ICEWM-WINOPTIONS(5)

📦
version 4.1.0 · 17 versions
, in arch rolling

✨ NAME ✨

okay so bestie, welcome to the ICEWM-WINOPTIONS(5) manual page — it's the IceWM window options configuration file. slay, you found it 💅

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

Here's where this little icon can live, no cap:

$ICEWM_PRIVCFG/winoptions
$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/icewm/winoptions
$HOME/.icewm/winoptions
/usr/etc/icewm/winoptions
/usr/share/icewm/winoptions

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

The IceWM winoptions file is where you tell IceWM how each app's window should look and act — aka application specific window appearance and behavior. For instance, these settings control the window border, placement and size, the window layer, its workspace, its visibility on the task bar and its focus behavior. it's giving per-app window customization ✨

The winoptions are established when icewm(1) starts. However, they can be overridden later using icesh(1) or icewmhint(1). The command icesh winoptions instructs icewm to reload the winoptions file, while icewmhint tunes a specific application instance when it starts.

💅 FORMAT 💅

Each line in the file must be in one of these formats, fr fr:

NAME.CLASS.OPTION: VALUE
CLASS.ROLE.OPTION: VALUE
NAME.ROLE.OPTION: VALUE
CLASS.OPTION: VALUE
NAME.OPTION: VALUE
ROLE.OPTION: VALUE
.OPTION: VALUE

Here NAME and CLASS are from the WM_CLASS property of the window. This can be found in the output of icesh -a getClass.

While ROLE refers to the WM_WINDOW_ROLE property of the window, which is the application instance specific name. Only a minority of windows have it. See the output of icesh -a list prop WM_WINDOW_ROLE.

In rare cases, a name, class or role may contain a period. If it does, the period should be escaped by a single backslash (\).

Lastly, the OPTION: VALUE pair refer to the options and values described below. tiny but iconic warning: a line with just a dot, followed by an option/value pair, applies to all windows.

🚨 bestie, that dot is doing main character energy — it means all windows, not one specific app.

💖 OPTIONS 💖

There are four categories: general, function, decor and feature.

🧸 GENERAL OPTIONS 🧸

These control general characteristics of windows:

  • icon NAME (default: none) — specifies the icon name for the window. NAME is the icon name, like utilities-terminal. It can also be a file, like xterm.png, a full path, or a prefix of a path without sizes or suffix.
  • workspace WORKSPACE (default: current) — specifies the default workspace for the window. WORKSPACE is the workspace number counting from zero (0).
  • layer {LAYER|NUMBER} (default: Normal) — specifies the default layer for the window. Layer can be one of the following names or a number from zero to fifteen:
    • Desktop (0) — Desktop window.
    • Below (2) — Below the default layer.
    • Normal (4) — Default layer for windows.
    • OnTop (6) — Above the default layer.
    • Dock (8) — Docked windows at edge of screen.
    • AboveDock (10) — Windows above the dock.
    • Menu (12) — The layer for menu's.
    • Fullscreen (14) — When fullscreen and focused.
    • AboveAll (15) — Always above anything.
  • geometry geometry (default: WM_SIZE_HINTS property) — the default geometry for the window. This geometry should be specified in a format that can be parsed by XParseGeometry(3):
[=][<width>{xX}<height>][{+-}<xoffset>{+-}<yoffset>]

The default geometry is taken from the WM_SIZE_HINTS property of the window or else from the initial window geometry. This option overrides the default.

  • tray {Ignore|Minimized|Exclusive|NUMBER} (default: 0) — the default tray option for the window. This affects both the tray and the task pane. Tray can be one of the following three strings or a number from zero (0) to two (2):
    • Ignore (0) — No icon is added to the tray.
    • Minimized (1) — Add to tray, no task when minimized.
    • Exclusive (2) — Add to tray, no task button.
  • order NUMBER (default: 0) — the sorting order for task buttons, tray icons, quick switch and window list. The default value is zero. Increasing positive values go right, while decreasing negative values go left.
  • opacity NUMBER (default: 0) — set the _NET_WM_WINDOW_OPACITY property if NUMBER is a value between 1 and 100. NUMBER is interpreted as percentage of maximum opaqueness.
  • keyboard layout (default: none) — specifies the keyboard layout to use for this window. The layout is the name of a keyboard layout. It can be a space-separated list of arguments to the setxkbmap program. Please note that setxkbmap must be installed for this to work. Also define a default keyboard layout in preferences.
  • frame label (default: none) — all windows with the same frame label become tabs in a single frame.

