How to determine which window manager (and desktop environment) is running

Question

Is there any way (such as a command or environmental variable) to determine what window manager is the one actively running in the current session?

score 191 · Answer 1 · edited May 22 '20 at 07:05

191

If you have wmctrl installed, the first line of output from command

wmctrl -m

will show you the name of the window manager. If you don't have wmctrl installed, use the following command to install it:

sudo apt-get install wmctrl

Note, man wmctrl (that is, the man page for wmctrl) says in part:

-m Display information about the window manager ...

On my Ubuntu 11.10 / Linux 3.0.0-14-generic #23-Ubuntu x86_64 / metacity 2.34.1 system, the first line of output from wmctrl -m was: Name: Metacity
while echo $DESKTOP_SESSION showed ubuntu-2d and echo $XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP showed Unity.

On a fresh Ubuntu 15.10 install of Ubuntu desktop software on an old laptop, the first line of output from wmctrl -m was: Name: Compiz
while the DESKTOP_SESSION and XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP values were ubuntu and Unity

edited May 22 '20 at 07:05

Pablo Bianchi

15,657

answered Jan 05 '12 at 07:57

James Waldby - jwpat7

2,079
1
15
16

5

Unfortunately this doesn't work over ssh even if X11 is enabled. – Sridhar Sarnobat Apr 22 '14 at 04:54
2

@Sridhar-Sarnobat on ubuntu 15.04, running ssh -Y {host} 'wmctrl -m' does return some values (e.g., "Name: Compiz", and several N/A's), but it makes sense that ssh would have limited info about the window manager. – michael May 04 '15 at 02:52
on debian running cinnamon, this does not work. output of wmctrl -m is Name: Mutter(Muffin)
while $XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=X-Cinnamon
– Floyd Jan 02 '16 at 08:58
On Xubuntu Wily, running Window Maker 0.95.6 - wmctrl reports N/A for all entries. GDMSESSION is set to wmaker-common but XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP isnt set at all. – Mei Jul 11 '16 at 19:13
@Mei, do you have Window Maker running on any other systems you can compare? Also, do either of wmctrl -d (List all desktops managed by the window manager) or wmctrl -l (List the windows being managed by the window manager) work ok on Xubuntu Wily with Window Maker? – James Waldby - jwpat7 Jul 12 '16 at 18:55
1

Note to wanderers from outside Ubuntu. On RedHat wmctrl is available from the nux-dextop repo (see https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/447999/identify-and-restart-gnome-classic-window-manager-on-rhel7) – Bruce Adams Jun 05 '18 at 14:33
@SridharSarnobat, the XServer runs on the local system so you don't need to ssh to it. If you are running Windows (no Xserver) then ssh'ing into a remote server your connection will not likely be associated with a display. – PatS Jan 30 '21 at 00:31
The last line says:Window manager's "showing the desktop" mode: OFF. What does it mean? – Timo Apr 26 '21 at 18:17
@Timo Per _NET_SHOWING_DESKTOP entry in "Extended Window Manager Hints" at freedesktop.org, if that were on, windows would be hidden, with only the desktop background displayed and focused. Maybe not an everyday need. – James Waldby - jwpat7 Jul 24 '21 at 23:08
How a friendly clarification: Really $DESKTOP_SESSION returns the Window Manager - that is the correct answer. - for more details see - https://askubuntu.com/a/125072/970554 - and $XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP returns the Desktop Environment – Manuel Jordan Nov 27 '21 at 14:50

Tom · Answer 2 · 2022-08-31T15:47:11.280

On Linux systems I tested environment variables XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP and GDMSESSION and got the following results.

