CWM(1) User Commands CWM(1)

NAME

cwm - a lightweight and efficient window manager for X11

SYNOPSIS

cwm [-nv] [-c file] [-d display]

DESCRIPTION

cwm is a window manager for X11 which contains many features that
concentrate on the efficiency and transparency of window management,
while maintaining the simplest and most pleasant aesthetic.

The options are as follows:

-c file
Specify an alternative configuration file. By default, cwm
loads ~/.cwmrc, if present. Any error messages from lines in
the configuration file will be sent to stderr; however, cwm
will continue to process the rest of the configuration file.

-d display
Specify the display to use.

-n Configtest mode. Only check the configuration file for
validity.

-v Verbose mode. Multiple -v options increase the verbosity.

cwm actions are initiated either via key or mouse bindings. The
following notations are used throughout this page:

C Control key.
M Meta key.
S Shift key.
4 Mod4 (windows) key.
M1 Left mouse button.
M2 Middle mouse button.
M3 Right mouse button.

The default key bindings are:

CM-Return Spawn a new terminal.
CM-Delete Lock the screen.
M-Return Hide current window.
M-Down Lower current window.
M-Up Raise current window.
M-slash Search for windows.
C-slash Search for applications.
CM-n Label current window.
M-Tab Cycle through currently visible windows.
MS-Tab Reverse cycle through currently visible windows.
M-grave Cycle through currently visible windows of the
same window class.
MS-grave Reverse cycle through currently visible windows
of the same window class.
CM-x Close current window.
CM-[n] Toggle visibility of group n, where n is 1-9.
CM-a Toggle visibility of all groups.
CM-g Toggle group membership of current window.
M-Right Cycle through active groups.
M-Left Reverse cycle through active groups.
CMS-f Toggle freezing geometry of current window.
CM-s Toggle stickiness of current window.
CM-f Toggle full-screen mode of current window.
CM-m Toggle maximization of current window.
CM-equal Toggle vertical maximization of current window.
CMS-equal Toggle horizontal maximization of current window.
M-[hjkl] Move window by a small amount.
MS-[hjkl] Move window by a large amount; see cwmrc(5).
CM-[hjkl] Resize window by a small amount.
CMS-[hjkl] Resize window by a large amount; see cwmrc(5).
M-question Spawn "exec program" dialog.
M-period Spawn "ssh to" dialog. This parses
$HOME/.ssh/known_hosts to provide host auto-
completion. ssh(1) will be executed via the
configured terminal emulator.
CM-w Spawn "exec WindowManager" menu, allowing a
switch to another window manager.
CMS-r Restart.
CMS-q Quit.

The default mouse bindings are:

M-M1 Move current window.
CM-M1 Toggle group membership of current window.
M-M2 Resize current window
M-M3 Lower current window.
CMS-M3 Hide current window.

The following key bindings may be used to navigate search and exec
dialogs:

[Return] Select item.
[Down], C-s or M-j Next item.
[Up], C-r or M-k Previous item.
[Backspace] or C-h Backspace.
C-u Clear input.
C-a List all available items.
[Esc] Cancel.

cwm rereads its configuration file when it receives a hangup signal,
SIGHUP, by executing itself with the name and arguments with which it
was started. This is equivalent to the restart function.

SEARCH

cwm features the ability to search for windows by their current title,
old titles, and by their label. The priority for the search results
are: label, current title, old titles in reverse order, and finally
window class name. cwm keeps a history of the 5 previous titles of a
window.

When searching, the leftmost character of the result list may show a
flag:

! Window is currently focused.
& Window is hidden.

APPLICATIONS

cwm manages a list of applications defined with the command
configuration option.

GROUPS

cwm has the ability to group windows together, and use the groups to
perform operations on the entire group instead of just one window.
Together with the sticky option, this can be used to emulate virtual
desktops.

To edit groups, use the group selection commands to toggle membership
of a group. A blue border will be shown briefly on windows added to
the current group, and a red border will be shown on those just
removed.

MENUS

Menus are recalled by clicking the mouse on the root window:

M1 Show list of currently defined windows. Selecting an
item will warp to that window, unhiding it if necessary.
M2 Show list of currently defined groups. Selecting an item
will hide/unhide that group.
M3 Show list of applications as defined in the configuration
file. Selecting an item will spawn that application.

ENVIRONMENT

DISPLAY cwm starts on this display unless the -d option is given.

FILES

~/.cwmrc Default cwm configuration file.

SEE ALSO

cwmrc(5)

HISTORY

cwm was originally inspired by evilwm, but was rewritten from scratch
due to limitations in the evilwm codebase. The from-scratch rewrite
borrowed some code from 9wm, however that code has since been removed
or rewritten.

cwm first appeared in OpenBSD 4.2.

AUTHORS

cwm was developed by Marius Aamodt Eriksen <marius@monkey.org> with
contributions from Andy Adamson <dros@monkey.org>, Niels Provos
<provos@monkey.org>, and Antti Nyk"anen <aon@iki.fi>. Ideas, discussion
with many others.

illumos February 27, 2025 illumos