Is there some equivalent of Windows' "Tile Windows" in Ubuntu?
8 Answers
If you're using compiz, you can enable the "Grid" plugin to use keyboard shortcuts to move windows around the screen in a tiling sort of way.
You'll need to make sure compiz-fusion-plugins-extra is installed (sudo apt-get install compiz-fusion-plugins-extra or use synaptic - probably software center too).
I got the tip from here: http://www.webupd8.org/2009/12/linux-w-compiz-tile-position-and-resize.html
You can do something similar without compiz using this: https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2010/08/python-window-organizer-organize-your-windows-using-the-keyboard
I don't think either of these options have an auto tile feature though. Using a default install, I'm not sure this option is anywhere (not anywhere that I know of anyway). In that case, some of the other answers already posted might be more useful.
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KP refers to the "keypad" or the number pad usually found on the right side of a standard keyboard (however, many laptops lack a number pad). KP2 refers to the "2" on the number pad. Not sure about "Primary" though.– gregghzSep 29, 2014 at 15:52
You could use a tiling window manager. There are many options (ion3, scrotwm, dwm, etc, etc). Search google for "tiling window manager", or search for "tiling" in synaptic.
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5This answer on AskUbuntu is a review of available tiling WMs in Ubuntu. Oct 16, 2010 at 23:04
There is also an unsupported compiz plugin called Tile. It's in the compiz-fusion-plugins-unsupported package which can be obtained e.g. from this PPA (update of compiz from this ppa needed too)
You can watch it in action in this video (starting at 1:44)
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Yes, but you could choose to just install the plugin and then disable the source– LincolnOct 16, 2010 at 23:35
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good idea, so the plugin doesn't require the newer version of compiz as a dependency? Sorry to keep bugging you, it's just a very interesting and possibly good solution, but upgrading compiz could be dangerous. Do you know if it's a testing ppa or if it's just latest stable version?– gregghzOct 17, 2010 at 0:00
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1Hmm...just did a quick test and got this message on lucid: compiz (core) - Error: Plugin 'core' has ABI version '20090619', expected ABI version '20091102'. So I guess you need the newer compiz version from the ppa...But this ppa is from the official compiz guys and the last update was on 2010-04-28. So I'd say it's safe to use it.– LincolnOct 17, 2010 at 0:06
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awesome, good to know. and yeah, a stable version is probably fine :)– gregghzOct 17, 2010 at 1:34
X Tile
X-tile is an application that allows you to select a number of windows and tile them in different ways.
X-tile works on any X desktop (gnome, kde, xfce, lxde…).
The main features are: many tiling geometries, undo tiling, invert tiling order, optional system tray docking and menu, filter to avoid listing some windows, filter to check some windows by default, command line interface.
How-to: Set up XMonad & XMobar on Ubuntu
http://www.huntlycameron.co.uk/2010/11/how-to-set-up-xmonad-xmobar-ubuntu/
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1URL is dead, but wayback machine got it: web.archive.org/web/20150509174313/http://…– endoramaJul 10, 2019 at 9:22
Having looked at all the answers above, the answer (without either completely dumping your existing Window Manager) seems to be "You can't".
- xMonad is a completely different Window Manager to the one you're probably using
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compizplugins all seem to be out of date - as are most of the other answers
The only sensible option seems to be https://help.ubuntu.com/stable/ubuntu-help/shell-windows-tiled.html which isn't quite automatic but seems to be as good as it gets.
You can use Super(Win)+W with lastest Ubuntu. Press and hold Super button, you will see the hotkey tutorial
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3For the record, I didn't down vote you; but please put some more research into this answer. Super+W shows the spread. It's a very useful feature, but it's not at all the same as tiling the windows. Also, Super+W doesn't seem to appear in the list of shortcuts shown when you hold Super. And, that list doesn't popup for every users: the screen has to be a certain size. I don't remember the cutoff, but it won't show for 10.1 inch netbooks.– chaskesNov 22, 2013 at 22:45
I think you can use wmtile for your case: http://ostatic.com/wmtile/home/1
xmonadlooks hard to install. And maybe if I start it I lose the windows I have open?xmonadis not just a tiling window manager, but the hardest of the tiling window managers. (Maybe.) I usedawesomefor a while and found it relatively easy to configure (and this is a selling point of it abovexmonad). Anyway, I'm not surexmonadis the best answer to this question: that seems to only be true for those with a high tolerance for yak-shaving (which is not indicated in the question).