i3wm: Jump Start (1/3)

Welcome to this three-part series on the i3 Window Manager. i3 is a sophisticated tiling window manager for Linux. In this tutorial, you'll learn what i3 is; how to install it; and of course, how to use it. In the second video, you'll learn how to configure it, too!
- Subscribe to the channel:
/ @bookercodes
- Follow me (Alex Booker) on Twitter: / bookercodes
- Follow me (Alex Booker) on GitHub: github.com/ale...
TOC
- Introduction (0:00)
- "What does i3wm do?" (0:30)
- How to install i3wm on Ubuntu (2:30)
- Initial configuration (2:30)
- A word on i3wm aesthetics (3:39)
- How to open the terminal in i3 (4:10)
- How to close a window in i3 (4:30)
- How to open the browser (or any application) in i3 (4:35)
- How to tile windows horizontally (5:16)
- How to tile windows vertically (5:40)
- How to change which window has focus (5:59)
- Advanced "jkl;" key-bindings (6:55)
- How to stack or tab open windows (7:38)
- How to move windows in i3 (8:33)
- Introduction to i3 workspaces (10:42)
- How I use i3 workspaces to maximize my efficiency (12:37)
- How to logout (15:19)
- How to lock screen (15:32)

[@user-eh5wo8re3d]

Oh boy did this video send me down a rabbit hole. ~ 4 years of pure bliss started here

[@dontmindme4009]

My rabbit hole has just begun

[@user-eh5wo8re3d]

@@dontmindme4009 have fun my dude. You might also want to get into vim (extremely configurable terminal text editor) and bash scripting (automate tasks you do often). For small terminal applications python can be nice, and if you want to build your own visual program's I can't recommend checking out flutter enough.

[@dontmindme4009]

@@user-eh5wo8re3d thanks for the advice!

[@GFC1337]

@@user-eh5wo8re3d I just joined the rabbit hole too lmao. My next plan was to learn VIM so funny you mention it.

[@iambasanta]

just started digging !

[@thexavier666]

This video was my gateway to i3 around 2 years ago. Even though I heard about i3 earlier, it sounded very scary since I thought how could I use the computer without a mouse. But this video showed me i3 can be very easy. Right now, I can't even think about using a computer without i3. Thank you Alex for this gift.

[@sanketss84]

same here

[@greob]

Great video, you sound like a natural teacher, very clear and well spoken. Never looked at i3 that way, but now I really want to use it too!

[@bookercodes]

+Njul Then use it 😀!

[@lenael4747]

lol . your pfp

[@impmadness]

@@lenael4747 lmao their pfp speaks a thousand words, what ricing does to a person

[@ogchirag]

Yamete kudasai

[@Jeff_Seely]

Yup! He is organized, narrates clearly, and doesn't assume that the viewer knows anything about i3. His content is exactly what the user needs to know. He is a natural instructor!

[@squidlife1719]

Honestly, I didn't even consider using i3 - just wanted to see why people liked it so much. You articulate the content so well in a steady voice, that I was disappointed that you don't have more content similar to this. Really think you would do an amazing job teaching about different tech, if you presented them in this format!

[@IuliusPsicofactum]

These videos you posted have made the learning of i3 so easy and the transition into it so smooth. After watching the description and the configuration videos I knew that i3 was the wm I was looking for and now I am enjoying it so much. I removed borders and titles, and the docking bar is hidden only appears when i press the mod key, all the screen is useful space now. And I am loving it. I am just leaving the fun of configuring the bar status for last, it will be the most useful bar ever. Thank you very ver much Alex.

[@bookercodes]

Comments like this one are fantastic to read. Thanks so much for taking the time to write it, lulius.

[@LightInAugust]

I hadn't known why someone used this wm to instead of gnome/kde...Now, I have got it...and enjoyed i3wm....Thank you, bro!!!!

[@bookercodes]

+Đức Minh Nguyễn That's awesome!

[@djsensacion7]

It's about workflow and simplicity, Maybe it's just not for you, And that's Ok, which is why there's Gnome/KDE/Cinnamon etc. Cheers

[@MrTimdesires]

Gentoo +i3 = no resources wasted on DE. I'm under 100MB :)

[@SmolaniAshki]

ikr me too. I removed a lot from the default runlevel, and now i have few services running at the time, usually around 70mb

[@oshosanyamichael9589]

@@dangerosking You get to save RAM

[@kenwood7195]

Top tutorial, Very professional, Well presented, Articulate, Intelligent, and passionate. Well done dude. You raised the KZbin bar.

