dwm Cheatsheet

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dwm (Dynamic Window Manager) is a minimal, tiling window manager for X11.

Application Launch

• Mod+Return - Launch terminal

• Mod+Shift+Return - Launch terminal (swap with master)

• Mod+P - Launch dmenu (application launcher)

• Mod+Shift+P - Launch dmenu (alternative)

Window Management

• Mod+C - Close focused window

• Mod+Shift+C - Close window (alternative)

• Mod+M - Toggle monocle (fullscreen)

• Mod+F - Toggle floating

• Mod+T - Toggle tiled layout

• Mod+Space - Zoom (swap focused with master)

• Mod+Shift+Space - Toggle floating

Window Navigation

• Mod+J - Focus next window

• Mod+K - Focus previous window

• Mod+Tab - Focus next window

• Mod+Shift+Tab - Focus previous window

• Mod+H - Focus stack (backward)

• Mod+L - Focus stack (forward)

Window Resizing

• Mod+H - Decrease master area size

• Mod+L - Increase master area size

• Mod+Shift+H - Decrease number of master windows

• Mod+Shift+L - Increase number of master windows

• Mod+I - Increase number of windows in master area

• Mod+D - Decrease number of windows in master area

Window Movement

• Mod+Shift+J - Move window down in stack

• Mod+Shift+K - Move window up in stack

• Mod+Shift+H - Move window to master area

• Mod+Shift+L - Move window to stack area

Tags (Workspaces)

• Mod+1-9 - View tag

• Mod+Shift+1-9 - Move window to tag

• Mod+Ctrl+1-9 - Toggle tag view

• Mod+0 - View all tags

• Mod+Shift+0 - Make window appear on all tags

Layouts

• Mod+T - Tiled layout

• Mod+Shift+T - Tiled layout (alternative)

• Mod+M - Monocle layout (fullscreen)

• Mod+F - Floating layout

• Mod+Shift+F - Floating layout (alternative)

System

• Mod+Shift+Q - Quit dwm

• Mod+B - Toggle status bar

• Mod+Shift+B - Toggle status bar (alternative)

Configuration

Config File Location

• ~/.config/dwm/config.h (source config)

• config.def.h in dwm source directory

• Must recompile after changes

Example Key Bindings

Customize in config.h:

static Key keys[] = {
    /* modifier                     key        function        argument */
    { MODKEY,                       XK_Return, spawn,          {.v = termcmd } },
    { MODKEY|ShiftMask,             XK_Return, spawn,          {.v = termcmd } },
    { MODKEY,                       XK_p,      spawn,          {.v = dmenucmd } },
    { MODKEY,                       XK_j,      focusstack,     {.i = +1 } },
    { MODKEY,                       XK_k,      focusstack,     {.i = -1 } },
    { MODKEY,                       XK_h,      setmfact,       {.f = -0.05} },
    { MODKEY,                       XK_l,      setmfact,       {.f = +0.05} },
    { MODKEY,                       XK_space,  zoom,           {0} },
    { MODKEY|ShiftMask,             XK_c,      killclient,     {0} },
    { MODKEY,                       XK_t,      setlayout,      {.v = &layouts[0]} },
    { MODKEY,                       XK_f,      setlayout,      {.v = &layouts[1]} },
    { MODKEY,                       XK_m,      setlayout,      {.v = &layouts[2]} },
    { MODKEY,                       XK_1,      view,           {.ui = 1 << 0} },
    { MODKEY|ShiftMask,             XK_1,      tag,            {.ui = 1 << 0} },
};

Change Modifier Key

#define MODKEY Mod1Mask  // Alt key
// or
#define MODKEY Mod4Mask  // Super/Windows key

Tips

• MODKEY is Mod1Mask (Alt) by default, often changed to Mod4Mask (Super)

• Tags act like workspaces - windows can be on multiple tags

• Layouts: tiled, floating, monocle (fullscreen)

• Must recompile dwm after config changes

• Use patches to extend functionality

• Status bar shows tags, layout, window title

• Very minimal - everything configured in source code

• Use dmenu for application launching

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