How to Make Unity Launcher Menu Almost Always Hidden

launcherunitywindow

I'm using Unity on 11.04.
I've had a look at the compiz-config settings but could not find any answers.

I would like to change a few default settings in Unity Launcher.

I would like to apply settings so that:

Launcher is only displayed when I press the Ubuntu Button (or the Super Key) (or move the cursor to the top right of the screen). I.e., it is hidden even when there are no windows obscuring it.
Launcher does not influence placement of windows (i.e., Unity should happily position a window aligned flush with the left side of the screen instead of defaulting to making space for the launcher)

Best Answer

Install Compiz Config Settings Manager from the Ubuntu Software Center
Open Compiz Config Settings Manager from Dash
Find Unity plugin and change Hide Launcher to Auto-Hide

Related Solutions

Ubuntu – How to prevent launcher from influencing window placement

If you want all your windows to be initially placed in the top left corner, the follow settings in ccsm > Place Windows makes it work for me: in the fixed window placement tab, add an entry for Windows with fixed positions and set the type to any, x to -1, y to 48 and untick keep in workarea. It's quite a hack and the window is 1px off screen (which you'll hardly notice).

I usually use the ccsm Grid plugin to place my windows, since I normally want them side-by-side anyway i.e. Alt-Kp-4 for left tile, Alt-Kp-6 for right tile etc. Grid ignores the launcher if set to auto-hide.

Unity 2D – How to Autohide the Launcher in Unity 2D

There is a tool named Unity 2D Settings made by Krytarik Raido for configuring Unity 2D. It wasn't working under Ubuntu 11.10; however, he updated the tool and now works under Ubuntu 11.10.

Install it through terminal:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:krytarik/tuxgarage
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install unity-2d-settings

Run this when you are logged in via Unity 2D.

Source: OMG! Ubuntu!

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Ubuntu – How to prevent launcher from influencing window placement

Unity 2D – How to Autohide the Launcher in Unity 2D

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