You can use this line to get the output:
printf 'Desktop: %s\nSession: %s\n' "$XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP" "$GDMSESSION"

Ubuntu 18.04 and 20.04 (Ubuntu on GNOME)

XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=ubuntu:GNOME
GDMSESSION=ubuntu

Ubuntu 18.04 (Ubuntu on Wayland)

XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=ubuntu:GNOME
GDMSESSION=ubuntu-wayland

Ubuntu 16.04

Unity (7)

XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=Unity
GDMSESSION=ubuntu

Ubuntu 14.04

Unity running with Mir

XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=Unity
GDMSESSION=ubuntu

Note MIR_SERVER_NAME is also set

MIR_SERVER_NAME=session-$NUMBER

Unity running without Mir

XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=Unity
GDMSESSION=ubuntu

XFCE

XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=XFCE
GDMSESSION=xfce

Ubuntu 12.04

KDE

XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=
GDMSESSION=kde-plasma

Unity 3D

XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=Unity
GDMSESSION=ubuntu

Unity 2D

XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=Unity
GDMSESSION=ubuntu-2d

Gnome

XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=GNOME
GDMSESSION=gnome-shell

Gnome Classic

XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=GNOME
GDMSESSION=gnome-classic

Gnome Classic (no effects)

XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=GNOME
GDMSESSION=gnome-fallback

Other Ubuntu based distributions

Mint 13 (Cinnamon)

XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=GNOME
GDMSESSION=cinnamon

Mint 16 (KDE edition)

XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=KDE
GDMSESSION=default

Mint 17 (Cinnamon)

XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=X-Cinnamon
GDMSESSION=default

Lubuntu 12.04

XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=LXDE
GDMSESSION=Lubuntu

Wasta 14.04 / 18.04

XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=X-Cinnamon
GDMSESSION=cinnamon

Wasta 14.04 using Gnome desktop.

XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=GNOME
GDMSESSION=gnome

Ubuntu Mate 18.04

XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=MATE
GDMSESSION=mate

Xubuntu 18.04

XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=XFCE
GDMSESSION=xubuntu

Kali Linux kali-rolling 2020.2

XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=GNOME
GDMSESSION=lightdm-xsession

Mint 13 (Cinnamon): XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=GNOME, GDMSESSION=cinnamon — rik-shaw, Dec 11 '12 at 18:02
And further it doesn’t answer what window manager I use! — Robert Siemer, Mar 09 '15 at 11:22
Really $DESKTOP_SESSION returns the Window Manager - that is the correct answer. - for more details see - https://askubuntu.com/a/125072/970554 - and $XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP returns the Desktop Environment — Manuel Jordan, Nov 27 '21 at 14:48
@RobertSiemer in someway the answer is correct - it seems that GDMSESSION returns the Window Manager - of course we are right about that $XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP returns the Desktop Environment — Manuel Jordan, Nov 28 '21 at 00:36

score 49 · Answer 3 · edited Feb 22 '18 at 20:47

49

In the terminal type env to see all environment variables. Some of them are:

XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP - Tells you what desktop environment you are using

GDMSESSION - Tells you what option you selected from the lightdm greeter to login.

To use them, go to the terminal and type:

echo $XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP

(Will output for example 'unity' if you are using Unity)

or

echo $GDMSESSION

(Will output for example 'ubuntu' if you selected ubuntu in the login or 'ubuntu-2d' if you selected that one in the login.)

You have others if you look closer at the output of env like DESKTOP_SESSION and COMPIZ_CONFIG_PROFILE

Since what you are looking for is the name of what Window Manager is in use, the only way I see how to get this is by looking in the process list. To do this there is a command called pgrep ( Wikipedia ). I did the following to get the name since the parameter -l adds the process ID:

pgrep -l compiz |cut -d " " -f2 since the process is running by the same user there is no need to prefix the sudo part. You can then use this to create a script that does an action based on the Window Manager.

To look for other types, just change the word compiz to another like mutter, kwin, etc..

edited Feb 22 '18 at 20:47

Ken Sharp

991
8
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answered Oct 26 '11 at 21:57

Luis Alvarado

211,503

4

Those just tell me the session name and desktop environment. Example it says "GNOME" which is a desktop environment that can use Metacity, Mutter, Compiz or other window managers. It says "gnome-classic" which is a session name, there is no such window manager with that name. – Anonymous Oct 26 '11 at 23:04
1

There you go. Found a command that can help with the process list. pgrep. Got to that part, at least it shows you the name of the window manager if found. Trying to check if I can add all of them together there. Your question is very good since Ubuntu 11.10 confuses a bit by using Compiz (Or mutter if when Gnome 3.x) so would be nice to point out the actual Window Manager that is used in Unity. – Luis Alvarado Oct 27 '11 at 00:11
1

$XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP is the current desktop environment, NOT the window manager. – Ken Sharp Feb 22 '18 at 16:49
it seems that GDMSESSION returns the Window Manager - and of course $XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP returns the Desktop Environment – Manuel Jordan Nov 28 '21 at 00:37

Sridhar Sarnobat · Answer 4 · 2018-04-01T22:00:07.077

I found pstree to be a big help.