[@person800]

11:26 - there is a maximize button, it's Mod + f by default. But yeah, it's better to move it to another workspace if you're going to be keeping it there for awhile.

[@arir43]

Going into tabbed mode also effectively replaces minimizing and maximizing windows

[@sjamr10]

I just installed it and I'm loving it. I feel much more productive now.

[@freckhard]

So 8 years later I went through researching through a plathora of window managers, coming down to i3 eventually because of this video. Thank you very much!

[@ThaRSGeek]

"For webdevelopment purposes"

[@bookercodes]

+A Cat Haha

[@asdparadise]

sure

[@aseemlalfakawma5084]

lmao

[@OxXxygeNsS]

HAHAHAHA

[@darmoed_phantorm]

no?

[@pumaile]

This is some quality content right here. Excellent narration, clear instructions, perfectly timed demonstrations. Love it!

[@zaydenrosario5047]

I've never imagined that I am gonna fall in love with such a window manager!!

[@KSanofficial]

This is the first time I learn something about i3 and I really start to feel powerful in a weird way just by watching this video. Is it just me or someone else here?

[@showbirds5452]

Me too

[@VidarrKerr]

It is The Force. It allows you to see ones and zeros without a traditional GUI. Use The Force wisely.

[@PrivateBaba]

I haven't used i3 so far and this tutorial was fantastic for someone with no experience like me. Thank you so much.

[@joproskam4732]

Great video mate, finally someone doing something about the shortage of HD/high-quality linux tuts on youtube.

[@bookercodes]

+Jop Roskam I appreciate the compliment but there are quite a few awesome Linux KZbin channels out there.

[@sullivan3503]

Code Cast Please highlight a few in a comment?

[@jcon2060]

This is perfect for me.... I use a lot of terminal and you, sir, just completed my life. Love you, no homo

[@bookercodes]

+Jcon I appreciate the love 😆

[@gaurdianAQ]

Was on the fence about tiling window managers... but after this video, I think I'm sold... if I end up switching to Linux again I'm trying this out...

[@djAmored]

Bruh, I'm sold. I was in the middle of configuring open box in Arch for pentesting. This video completely sold me on i3. Will be installing it tonight.

[@jdratlif]

a guy at work mentioned i3 to me, but I didn't really understand. but i really liked seeing his workflow. seeing this video, i get it now. this is one of the best things i've seen. thanks.

[@danylomalyuta7411]

Amazing tutorial. I wish all tutorials online were this high quality, thank you!

[@alexandrudinca3080]

Just wanna come back to this and thank you. I've been using i3 ever since i found this video a few years back. I copied your config files and edited a few things and now it feels like second nature.

[@caseyjp1]

Just started playing with i3 and even though this is a pretty old series, it has helped me TONS! One thing I'll say is that if you are on a laptop with the lid closed, until you understand you need to disable it with xrandr/arandr,etc., you'll beat your head against the wall as to where workspace 1 went to. heh heh. TYVM!

[@HiAdrian]

Very nice, this is really well done. I'm new to i3 and look forward to your upcoming (configuration) video.

[@bookercodes]

+Adrian Thanks, Adrian. I have been working hard on it today - it should be online tomorrow!

[@d3xbot]

This is excellent. I've seen a lot of nice i3 setups on Reddit and I thought "I should give that a try!" so I installed i3 and promptly got lost. Opened Gnome back up and found this video and now I'm ready to give i3 another try

[@anglensss]

I cannot belive this video was released 7 years ago! The quality is so good.

[@Argletrough]

This guy: 11:25 $mod+F: Am I a joke to you?

[@user-eh5wo8re3d]

saw awesome window manager and fell in love with it. now that i found your tutorial i immediatley switched to i3. Just so beautiful. Thanks for the nice turorial

[@chocolatedark6884]

also, thank you very very much for the timestamps in the video. they are super helpful. i was on-off learning about i3wm and so everytime i came back to this video it was really easy for me to navigate where i left

[@gabrielmartins7642]

I was actually searching for a good one, thanks to the algorithm my laziness to search was rewarded again.

