How can I see a list of all open windows in a panel in Unity?

Question

Is there any reason why this is missing from Unity? It's a really helpful thing to have when you have a lot of windows open.

Answer 1

I have developed an application indicator which shows a list of open windows. To keep with the Unity one-panel style, windows are accessed from an icon on the indicator panel.

Window-List

Category: Other, Window Management

Window-list displays a list of current open desktop windows. Windows can be activated by selecting them from the menu list.

Window-List is available for all versions of Ubuntu running Unity.

install via ppa:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:jwigley/window-list
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install window-list

deb package is also available from the launchpad repository.

run application by:

window-list

Once installed, open a window in the list by a right click.

Answer 2

I've the same problem, but I found tint2. It is a bottom bar with all yours opened windows, it is available on main Ubuntu repo, and you can install it with

sudo apt-get install tint2

To help configure tint2 you can use this python based gui:

wget http://tintwizard.googlecode.com/files/tintwizard-0.3.4.tar.gz
tar -zxvf tintwizard-0.3.4.tar.gz
./tintwizard.py

Source: http://www.tuxgarage.com/2011/10/running-tint2-under-unity.html

Answer 3

A quite convenient alternative to a windows list is the windows preview inbuilt in the Unity Launcher. A minimized preview of all windows opened by a certain application is shown when clicking on its launcher icon. This is shown here on Unity 2D for three LibreOffice windows opened at the same time:

Just click on the window you want to work on to have it opened on top.

Note that all running applications that have a window opened are marked with tiny white dots on the left side of their panel icon.

Answer 4

Press Super+W to see window previews from the current workspace and Super+Shift+W to see those from all workspaces. You can close each window just by a middle click on it.

(Hold down Super by itself for a list of shortcuts that can help sort windows.)

Answer 5

Unity is a dock-based interface, the dock replaces the taskbar usually found on the gnome-panel. If i were you i would log in with a classical mode rather than Unity, which will provide the gnome-panel and taskbar, and if you do want a dock, you can use Docky or Cairo-Dock. The latter will allow you more cutomisation.

Answer 6

There is also,

Unity Window Quicklists

Unity Window Quicklists displays a list of open windows as quicklists for each application on the Unity launcher, and you can use them to switch between those windows. The quicklists are dynamic, meaning that when a window is closed or a new window is open, the quicklists are instantly updated.

More info http://www.webupd8.org/2012/06/unity-window-quicklists-switch-between.html

Download it https://launchpad.net/~alanbell/+archive/unity

Answer 7

The list of open windows in unity is shown as a dock (the launcher) would be, on the left side. If you need this on the bottom, you can use a dock like Docky or Avant Window Navigator, or possibly even a panel like the one in fluxbox.

Answer 8

You can also run gnome-panel in Unity, see How do I use the GNOME Panel in Unity?

Answer 9

Interestingly enough, shantanu, I have taken a closer look at this and found graphical indication of multiple instances of an application in the Unity dock. What I did not originally realize is that when I click on the appropriate icon in the dock, the multiple instances of the application are graphically depicted as window previews. From there it is simply a matter of selecting the instance in which I am interested.