🎀 FUNCTION OPTIONS 🎀

Function options enable/disable (1/0) the ability to take an action on the window. The normal default for all options is enabled (1) unless overridden by the application:

  • fClose {0|1} — can be closed. (default: 1)
  • fHide {0|1} — can be hidden. (default: 1)
  • fMaximize {0|1} — can be maximized. (default: 1)
  • fMinimize {0|1} — can be minimized. (default: 1)
  • fMove {0|1} — can be moved. (default: 1)
  • fResize {0|1} — can be resized. (default: 1)
  • fRollup {0|1} — can be shaded. (default: 1)

🦋 DECOR OPTIONS 🦋

Decor options enable/disable (1/0) decorations on the window. The normal default for all options is enabled (1) unless overridden by the application or the theme:

  • dBorder {0|1} — has border. (default: 1)
  • dClose {0|1} — has close button. (default: 1)
  • dDepth {0|1} — has depth button. (default: 1)
  • dHide {0|1} — has hide button. (default: 1)
  • dMaximize {0|1} — has maximize button. (default: 1)
  • dMinimize {0|1} — has minimize button. (default: 1)
  • dResize {0|1} — has resize grips. (default: 1)
  • dRollup {0|1} — has shade button. (default: 1)
  • dSysMenu {0|1} — has window menu. (default: 1)
  • dTitleBar {0|1} — has title bar. (default: 1)

🔥 FEATURE OPTIONS 🔥

Feature options enable/disable (1/0) additional features of the window. The normal default for all options is disabled (0) unless overridden by the application:

  • allWorkspaces {1|0} — show it on all workspaces.
  • appTakesFocus {1|0} — let the application take focus.
  • doNotCover {1|0} — don't place other windows over it.
  • doNotFocus {1|0} — do not give it focus.
  • doNotManage {1|0} — do not manage at all.
  • forcedClose {1|0} — no close confirmation dialog.
  • fullKeys {1|0} — don't install icewm key bindings.
  • ignoreNoFocusHint {1|0} — focus even when no-input is set.
  • ignorePagerPreview {1|0} — do not show in pager preview.
  • ignorePositionHint {1|0} — always let icewm place the window.
  • ignoreQuickSwitch {1|0} — not on the quick switch.
  • ignoreTaskBar {1|0} — not on the task bar.
  • ignoreUrgentHint {1|0} — ignore urgent hints.
  • ignoreWinList {1|0} — not on the window list.
  • ignoreActivationMessages {1|0} — only user can focus window.
  • ignoreOverrideRedirect {1|0} — ignore the override redirect flag.
  • ignoreUserTime {1|0} — ignore wm_user_time and startup_id.
  • noFocusOnAppRaise {1|0} — no automatic focus on raise.
  • noFocusOnMap {1|0} — do not focus when mapped.
  • noIgnoreTaskBar {1|0} — always show on task bar.
  • startClose {1|0} — close the window immediately.
  • startFullscreen {1|0} — start full screen.
  • startMaximized {1|0} — start maximized.
  • startMaximizedHorz {1|0} — start maximized horizontal.
  • startMaximizedVert {1|0} — start maximized vertical.
  • startMinimized {1|0} — start minimized.

🍓 EXAMPLES 🍓

This example uses the WM_WINDOW_ROLE property value "pop-up" to deny input focus to Chrome pop-ups and asks to close them immediately.

google-chrome.pop-up.doNotFocus: 1
google-chrome.pop-up.forcedClose: 1
google-chrome.pop-up.ignorePagerPreview: 1
google-chrome.pop-up.ignoreUrgentHint: 1
google-chrome.pop-up.layer: Below
google-chrome.pop-up.noFocusOnAppRaise: 1
google-chrome.pop-up.noFocusOnMap: 1
google-chrome.pop-up.startClose: 1
google-chrome.pop-up.startMinimized: 1

IceWM places dockapps in a container automatically, but for those that fail to comply with the protocol it can also be emulated. An emulated dockapp should appear on all workspaces, have no decorations, and always be visible in a fixed location.

wmtime.wmtime.allWorkspaces: 1
wmtime.wmtime.ignoreTaskBar: 1
wmtime.wmtime.ignoreQuickSwitch: 1
wmtime.wmtime.ignoreWinList: 1
wmtime.wmtime.layer: Below
wmtime.wmtime.dTitleBar: 0
wmtime.wmtime.dBorder: 1
wmtime.wmtime.geometry: 64x64-74-100

Following shows how a shaped output-only application is shown without titlebar and minimal functionality.

xeyes.tray: Exclusive
xeyes.ignoreWinList: 0
xeyes.ignoreTaskBar: 1
xeyes.allWorkspaces: 1
xeyes.dTitleBar: 0
xeyes.dBorder: 0
xeyes.dSysMenu: 0
xeyes.dResize: 0
xeyes.dClose: 0
xeyes.dMinimize: 0
xeyes.dMaximize: 0

🌈 FILES 🌈

Locations for the winoptions file are as follows:

$ICEWM_PRIVCFG/winoptions
$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/icewm/winoptions
$HOME/.icewm/winoptions
/usr/etc/icewm/winoptions
/usr/share/icewm/winoptions

The locations are searched in the order listed; the first file found is read and the remainder ignored.

🫶 SEE ALSO 🫶

👑 AUTHOR 👑

Brian Bidulock — <mailto:bidulock@openss7.org>.

💜 LICENSE 💜

IceWM is licensed under the GNU Library General Public License. See the COPYING file in the distribution.

💖 that's the whole page, bestie — brought to you by icewm 4.1.0, dated 2026-08-06, aka ICEWM-WINOPTIONS(5). mwah 💅

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