[@ajay_6798]

"Invalidate cookies for web development purposes" Thanks! This series was super helpful.

[@bookercodes]

+solidsnek I'm glad you found it helpful :-)

[@georgiysrbsk]

This looks very cool, definitely gonna try it. I really like that minimalistic feel.

[@bookercodes]

+Георгїй Срьбьскъ Yeah, it's awesome. Let me know how you get on!

[@Solidcore87]

Hands down best how-to for i3 and video 3 is a killer general ricing howto. I had to stop a leave a comment here. I yet again came back to these videos for something. everyone watch all 3. The 3rd video is great for any gtk based window manager.

[@Japhir13]

Really great job on these videos! I've been using i3 for quite a while now and have been messing with colour settings etc a lot. Your videos inspired me to finally set up the appropriate workspace names with icons etc ;).

[@bookercodes]

+Japhir Thanks for the kind words, Japhir. It makes me really happy to hear I have motivated someone :)

[@trollerbladdering]

I was really intimidated by i3, and was really nervous to try it. Just this video alone made all those intimidation feel foolish and silly. Thank you for making simple and explanatory content. SUBBED!!!!!!!

[@AlbertGraef]

Alex, this series makes for a really nice introduction to i3. It certainly smoothed my foray into i3, which is simply awesome (pun intended)! :)

[@Jeff_Seely]

Thanks Alex. This is a really slick tutorial and I'm grateful to be viewing it. I have mostly been living in i3 for a week. I like it but there are a couple of irritations. First, I'm used to dynamic tiling such as qtile and this one isn't a true dynamic tiler. So it takes a little getting used to. But the second issue is absolutley crazy! Why on earth did the developers choose the J K L ; keys to navigate when every other WM followed the vim nav keys? Being a longtime vim user I could not get used to this and was messing up on a regular basis. I'm thankful that the i3wm developers put the ability to change the nav keys in the conf. But beyond these grievances it is a good piece of software. It's snappy, easy to configure with it's literate configuration file, and best of all, It has a huge community of folks that are willing to help (Like yourself). Cheers man!

[@mogulanontreasure6940]

It's 5 years later and DistroTube gave me the idea of using a tiling windows manager. I can see there is a fair bit to get used to but the efficiency wows me. Moving on to video #2

[@L2PTQ]

Even if I knew basicly everything you mentioned it was still fun to watch. Just for the purpose of seeing someone else config i3. Your vids are well structured and the way you speak makes it easy to follow. Really good vids! Keep doing what you are doing!

[@bookercodes]

+L2PTQ Thanks 😄

[@SomeYouTubeGuy]

I just wanted to say the level of production quality in this video is great. I've subbed and will be checking out the other 2 videos in the series next.

[@thegenxgamerguy6562]

Ok, you just decided for me which window manager I'm going to use. YES!

[@inamullahshah5775]

Probably the best tutorial on i3. tysm :D

[@magic4218]

Very comprehensive and easy to follow tutorial. Great job! Subbed.

[@bookercodes]

+Cameron Lengerich Thank you.

[@Filip_Phreriks]

You have a nice calm voice which makes it nice to listen to. Good tutorial.

[@reconstructedrichard208]

you dropped your crown king 👑

[@gnarsick]

Can't tell if it's just on my screen or in the video but I'm getting a flickering white block every few seconds throughout the video while being full screen.

[@farhanyousaf5616]

It's in the video. I saw it too.

[@aeonianadroit6178]

Something to do with the compositor. Same issue here on my PC.

[@TarebossT]

@@aeonianadroit6178 That's why I don't us compositor... Compositor is bloat.

[@VidarrKerr]

So that is normal... So much for trying out i3.

[@Narwaro]

i3 does not look ugly out of the box! I did not change anything except to move the bar to the top and it looks great with a 2x scale factor. I do not even have a background picture because you never see that anyway. It is the most clean and readable UI that I ever had (in line with vimb and zathura) and that is really important when you spend about 8 hours every day looking at that very screen.

