evilwm(1)

evilwm—minimalist window manager for X11

evilwm [OPTION]

evilwm is a minimalist window manager for the X Window System. It features plenty of reconfigurable mouse and keyboard controls while providing a clean display, uncluttered by less useful window furniture (like title bars).

--display display
    specifies the X display to run on. Usually this can be inferred from the DISPLAY environment variable.

--term termprog
    specifies an alternative program to run when spawning a new terminal (defaults to xterm, or x-terminal-emulator in Debian). Separate arguments with whitespace, and escape needed whitespace with a backslash. Remember that special characters will also need to be protected from the shell.

--fn fontname
    specify a font to use when resizing or displaying window titles.

--fg colour
--fc colour
--bg colour
    frame colour of currently active, fixed active, and inactive windows respectively. Either specify an X11 colour name like goldenrod, or a hex triplet like #DAA520.

--bw borderwidth
    width of window borders in pixels.

--snap distance
    enable snap-to-border support. distance is the proximity in pixels to snap to.

--wholescreen
    ignore monitor geometry and use the whole screen dimensions. This is the old behaviour from before multi-monitor support was implemented, and may still be useful, eg when one large monitor is driven from multiple outputs.

--numvdesks columns[xrows]
    virtual desktop layout, defaulting to '8x1'. Any more than eight virtual desktops will only be accessible by pagers or using Control+Alt+(Left/Right/Up/Down).

--nosoliddrag
    draw a window outline while moving or resizing.

--mask1 modifier[+modifier]
--mask2 modifier[+modifier]
--altmask modifier[+modifier]
    override the default keyboard modifiers used to grab keys for window manager functionality.

    mask1 is used for most keyboard controls (default: control+alt), and mask2 is used for mouse button controls and cycling windows (default: alt). altmask is used to modify the behaviour of certain controls (default: shift). Modifiers may be separated with + signs. Valid modifiers are 'shift', 'control', 'alt', 'mod1''mod5'.

--bind key[+modifier]=[function[,flag]]
    bind a key pressed with specified modifiers to a window manager function. key is an X11 keysym name, modifiers are as above, but may also include 'mask1', 'mask2' and 'altmask' to refer to the globally-configured combinations. See FUNCTIONS for a list of available functions and the flags they recognise. If function is empty, a bind is removed.

--bind button=[function[,flag]]
    bind a mouse button to a window manager function. While modifiers can be specified, they will be ignored; the button on its own will trigger if pressed within a window's frame, or with 'mask2' held anywhere within a window. Function and flags is as with key binds above. Valid buttons are 'button1''button5'.

--app name/class
    match an application by instance name and class (for help in finding these, use the xprop tool to extract the WM_CLASS property).

    Subsequent --geometry, --dock, --vdesk and --fixed options will apply to this match.

-g, --geometry geometry
    apply a geometry (using a standard X geometry string) to applications matching the last --app.

--ignore-position
    ignores the user-specified position for a matched application. Useful for some applications which abuse these hints to centre themselves without the user asking for it.

--ignore-border
    ignores the application-specified border width and use the default.

--dock
    specify that application should be considered to be a dock, even if it lacks the appropriate property.

-v, --vdesk column[,row]
    specify a default virtual desktop for applications matching the last --app. If row is not specified, column may instead refer to an absolute virtual desktop number (ignoring layout). Note that column, row and absolute virtual desktop numbers are counted from zero.

-f, --fixed
    specify that application is to start with a fixed client window.

-h, --help
    show help

-V, --version
    show program version

evilwm will also read options, one per line, from a file called .evilwmrc in the user's home directory. Options listed in a configuration file should omit the leading dash(es). Options specified on the command line override those found in the configuration file.

In evilwm, the focus follows the mouse pointer, and focus is not lost if you stray onto the root window. The current window border is shaded gold (unless it is fixed, in which case blue), with other windows left as a dark grey.

You can use the mouse to manipulate windows either by click/dragging the single-pixel border (easier when they align with a screen edge), or by holding down Alt and doing so anywhere in the window. The controls are:

Button 1
    Move window.

Button 2
    Resize window.

Button 3
    Lower window.

Most keyboard controls are used by holding down Control and Alt, then pressing a key. Available functions are:

Return
    Spawn new terminal.

Escape
    Delete current window. Hold Shift as well to force kill a client.

Insert
    Lower current window.

H, J, K, L
    Move window left, down, up or right (16 pixels). Holding Shift resizes the window instead.

Y, U, B, N
    Move window to the top-left, top-right, bottom-left or bottom-right of the current monitor.

I   Show information about current window.

Equals
    Maximise current window vertically on current monitor (toggle). Holding Shift toggles horizontal maximization.

X   Maximise current window to current monitor (toggle).

D   Toggle visible state of docks, eg pagers and launch bars.

If compiled with virtual desktop support, these functions are also available:

F   Fix or unfix current window. Fixed windows remain visible when you switch virtual desktop.

1—8 Switch to specific virtual desktop (internally, desktops are numbered from zero, so this actually switches to desktops 0—7; this only becomes important if you use application matching).

Left
    Switch one virtual desktop to the left.

