Ubuntu Keyboard Shortcuts – Move Window to Another Monitor

keyboard shortcutsUbuntu

In Windows 7, you can press Shift+Windows Key+←/→ to instantly move the current window to the next/previous monitor. Is there an equivalent feature in Ubuntu 11.04? I poked around the Keyboard Shortcuts dialog but didn't see anything relating to moving windows among multiple monitors.

Best Answer

What you need:

  • wmctrl (sudo apt-get install wmctrl)
  • The dimensions of each monitor

How to do it:

  • From the terminal, run gnome-keybinding-properties and click "Add"
    • Name the entry something like "Move to left monitor" and enter this command:
      • wmctrl -r ":ACTIVE:" -e 0,0,0,1280,1024
        • You can change ":ACTIVE:" to ":SELECT:" and wmctrl will wait until you select a window
        • The values for -e are gravity,x-coordinate,y-coord,width,height. I have gravity set to 0, which is default (I don't actually know what gravity does), x and y-coordinates set to 0 and 0, and the width and height are the dimensions of the left monitor: 1280 and 1024. Change this to match your configuration.
    • Click where it says "Disabled" and press the same keyboard shortcut as in windows, i.e. Shift+Super+left
    • Make another entry for "move to right monitor"
      • wmctrl -r ":ACTIVE:" -e 0,1280,0,1366,768
        • Where I have "1280", put the horizontal resolution of your left monitor. The vertical resolution can be more tricky if your monitors have different resolutions, and especially if they aren't lined up along the top or bottom. Mine are aligned along the top, so the vertical-coordinate value is "0".
        • My right monitor is 1366x768, so replace those values with the appropriate ones.
    • Map the shortcut-key sequence and you're finished!

You may have to tweak the coordinates and dimensions to account for the top (usually 24px tall) or side panels.

For more reading on wmctrl, check out http://movingtofreedom.org/2010/08/10/arranging-windows-from-the-gnulinux-command-line-with-wmctrl/

I hope this helps!

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