[@dr.kaushiksutradhar8228]

thanks alex..great tutorial about i3..till now i was running arch+openbox on my old machine..but i installed i3wm and followed your videos..loving my desktop now..

[@hexagonist23]

Dude, i3 is the best window manager EVER!

[@JimBob-vu2fe]

I love i3 so much, it al started because of how tired it was of windows being creepy , then i moved to Manjaro kde, then to Manjaro i3, then to endeavourOS i3, i love i3 so much

[@Foredres]

I always thought this was harder, but you made it too easy to understand, i love it!

[@nfurfaro33]

Fantastic video! Definitely one of the best I've ever seen of it's type. I'll be sure to watch #2 & 3, and will be switching to i3 asap! I'm pretty happy with Manjaro, so will be installing the newest manjaro i3 15.12 on my new (refurbished) x220!

[@bookercodes]

+Nick Furfaro Awesome. I tried the Manjaro i3 Community Edition a couple of months back. I thought it was really good actually, but I still prefer starting with a clean slate, so I use Arch.

[@alb13216]

Great Video series, made a very easy and fun start with i3.

[@falling12]

Absolute god-tier tutorial. Thank you for gracing us with this.

[@saeedxgholami]

I remember 6 or 7 years ago I installed i3 on my old pc using this video. I can't believe it was 6 years ago.

[@bookercodes]

Good old times!

[@ZwaraVoodooLounge]

You really deserve more subscribes. Love the quality of your content / pacing / right to the point style. Great work.

[@jeffmaddocks9140]

This is perfect! Most i3 tutorials are based on arch, so thanks for giving us an ubuntu guide! I love i3 so far, and look forward to learning how to tweak.

[@scottw5584]

Great video for beginners. If you are a beginer and have no idea where to begin your exciting new i3 journey, you gotta check this.

[@genericgorilla]

Your rofi config is so neat, I just had to steal it. It's amazing how cool and clean it looks while consuming so few resources.

[@raf.nogueira]

Dude thank you so much !! finaly i have learned how to use a tiled window manager , so happy is so productive i never found such good tutorial in internet like this.

[@akmoudgil]

Excellent explanation sir. Thanks! Still helpful in 2022.

[@Raddishist]

Currently running XFCE, and I gotta say this looks pretty cool. I'll install it when I get a chance. :D

[@bookercodes]

+Raddishist Awesome. Let me know what you think :-)

[@yeahthatsright33]

This is amazing. These are the videos that will help windows users like me make the full switch to linux.

[@carlwilde635]

On the latest version of Ubuntu (2023), the gear icon for starting i3 is no longer adjacent to the log-in - it’s on its own on the lower right hand side - stumped me for a while. Also, I understand that running Ubuntu in a VM on Windows can also fall over if you have the Windows key as mod so potentially go Alt. in a Win VM. First class video by the way, really appreciate your work.

[@Chinmoku_No_Te]

Your tutorial is exactly what I've been looking for!!! You were clean, concise and very easy to understand. You've definitely got a subscriber so looking forward to seeing more of your work and if you have a patreon I will definitely donate!!!

[@pging8328]

these videos, to put it simply, are awesome. awesome.

[@sw2de3fr4gt]

Thanks for these videos. I've been thinking about getting into my first Tiling WM for a while now.

[@bookercodes]

+sw2de3fr4gt No worries.

[@Onegaiprofessor]

How da f**k did I survive without this for so long

[@GreyDeathVaccine]

Best i3wm demo/presentation/tutorial. Great job Alex & thanks. i3wm will be part ow my daily php development since now :-)

[@strat_us]

I am impressed with your demo of i3wm. I am going to try it.

[@knox9593]

I was just watchin and i felt like you really put in effort in this... Definitely subbed

[@AmanSharmaPurpleDrumstick]

Alex's voice is awesome, I also liked those Cherry BlueMX sound through out the video :D

[@sakarghimire4208]

I have been using i3 for quite some time and i love it.But i have not been able to customize it , hoping your next video will help.

[@VioletJewel1729]

quick note: with i3lock there is a default delay (that you can change) where you can't login for 'x' seconds. That may have been the reason you couldn't login. (?) I know I struggled with the same thing. Also, thanks for making i3 look so good and thanks for this very instructional video. :)

[@bookercodes]

+Dylan McClure I didn't know that 😮 And you're welcome 😄

[@RishiRajx]

Extremely good tutorial with nice clear cut instructions and tips.

