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Sway

Sway Keybindings

Sway is a tiling Wayland compositor and a drop-in replacement for i3. It uses nearly identical configuration and keybindings to i3 but runs natively on Wayland. All default keybindings use $mod, typically set to the Super key. Configuration lives in ~/.config/sway/config.

The Most Important Shortcuts

  • Open Terminal ($mod+Enter): Launches the default terminal emulator.
  • Application Launcher ($mod+d): Opens the application launcher (typically dmenu, wofi, or rofi).
  • Kill Focused Window ($mod+Shift+q): Closes the currently focused window.
  • Reload Config ($mod+Shift+c): Reloads the sway configuration file.
  • Exit Sway ($mod+Shift+e): Exits sway. Prompts for confirmation.

Focus & Movement

  • Move Focus ($mod+h/j/k/l): Move focus left/down/up/right. Arrow keys also work.
  • Move Focused Window ($mod+Shift+h/j/k/l): Move the focused window in the given direction.
  • Focus Parent Container ($mod+a): Move focus to the parent container.
  • Focus Child Container ($mod+d): Move focus to the first child container.

Layout & Splits

  • Horizontal Split ($mod+b): Next window opens to the right.
  • Vertical Split ($mod+v): Next window opens below.
  • Toggle Split Direction ($mod+e): Switch between horizontal and vertical splitting.
  • Stacking Layout ($mod+s): Stack windows with title bars.
  • Tabbed Layout ($mod+w): Arrange windows as tabs.
  • Toggle Floating ($mod+Shift+Space): Toggle between tiling and floating.
  • Focus Floating/Tiling ($mod+Space): Switch focus between floating and tiling layers.
  • Fullscreen ($mod+f): Toggle fullscreen for the focused window.

Workspaces

  • Switch Workspace ($mod+0-9): Switch to workspace 1 through 10.
  • Move Window to Workspace ($mod+Shift+0-9): Move the focused window to workspace 1 through 10.

Resizing

  • Resize Mode ($mod+r): Enter resize mode. Then:
    • h or Left: Shrink width.
    • l or Right: Grow width.
    • k or Up: Shrink height.
    • j or Down: Grow height.
    • Escape or Enter: Exit resize mode.

Scratchpad

  • Move to Scratchpad ($mod+Shift+-): Sends the focused window to the scratchpad.
  • Show Scratchpad ($mod+-): Shows/cycles through scratchpad windows.

Multi-Monitor

  • Focus Output ($mod+Ctrl+h/j/k/l): Move focus to the monitor in the given direction.
  • Move Workspace to Output ($mod+Ctrl+Shift+h/j/k/l): Move the current workspace to another monitor.

Wayland-Specific Features

  • Input Configuration: Sway natively handles input devices (touchpads, keyboards, tablets): 
    input "type:touchpad" {
    tap enabled
    natural_scroll enabled
    dwt enabled
}
  • Output Configuration: Monitor setup is handled in the config: 
    output HDMI-A-1 resolution 1920x1080 position 0,0
output eDP-1 resolution 2560x1440 position 1920,0 scale 1.5
  • Screenshots: Sway uses grim and slurp instead of X11 screenshot tools: 
    # Full screenshot
bindsym Print exec grim ~/Pictures/screenshot-$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S).png

# Region screenshot
bindsym $mod+Shift+s exec grim -g "$(slurp)" - | wl-copy

Customization

  • Config File: ~/.config/sway/config
  • Status Bar: Sway uses swaybar with i3status, i3status-rs, or waybar: 
    bar {
    position top
    status_command i3status
}
  • Wallpaper: 
    output "*" bg ~/Pictures/wallpaper.jpg fill
  • Autostart: 
    exec --no-startup-id mako          # Notification daemon
exec --no-startup-id waybar        # Status bar
exec --no-startup-id nm-applet     # Network manager
  • Sway is nearly config-compatible with i3. Most i3 configs work in sway with minimal changes (mainly replacing X11-specific commands with Wayland equivalents).