Right
    Switch one virtual desktop to the right.

Up  Switch one virtual desktop up (if more than one row was specified).

Down
    Switch one virtual desktop down (if more than one row was specified).

A   Switch to the previously selected virtual desktop.

In addition to the above, Alt+Tab can be used to cycle through windows.

To make evilwm reread its config, send a HUP signal to the process. To make it quit, kill it, ie send a TERM signal.

The keyboard and mouse button controls can be configured with the --bind option to a number of built-in functions. Typically, these functions respond to an additional set of flags that modify their behaviour.

delete
    Delete a window. This is the co-operative way of closing applications, as it sends the client a signal indicating that they should shut down.

dock
    When called with the toggle flag, toggles visibility of any window claiming to be a dock.

fix With the toggle flag, toggle whether a window is fixed (visible on all virtual desktops) or not.

info
    Shows extra information about the current window for as long as the key is held.

kill
    Kill a window. A more forceful way of closing an application if it is not responding to delete requests.

lower
    Lower the current window.

move
    When bound to a button, moves a window with the mouse.

    When bound to a key, if the relative flag is specified, moves a window in the direction indicated by other flags: up, down, left or right. Without the relative flag, moves a window in the direction specified by other flag to the edge of the monitor.

next
    Cycle to the next window.

raise

Raises the current window.

resize
    When bound to a button, resizes a window with the mouse.

    When bound to a key, if the relative flag is specified, modifies the width or height of the window as indicated by other flags: up (reduce height), down (increase height), left (reduce width) or right (increase width). If instead the toggle flag is specified, maximises along axes specified by other flags: horizontal, vertical or both.

spawn
    Start a terminal.

vdesk
    With the toggle flag specified, switch to the previously visible vdesk. With the relative flag set, move within the virtual desktop layout according to the left, right, up or down flags.

    If neither flag is specified, a numerical argument indicates which vdesk to switch to.

These are the default lists of modifiers, button and keyboard binds. The built-in binds use the globally-configurable modifier combinations 'mask1', 'mask2' and 'altmask', making a sweeping change to a different modifier combination easy.

Note that 'mod1' typically refers to the Alt key.

        mask1 control+mod1
        mask2 mod1
        altmask shift

        bind button1=move
        bind button2=resize
        bind button3=lower

        bind mask1+Return=spawn
        bind mask1+Escape=delete
        bind mask1+altmask+Escape=kill
        bind mask1+Insert=lower
        bind mask1+KP_Insert=lower
        bind mask1+i=info
        bind mask2+Tab=next
        bind mask1+h=move,relative+left
        bind mask1+j=move,relative+down
        bind mask1+k=move,relative+up
        bind mask1+l=move,relative+right
        bind mask1+y=move,top+left
        bind mask1+u=move,top+right
        bind mask1+b=move,bottom+left
        bind mask1+n=move,bottom+right
        bind mask1+altmask+h=resize,relative+left
        bind mask1+altmask+j=resize,relative+down
        bind mask1+altmask+k=resize,relative+up
        bind mask1+altmask+l=resize,relative+right
        bind mask1+equal=resize,toggle+v
        bind mask1+altmask+equal=resize,toggle+h
        bind mask1+x=resize,toggle+v+h
        bind mask1+d=dock,toggle
        bind mask1+f=fix,toggle
        bind mask1+1=vdesk,0
        bind mask1+2=vdesk,1
        bind mask1+3=vdesk,2
        bind mask1+4=vdesk,3
        bind mask1+5=vdesk,4
        bind mask1+6=vdesk,5
        bind mask1+7=vdesk,6
        bind mask1+8=vdesk,7
        bind mask1+Left=vdesk,relative+left
        bind mask1+Right=vdesk,relative+right
        bind mask1+Up=vdesk,relative+up
        bind mask1+Down=vdesk,relative+down
        bind mask1+a=vdesk,toggle

$HOME/.evilwmrc

Copyright (C) 1999-2025 Ciaran Anscomb <evilwm@6809.org.uk>

This is free software. You can do what you want to it, but if it breaks something, you get to pay for the counselling. The code was originally based on aewm, so this is distributed under the same terms, which follow.

Copyright (c) 1998-2000 Decklin Foster.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR "AS IS", WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE HELD LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES CONNECTED WITH THE USE OF THIS PROGRAM.

You are granted permission to copy, publish, distribute, and/or sell copies of this program and any modified versions or derived works, provided that this copyright and notice are not removed or altered.

Portions of the code were based on 9wm, which contains this license:

        9wm is free software, and is Copyright (c) 1994 by David Hogan.
        Permission is granted to all sentient beings to use this
        software, to make copies of it, and to distribute those copies,
        provided that:
          (1) the copyright and licence notices are left intact
          (2) the recipients are aware that it is free software
          (3) any unapproved changes in functionality are either
                (i) only distributed as patches
            or (ii) distributed as a new program which is not called 9wm
                    and whose documentation gives credit where it is due
          (4) the author is not held responsible for any defects
              or shortcomings in the software, or damages caused by it.
        There is no warranty for this software.  Have a nice day.

xterm (1), xprop (1)