Command-Line – Center a Window via Command Line

command linewindow

Is there a way to either place a window in the center of the screen after it is opened, or cause it to open in the center of the screen?

This needs to be done using command line.

Best Answer

wmctrl tool provides command line access to almost all the features defined in the EWMH (Extended Window Manager Hints) specification. It can be used, for example, to get information about the window manager, to get a detailed list of desktops and managed windows, to switch and resize desktops, to make windows full-screen, always-above or sticky, and to activate, close, move, resize, maximize and minimize them.

You can install it by 

sudo apt-get install wmctrl

You can get information about your virtual desktops (workspaces) with wmctrl -d

one@onezero:~$ wmctrl -d
0  * DG: 2720x1536  VP: 0,0  WA: 0,24 1360x744  N/A

And list open windows with wmctrl -l. The -G option shows you the geometry of the windows:

one@onezero:~$ wmctrl -l
0x02000004  0 onezero Desktop
0x02e00002  0     N/A DNDCollectionWindow
0x02e00003  0     N/A launcher
0x01e00004  0 onezero cairo-dock
0x02e00004  0     N/A panel
0x04800061  0 onezero Transmission
0x02e0000a  0     N/A Dash
0x03a00044  0 onezero arranging windows from the gnu/linux command line with wmctrl ~ Moving to Freedom - Chromium
0x04400006  0 onezero one@onezero: ~
0x04c000e9  0 onezero Google - Mozilla Firefox

wmctrl -lG

one@onezero:~$ wmctrl -lG
0x02000004  0 0    0    1360 768  onezero Desktop
0x02e00002  0 -1460 -868 1360 768      N/A DNDCollectionWindow
0x02e00003  0 0    24   58   744      N/A launcher
0x01e00004  0 290  653  780  115  onezero cairo-dock
0x02e00004  0 0    0    1360 24       N/A panel
0x04800061  0 408  95   732  500  onezero Transmission
0x02e0000a  0 -1402 -844 1302 744      N/A Dash
0x03a00044  0 0    24   1360 744  onezero Center a window via command line - Ask Ubuntu - Stack Exchange - Chromium
0x04400006  0 127  94   983  434  onezero one@onezero: ~
0x04c000e9  0 5    47   1349 715  onezero Google - Mozilla Firefox

You can specify a window by referencing its title or partial title after -r. -e is for moving and resizing

wmctrl -r "Mozilla Firefox" -e <G>,<X>,<Y>,<W>,<H>

<G>: Gravity specified as a number. The numbers are defined in the EWMH specification. The value of zero is particularly
     useful, it means "use the default gravity of the window".
<X>,<Y>: Coordinates of new position of the window.
<W>,<H>: New width and height of the window.

So, to move a window to the upper left corner and make it 1000 pixels wide by 700 tall, you’d use 0,0,0,1000,700

one@onezero:~$ wmctrl -r "Mozilla Firefox" -e 0,0,0,1000,700

enter image description here

To move/resize it . For that, I used the workaround of “unmaximizing” it first, using the -b option

wmctrl -r "Mozilla Firefox" -b add,maximized_vert,maximized_horz

wmctrl -r "Mozilla Firefox" -b remove,maximized_vert,maximized_horz

one@onezero:~$ wmctrl -r "Mozilla Firefox" -b add,maximized_vert,maximized_horz

enter image description here

The Things You Need To Understand 1st

The -e option expects a list of comma separated integers: "gravity,X,Y,width,height"

enter image description here

thats is my screen Resolution so x = 1360 & y = 786

Aligning a window to left-half of the screen

one@onezero:~$ wmctrl -r "Mozilla Firefox" -e 1,0,0,680,768

Aligning a window to right-half of the screen

one@onezero:~$ wmctrl -r "Mozilla Firefox" -e 1,680,0,680,768

Aligning a window to center of screen 1360 / 4 = 340

one@onezero:~$ wmctrl -r "Mozilla Firefox" -e 1,340,0,680,768

enter image description here

Manipulate it as of your screen settings

For More Help 1 2 3 4

Related Question