Keybindings
Press Super + / inside dwm to open a live, searchable Quickshell keybind viewer.
MODKEY = Super (Windows key) in the shipped config.h.
Bindings are defined in config/hotkeys.toml and reload instantly on save — no recompile needed.
Launchers
| Keys | Action |
|---|---|
Super + R |
App launcher (Quickshell) |
Super + X |
Alacritty terminal |
Super + E |
File manager |
Super + B |
Browser |
Super + / |
Keybind viewer |
Super + F1 |
Control Center |
Super + Shift + R |
Restart Quickshell |
Screenshots
| Keys | Action |
|---|---|
Super + P |
Screenshot active monitor (cursor omitted) |
Super + Shift + P |
Screenshot selection → file |
Super + Ctrl + P |
Screenshot selection → clipboard |
All dwm-screenshot capture modes omit the mouse cursor.
maim region captures start selection immediately without a monitor chooser.
The active-monitor shortcut uses the monitor under the pointer. Clipboard
captures are PNG selections owned by xclip, while captures saved to disk use
JPEG. The lightweight capture flow intentionally has no annotation toolbar.
Applications and Web Apps
| Keys | Action |
|---|---|
Super + A |
ChatGPT |
Super + Shift + A |
Gemini |
Super + Shift + X |
X/Twitter — new post |
Super + A opens an installed ChatGPT desktop application when one is
available and falls back to the ChatGPT web app otherwise. The application
launcher hides the ChatGPT web entry while a native desktop entry is installed.
Existing systems with the former stock web-app binding receive the same
native-first behavior through the updated webapp-launch helper. Upgrades do
not edit customized hotkey files.
Window Management
| Keys | Action |
|---|---|
Super + J |
Focus next window |
Super + K |
Focus previous window |
Super + Shift + J |
Move window down in stack |
Super + Shift + K |
Move window up in stack |
Super + Return |
Promote window to master |
Super + Q |
Close window |
Super + I |
Add window to master area |
Super + D |
Remove window from master area |
Super + H |
Shrink master area |
Super + L |
Expand master area |
Super + Shift + H |
Increase window cfact size |
Super + Shift + L |
Decrease window cfact size |
Super + Shift + O |
Reset window cfact |
Layouts
| Keys | Action |
|---|---|
Super + T |
Tiling layout |
Super + F |
Floating layout |
Super + M |
Fullscreen (monocle) |
Super + Space |
Toggle floating for window |
Super + Shift + M |
Toggle floating for window |
Super + Shift + Y |
Fake fullscreen (bar stays) |
Super + Shift + B |
Toggle bar visibility |
Entering floating mode with a toggle shrinks a tiled window by 15% around its
current center, subject to the application’s minimum size and resize increments.
Toggle again to return it to the tiling layout. Super + F applies the same
shrink to each visible tiled window when entering floating layout; Super + T
retiles them. Pressing Super + F again leaves their sizes unchanged. Windows
already floated individually keep their size and position. Mouse dragging and resizing keep
their existing behavior. Existing hotkey configuration needs no changes; restart
the dwm session after updating to activate this behavior.
Tags (Workspaces)
| Keys | Action |
|---|---|
Super + 1–9 |
Switch to tag |
Super + Ctrl + 1–9 |
Also show tag alongside current |
Super + Shift + 1–9 |
Move window to tag |
Super + Ctrl + Shift + 1–9 |
Also show window on that tag |
Super + 0 |
Show windows from all nine tags; 0 is not a tag |
Super + Tab |
Previous tag |
Multi-Monitor
| Keys | Action |
|---|---|
Super + , |
Focus left monitor |
Super + . |
Focus right monitor |
Super + Shift + , |
Send window to left monitor |
Super + Shift + . |
Send window to right monitor |
Media Keys
| Keys | Action |
|---|---|
XF86AudioRaiseVolume |
Volume up |
XF86AudioLowerVolume |
Volume down |
XF86AudioMute |
Mute toggle |
XF86MonBrightnessUp |
Brightness up |
XF86MonBrightnessDown |
Brightness down |
Session & Power
| Keys | Action |
|---|---|
Super + Ctrl + Q |
Power menu |
Super + Shift + Q |
Quit dwm and cleanly end the graphical session |
Super + Ctrl + Shift + R |
Reboot |
Super + Ctrl + Shift + S |
Suspend |
Mouse
| Action | Function |
|---|---|
Super + Left drag |
Move window |
Super + Middle click |
Toggle floating |
Super + Right drag |
Resize window |
Customizing Keybinds
Edit config/hotkeys.toml — changes take effect on save, no recompile required.
[vars]
terminal = "alacritty"
keys = [
{ mod="SUPER SHIFT", key="f", desc="Firefox", func="spawn", exec=["firefox"] },
]
See the comments in hotkeys.toml for a full list of func values and modifier syntax.
The browser binding uses dwm-default-apps open. Configure it with
Settings -> Defaults or with dwm-default-apps browsers and
dwm-default-apps set-browser <desktop-id>.
The terminal variable defaults to Alacritty. Settings -> Defaults can select a
validated installed terminal without changing the Super+X key record. To
use the optional Herdr workspace, install it explicitly, change the binding to
dwm-terminal, and set DWM_HERDR=1 in the session environment.