[@neres909]

Great tutorial. No time wasted like no space in i3

[@r9ckless859]

This is the first time i am in this channel. And i absolutely love it. Keep it going :') definitely checking out other videos

[@giovannicarovanello62]

Very useful video. Thanks for sharing your experience and making this detailed tutorial. I already heard of i3 before but never really thought about installing it. Now that I've got a grip on it's potential, I will most probably install it.

[@beepst]

This is my favorite window manager so far.

[@bookercodes]

+Biorazvr Yeah mine too. It's awesome.

[@mtothem1337]

I like I3, because you can have everything your usually working with predefined in their own workspaces, and have them launch at startup.

[@deepakramani05]

This is a great basic video to get started with i3wm. Thank you.

[@dillon4321]

Awesome video. Very clear and concise. I have been using GNU screen (and then tmux) for about a uear now. It's great for a non-graphical workflow (sshing into a bunch of different servers and whatnot), but I wanted an equivalent for a GUI. i3 seems legit af

[@matokaz]

Super comprehensive and easy to understand, thanks for this.

[@errorcode-4047]

*Appends a line to his resume* -Knows how to use i3wm

[@SomeYouTubeGuy]

Next line: Also knows how to exit Vim

[@jcon2060]

Your i3 is more beautiful than KDE, HOLY SHITT!

[@bookercodes]

+Jcon You think so? KDE is beautiful 😍

[@justsomerandompersononthei2595]

Just use i3 with KDE Plasma. There is a way.

[@armv7-m603]

omg! thank you so much! spent hours trying to figure things out, and your video answered all of my questions! looking forward to future videos.

[@bookercodes]

You're welcome!

[@emmanuellazarte8904]

Thanks a lot..! I had many doubts but now I can understand how to use clearly, you're the best one.

[@AdamSmith-de5oh]

Code Cast's reaction to always having an incognito window at hand 14:55

[@PrithvirajSukale]

very concise and clear . Keep up the good work man!

[@frozen_tortus]

Oh, man you are such a grate teacher, to the point. Always!

[@ctoid]

Nice video bro! You brought me in the world of window manager

[@jonyboulder2]

Thanks for the great tutorial. I was finally able to jump into a tiling window manager.

[@filipegoncalves4477]

11:25 -> "There is no maximize button in i3". There is no button, but there is full screen mode ($mod+f). I understand that you want to introduce workspaces and whatnot, but it wouldn't hurt to briefly mention it here. Anyways, great video, good job!

[@bookercodes]

+Filipe Gonçalves Yes, true. In retrospect, I would have also liked to have mentioned floating mode ($mod+Shift+Space).

[@domenicwalther-photoshopre7548]

Okay, wow i'm done with this video and i'm already amazed by how powerful this is! So much better then my old Windows stuff haha. Make's my Arch Experience even better! Really looking forward what i can see in the next videos :) (Going to share my configuration at the end when it's looking more awesome then yours haha :D)

[@bookercodes]

+PixelStudio | Graphic Designer & Illustrator Awesome. Please share the link with me when it's ready 😄! P.S. I like your style.

[@georgemanitsas3581]

The best tutorial for me. You are very good doing this. Thanx for sharing.

[@fatgonzo]

Great tutorial, thank you. I failed to shift into the tiling mindset previously with Awesome a number of years ago. I cringe when I think of all the mouse juggling I've been doing since then, and how relatively little work it would have taken to avoid it. =)

[@leolindhorst6396]

This series is completely awesome! Thank you :D

[@bookercodes]

+Dev Wurm Thanks for saying so

[@sonyj87]

Splinting Windows is good for large screens 17 inch and above .... If u r using laptop 14inch screen ... It's not that great ... But i3 is so fast and cool ..

[@bookercodes]

+Sanal K Joy I suppose that's true. I guess it depends more on the resolution than the physical dimensions of the monitor.

[@Kilian2]

Unfortunately, most of them still are. :(

[@relaxmore444]

Excellent! Really well made introduction to i3!

[@YikesThatsTough]

This is one of the best tutorials i've seen on any topic. Really great stuff