Skip to content

Getting Started with i3

Keys to use with $mod (Alt):

Keys to use with Shift+$mod:

Introduction to i3wm

i3wm, or i3 window manager, is a tiling window manager designed for X11 that emphasizes efficiency, productivity, and customization.
Its goal is to improve your workflow with a clean and minimalistic approach that reduces the clutter of windows and maximizes your workspace efficiency.

Getting Started with i3wm

Installation

i3wm can be installed via the package manager.
Open a terminal and run:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install i3

During the installation, you might be prompted to choose a display manager; LightDM is a common choice that works well with i3.

First Launch

After installing, log out of your current session.
At the login screen, you can switch the session to i3 before logging in.

Once you log in with i3 selected, you'll be greeted with a basic setup prompt, which will ask if you want i3 to generate a default configuration file in your home directory (~/.config/i3/config).

Say yes, and choose either Win or Alt as your Mod key (the primary modifier key for i3 commands).

Basic Navigation

  • Opening a terminal: By default, you can open a terminal with Mod+Enter.
  • Closing windows: Close windows with Mod+Shift+Q.
  • Moving between windows: Navigate between windows with Mod+arrow keys.
  • Splitting windows: You can split windows horizontally with Mod+h and vertically with Mod+v.
  • Full screen mode for a window: Toggle full screen with Mod+f.
  • Exiting i3: Exit i3 or logout with Mod+Shift+E.

Configuring and Customizing i3wm

Your i3 config file is located at ~/.config/i3/config.

Customizing Key Bindings

Key bindings allow you to execute commands with key combinations.
You can customize them in your config file.
For example, to bind dmenu (which we'll discuss shortly) to Mod+d, you'd add:

bindsym Mod1+d exec --no-startup-id dmenu_run

Replace Mod1 with Mod4 if you're using the Windows key as your Mod key.

Changing Look and Feel

i3wm is highly customizable.
You can change the color of the window borders, title bar, and more by adding color settings to your config file.
For example:

 Set border, background, text, and indicator colors
client.focused #4C7899 #285577 #ffffff #2e9ef4
client.unfocused #333333 #5f676a #ffffff #484e50

Autostart Applications

You might want some applications to start automatically when i3 starts.
This can be done by adding exec commands in your config file.
For example, to start nm-applet (Network Manager applet) on i3 startup:

exec --no-startup-id nm-applet

Getting dmenu Working

dmenu is a dynamic menu for X, which provides a fast way to launch applications.
It should work out of the box with i3, but if it's not installed, you can install it via apt:

sudo apt install dmenu

After installing, you can use the binding (Mod+d if you've set it as above) to launch dmenu.
If it doesn't work, check that the binding is correctly set in your i3 config file and that there are no conflicts or syntax errors.

Troubleshooting

If dmenu or any part of your i3 setup isn't working as expected:

  • Check the syntax of your ~/.config/i3/config file for errors.
  • Consult the i3wm documentation and user forums for specific configuration issues.
  • Restart i3 in-place with od+Shift+R to apply configuration changes without ending your session.

TL;DR

  • Install i3wm on Linux Mint with sudo apt update && sudo apt install i3, and choose your Mod key on first launch.
  • Navigate using the Mod key + defined shortcuts, and customize your setup by editing ~/.config/i3/config.
  • Install dmenu with sudo apt install dmenu and bind it to a shortcut for fast application launching.
  • Customize, configure, and troubleshoot using the i3 documentation as needed.