How to move windows around and between monitors, using keyboard short cuts?

Question

On MS Windows we can use Super + Arrow to move a window to the right and the left of the screen, maximize, minimize and even move it to another screen. Is there a way to configure this feature on Gnome?

I have kde and super + arrows moves to next monitor edge and to another screen. — ctrl-alt-delor, Jul 16 '12 at 12:58
I recommend you change the "correct answer" selection to Simon D's as it is most up to date and helpful these days. — Freedom_Ben, Feb 01 '18 at 22:23

score 35 · Answer 1 · edited Mar 21 '18 at 08:26

35

In Ubuntu 17.10, the Shift+Super+Arrows keyboard shortcuts move the window between the different monitors.

Can be modified under Settings > Devices > Keyboard > Navigation > Move window one monitor up/down/to the left/to the right.

edited Mar 21 '18 at 08:26

Dan

13,119

answered Oct 22 '17 at 04:49

Simon D

431
4
4

5

The same in Ubuntu Gnome 16.04. This is the up-to-date answer, the others are more or less outdated. – Nov 19 '17 at 20:50
1

This works in Ubuntu 21.10 – Flimm Jan 03 '22 at 10:25

score 26 · Answer 2 · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:23

26

The Put Windows extension implements this feature. After installing it, Super+Shift+Left and Super+Shift+Right move the active window to the previous/next screen, respectively -- just as in Windows. This works even in a three-monitor setup, and also moving maximized windows now works reliably.

Frychiko's solution works great in a two-monitor setting but suffers issues when moving maximized windows.

Tested with Ubuntu 13.04.

edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:23

Community

1

answered Sep 26 '13 at 11:49

krlmlr

3,337

1

After installing, you need to use the gnome-shell-extension-prefs tool to configure the keys used (they don't show up in Keyboard settings). I didn't have that tool (I installed gnome-shell in Ubuntu), but apt-get install gnome-shell-extensions let me run "Tweak Tool". – idbrii Aug 01 '16 at 06:46
If you've set the monitors to be above each other then you need to use Super + Shift + Up/Down This also works on Fedora 28 (Gnome 3) – icc97 Jul 19 '18 at 08:44
works on Fedora too – izy Dec 08 '21 at 11:01

score 18 · Accepted Answer · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:23

18

Ctrl + Alt + NUMPAD 4 (left edge) Ctrl + Alt + NUMPAD 6 (right edge)

Make sure you are using the NUMPAD cursor keys, not the dedicated ones, if you have those. Otherwise, it'll switch workspaces.

Note that these shortcuts only work on non-maximized windows. Un-maximizing any selected window can be done using

Ctrl + Alt + NUMPAD 5 (center)

List of Unity keyboard shortcuts here in case you haven't seen them.

What are Unity's keyboard and mouse shortcuts?

edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:23

Community

1

answered Apr 25 '11 at 10:24

Frychiko

415

7

It doesn't work on Gnome – Jader Dias Apr 26 '11 at 00:35
@Jader Dias In what way does what "not work" on Gnome? – ændrük May 11 '11 at 13:35
3

@ændrük In my understanding Unity keyboard shortcuts don't work on Gnome – Jader Dias May 11 '11 at 21:25
@JaderDias: But they do (at least these particular keys, in 12.10), and this is great! See http://askubuntu.com/a/222902/30266 for more detail. – krlmlr Nov 28 '12 at 08:38
4

These are great, I only recently discovered them. The one thing they don't do (which the OP asked for) is moving windows from one monitor to another. – Paul Bissex Apr 26 '16 at 19:27
Whether maximized or not, it just seems to "snap" the window to half of the current monitor instead of moving to a different monitor. (Using 16.04) – The Unknown Dev Mar 19 '17 at 21:02

score 16 · Answer 4 · answered May 11 '11 at 11:47

16

ALT+F7 which select window and move using arrow. Press Enter to release the window.

answered May 11 '11 at 11:47

shantanu

8,599

2

Is a valid answer, but it doesn't achieve the desired behavior – Jader Dias May 11 '11 at 21:26
2

Additionally press SHIFT to move faster, or CTRL to move slower when using the arrow keys – Sam Aug 17 '14 at 08:20
1

For me, using 16.04, none of the other answers works for moving between monitors except this one (without installing an extension, which seems unnecessary). – Jul 13 '16 at 12:04
2

Same here - this is a working solution for moving a window out of a dysfunctional monitor, caused by https://www.virtualbox.org/ticket/14743. – cslotty Jan 23 '17 at 13:26
that's so weird having to press a keyboard shortcut for such common task – Daniel Katz Aug 10 '22 at 17:47
This is great when one of your displays or screens is wonky, your mouse is temporarily broken, and you're trying to move a window from an obscured or invisible place (e.g. covered by "Oh no! Something has gone wrong" blanked page") to a functional display/screen. – nealmcb May 08 '23 at 01:09
This answer still works! Ubuntu 18.04.6 LTS. – Helen Craigman May 27 '23 at 09:28

Cristi · Answer 5 · 2019-07-08T17:33:24.940

1

Tested on Ubuntu 18.04 (Pop!_OS) with Gnome 3.28.2:

Moving window in current display: Ctrl + Super + Arrows
Moving window to other display: Ctrl + Shift + Super + Arrows

Edit:

The initial answer works (at least) for Pop!_OS 18.04 - the keyboard shourtcuts might be custom.

Later found this Gnome wiki page which states that it should be Shift + Super + Arrows Left/Right

edited Jul 08 '19 at 17:33

answered Jul 08 '19 at 12:48

Cristi

11

does not work for ubuntu 19.04 – tatsu Jul 08 '19 at 13:28
I might have distro-specific keyboard shortcuts.
https://wiki.gnome.org/Design/OS/KeyboardShortcuts states that it should be Shift + Super + Left/Right
– Cristi Jul 08 '19 at 17:26

score 0 · Answer 6 · answered May 11 '11 at 11:19

0

Adding to Frychiko 's answer:

ctrl + alt + num_pad_5 maximizes and minimize window
ctrl + alt + num_pad_8 or num_pad_2 moves windows to the top and bottom edge respectively.

it's really easy to achieve this on laptops too - just add an fn key to your combination and you're done!

answered May 11 '11 at 11:19

Merstzik

9

This doesn't answer the question as it only moves them within the current monitor and will not move them to a different monitor. – The Unknown Dev Mar 19 '17 at 21:03
The original question was edited. – Merstzik Mar 29 '17 at 19:31

score -1 · Answer 7 · answered Apr 23 '11 at 21:58

-1

By using Ctrl + Shift + Alt + Arrow combination, you can move any windows to the other screens.

answered Apr 23 '11 at 21:58

Coldfish

1,740

In my installation it would move only windows between workspaces. When I say screens you should think in a multi-monitor setup. – Jader Dias Apr 24 '11 at 15:23
You should make it clear in your question that you don't mean workspaces. – Roddie Apr 25 '11 at 13:25
5

@Roddie He made that clear by using the word screens instead of workspaces. – ændrük May 11 '11 at 13:26
1

No, he hasn't made it clear, hence why someone has offered this very answer. – Roddie May 13 '11 at 20:37

How to move windows around and between monitors, using keyboard short cuts?

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