Installation

sudo apt-get install pstree

output

This is what I got.

 ├─lightdm─┬─Xorg───2*[{Xorg}]
 │         ├─lightdm─┬─gnome-session─┬─bluetooth-apple───2*[{bluetooth-apple}]
 │         │         │               ├─compiz─┬─sh───gtk-window-deco───2*[{gtk-window-deco}]
 │         │         │               │        └─5*[{compiz}]
 │         │         │               ├─deja-dup-monito───2*[{deja-dup-monito}]
 │         │         │               ├─gnome-fallback-───2*[{gnome-fallback-}]
 │         │         │               ├─gnome-screensav───2*[{gnome-screensav}]
 │         │         │               ├─gnome-settings-───2*[{gnome-settings-}]
 │         │         │               ├─nautilus───2*[{nautilus}]
 │         │         │               ├─nm-applet───2*[{nm-applet}]
 │         │         │               ├─polkit-gnome-au───2*[{polkit-gnome-au}]
 │         │         │               ├─ssh-agent
 │         │         │               ├─telepathy-indic───2*[{telepathy-indic}]
 │         │         │               ├─update-notifier───2*[{update-notifier}]
 │         │         │               ├─vino-server───2*[{vino-server}]
 │         │         │               ├─zeitgeist-datah───{zeitgeist-datah}
 │         │         │               └─3*[{gnome-session}]
 │         │         └─{lightdm}
 │         └─2*[{lightdm}]

this got me there with my custom buildroot system. – jc__ Feb 05 '19 at 21:12 — jc__, Feb 05 '19 at 21:12
For me on Ubuntu 22.04, pstree came pre-installed. – Chris Hayes Dec 29 '22 at 00:52 — Chris Hayes, Dec 29 '22 at 00:52

score 21 · Answer 5 · answered May 15 '14 at 06:19

21

xprop -id $(xprop -root -notype | awk '$1=="_NET_SUPPORTING_WM_CHECK:"{print $5}') -notype -f _NET_WM_NAME 8t

answered May 15 '14 at 06:19

ruario

219

3

Can you explain how this works? Also, I think you' re missing a ) at the end. – Louis Matthijssen May 15 '14 at 06:53
@LouisMatthijssen 1. xprop -root -notype displays all of the root window's properties (and omits types for easier parsing), the output is send to awk via pipe; 2. awk instruction $1=="_NET[blah]CK:"{print $5}' compares first column of each row of the input it got through the pipe with a given string and if it finds the match it runs the code in brackets which prints the fifth column from this row - just so happens (entirely by accident, I bet) to be the ID of the "_NET_SUPPORTING_WM_CHECK" atom; 3. this ID is then used again to get the properties of the Windows Manager with xprop -id – cprn May 15 '14 at 19:31
Does not detect ratpoision but got me headed in the right direction – hildred Jan 30 '21 at 19:31

score 15 · Answer 6 · answered Mar 19 '20 at 17:10

15

Just two cents.

$ sudo apt install neofetch
$ neofetch

answered Mar 19 '20 at 17:10

4xy

1,145

+1, neofetch is a nifty little tool, thank you! (well, not so little, but at least it works well). – Violet Giraffe Dec 27 '23 at 14:11

