Properties button back-fills attribute-specific values - for more information see Window Matching. For example the height and width values of the Size attribute is set to the height and width of the detected window.

Tip

Yes/No arguments are used to toggle on or off attributes. Leniency with grammar helps one understand how a setting will be processed.

For example, the attribute Skip taskbar, when set to No means do not skip the taskbar. In other words, show the window in the taskbar.

Size & Position

Position: Position the window's upper left corner at the specified x,y coordinate.

Tip

KWin's origin, (0,0), is the upper left of the desktop.

Size: The width and height of the window.

Maximized horizontally, Maximized vertically, Fullscreen: These attributes are used to toggle the maximum horizontal/minimum horizontal/full-screen window attribute.

Desktop: Place the window on the specified (Virtual) Desktop. Use All Desktops to place the window on all Virtual Desktops.

Minimized, Shaded: Toggle the Minimize and Shading window attribute. For example, a window can be started Minimized or if it is started Minimized, it can be forced to not.

Tip

Maximized attribute is emulated by using both Maximized horizontally and Maximized vertically or Initial placement with the Maximizing argument.

Initial placement

Override the global window placement strategy with one of the following:

Default - use the global window placement strategy.
No Placement - top-left corner.
Smart - place where no other window exists.
Maximizing - start the window maximized.
Cascade - staircase-by-title.
Centered - center of the desktop.
Random
Top-Left Corner
Under Mouse
On Main Window - restrict placement of a child window to the boundaries of the parent window.

Ignore requested geometry: Toggle whether to accept or ignore the window's requested geometry position. To avoid conflicts between the default placement strategy and the window's request, the placement strategy is ignored when the window's request is accepted.

Minimum size, Maximum size: The minimum and maximum size allowed for the window.

Obey geometry restrictions: Toggle whether to adhere to the window's requested aspect ratio or base increment.

In order to understand this attribute, some background is required. Briefly, windows must request from the Window Manager, a base increment: the minimum number of height X width pixels per re-size request. Typically, it's 1x1. Other windows though, for example terminal emulators or editors, use fixed-fonts and request their base-increment according to the size of one character.

Arrangement & Access

Keep above, Keep below: Toggle whether to keep the window above/below all others.

Autogroup with identical: Toggle the grouping (commonly known as tabbing) of windows.

Autogroup in foreground: Toggle whether to make the window active when it is added to the Autogroup group.

Autogroup by ID: Create a group via a user-defined ID. More than one rule can share the same ID to allow for seemingly unrelated windows to be grouped.

Tiling: Override the default window behavior to either Tiled or Floating.

Skip taskbar: Toggle whether to display the window in the taskbar.

Skip pager: Toggle whether to display the window in pager:

Skip switcher: Toggle whether to display the window in the ALT+TAB list.

Shortcut: Assign a shortcut to the window. When Edit... is clicked, additional instructions are presented.

Appearance & Fixes

No titlebar and frame: Toggle whether to display the titlebar and frame around the window.

Active/Inactive opacity: When the window is active/inactive, set its opacity to the percentage specified.

Tip

Active/Inactive opacity can only be affected when Desktop Effects are enabled.

Moving/resizing: Deprecated as of >4.8

Focus stealing prevention

When a window wants focus, control on a scale (from None to Extreme) whether to honor the request and place above all other windows, or ignore its request (potentially leaving the window behind other windows):

None - Always grant focus to the window.
Low
Normal
High
Extreme - The window's focus request is denied. Focus is only granted by explicitly requesting via the mousing.

Tip

See Accept focus to make a window read-only - not accept any keyboard input.

Accept focus: Toggle whether the window accepts keyboard input. Make the window read-only.

Ignore global shortcuts: Toggle whether to ignore global shortcuts (as defined by kcmshell4 keys) while the window is active.

Closeable: Toggle whether to display the Close button on the title bar.

Tip

A terminal window may still be closed by the end user by ending the shell session however using Accept focus to disable keyboard input will make it more difficult to close the window.

Window type

Change the window to another type and inherit the characteristics of that window:

Normal Window
Dialog Window
Utility Window
Dock (panel)
Toolbar
Torn-Off Menu
Splash Screen
Desktop
Standalone Menubar

Warning

Use with care because unwanted results may be introduced. For example, a Splash Screen is a automatically closed by KWin when clicked.

Block compositing: Toggle whether to disable compositing while the window exists. If compositing is enabled and the rule specifies to disable compositing, while any matching window exists, compositing will be disabled. Compositing is re-enabled when the last matching window terminates.