kwin

window manager for KDE Plasma

TLDR

Start KWin (X11)

$ kwin_x11 --replace

Start KWin Wayland

$ kwin_wayland

Restart KWin

$ kwin_x11 --replace &

Reconfigure KWin

$ qdbus org.kde.KWin /KWin reconfigure

List effects

$ qdbus org.kde.KWin /Effects listLoadedEffects

SYNOPSIS

kwin_x11 [options]kwin_wayland [options]

KWin is the window manager for KDE Plasma. It handles window placement, decorations, virtual desktops, and desktop effects (compositing).KWin supports both X11 (kwinx11) and Wayland (kwinwayland) sessions, providing features like window tiling, wobbly windows, desktop grid, and scripting.

PARAMETERS

--replace

Replace running window manager.

--crashes n

Crash limit for restart.

--lock

Start with screen locked.

--no-kactivities

Disable KActivities.

D-BUS CONTROL

$ # Toggle present windows
qdbus org.kde.KWin /Effects togglePresentWindows

# Show desktop grid
qdbus org.kde.KWin /Effects showDesktopGrid

# Reconfigure after settings change
qdbus org.kde.KWin /KWin reconfigure

INSTALL

sudo apt install kwin-x11

sudo dnf install kwin-x11

sudo pacman -S kwin-x11

CAVEATS

Wayland session has different capabilities than X11. Some effects require OpenGL. Scripting uses JavaScript.

HISTORY

KWin was originally written by Matthias Ettrich as part of KDE 1 in 1997. It has evolved significantly, adding compositing support in KDE 4 and Wayland support in Plasma 5.