Alberto Salvia Novella · Answer 7 · 2022-01-20T15:42:54.533

#! /bin/bash


windowManagerName () {
    local window=$(
        xprop -root -notype
    )

    local identifier=$(
        echo "${window}" |
        awk '$1=="_NET_SUPPORTING_WM_CHECK:"{print $5}'
    )

    local attributes=$(
        xprop -id "${identifier}" -notype -f _NET_WM_NAME 8t
    )

    local name=$(
        echo "${attributes}" |
        grep "_NET_WM_NAME = " |
        cut --delimiter=' ' --fields=3 |
        cut --delimiter='"' --fields=2
    )

    echo "${name}"
}


windowManagerName

Or in one line:

id=$(xprop -root -notype | awk '$1=="_NET_SUPPORTING_WM_CHECK:"{print $5}'); xprop -id "${id}" -notype -f _NET_WM_NAME 8t | grep "_NET_WM_NAME = " | cut --delimiter=' ' --fields=3 | cut --delimiter='"' --fields=2

this exactly answers the question! The only answer to the question I found. — opinion_no9, Jan 22 '20 at 20:53

score 7 · Answer 8 · edited May 30 '23 at 23:15

7

I've been testing also with KDE and my conclusion is:

a) Graphical way, with HardInfo: the answer is normally in "Operating System" > "Desktop Environment", but if not you can look to "Environment variables". HardInfo is ready with all the tested distros, except the one with KDE, but it can be easily and quickly installed (only 2 packages in Linux Mint 13).

edited May 30 '23 at 23:15

SebMa

2,291

answered Apr 15 '13 at 22:51

Msedfi

81

XFCE also has several gnome-... processes (and a kde hit with kdevtmpfs) – Xen2050 May 07 '16 at 04:55
@Msedfi Does not work if the WM is lightdm. – SebMa May 26 '23 at 14:23

score 3 · Answer 9 · answered Mar 07 '21 at 15:09

This question is 9 years old, but still topical. On my Ubuntu 20.04.2 LTS, I get :
wmctrl -m: GNOME Shell
inxi -Sxx: Desktop = Gnome 3.36.4; wm = gnome-shell; dm = GDM3 3.36.3
gnome-shell -- version: 3.36.4
env:GDM_SESSION : ubuntu ; DESKTOP_SESSION: ubuntu ; XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP: ubuntu:GNOME
BUT
xprop... (from ruario): _NET_WM_NAME : GNOME Shell ; _GNOME_WM_KEYBINDINGS : Mutter, GNOME Shell ; _MUTTER_VERSION : 3.36.7
and neofetch: de = GNONE ; wm = Mutter
I deduce from this (but not very sure): GNOME is the desktop manager and GNOME Shell the window manager (Mutter must be a trace of my previous LTS versions 16.04 et 18.04).

That shows how confusing all the content and conclusions are in this entire thread. Your window manager is Mutter, as pointed out very helpfully and accurately by neofetch. (I get Mutter as well on a new install of 20.04, if that helps.) — Levente, Mar 07 '21 at 17:04

score 3 · Answer 10 · edited Jul 07 '17 at 19:03

3

None of the above actually worked for me, I just wanted to know whether I had Gnome running as my current desktop session.

This is what worked, open a terminal

lsb_release -a

(to check which flavor or version I had installed on my UBUNTU machine)

ls /usr/bin/*session

(launches which desktop session/desktop environment currently in use)

gnome-shell --version

(to find out which version of gnome is installed)

edited Jul 07 '17 at 19:03

Thomas

6,223

answered Jul 07 '17 at 16:26

NanuBuria

39

ls /usr/bin/*session showed me what was installed – AlexOnLinux Jun 18 '20 at 16:14

score 2 · Answer 11 · answered Jul 01 '19 at 20:38

You can use tool called inxi. It can be obtained from Ubuntu Repositories by:

sudo apt install inxi

or from github : https://github.com/smxi/inxi

Just run the command as follows:

inxi -Sx
System:    Host: blackhole Kernel: 5.1.15-050115-lowlatency x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 8.3.0
           Desktop: i3 4.16.1-178-g31c0f1b8 Distro: Ubuntu 19.04 (Disco Dingo)

Note the Desktop: i3 part. In my case the window manager I use is i3.

Option -S displays system info and x adds info about window manager.

score 0 · Answer 12 · answered Apr 26 '21 at 18:52

0

Desktop Environment lxqt (e.g. Lubuntu >= 18.10)

One way is open ~/.config/lxqt/session.conf and find

[General]
__userfile__=true
window_manager=openbox // <==

answered Apr 26 '21 at 18:52

Timo

237

score 0 · Answer 13 · answered May 26 '23 at 14:27

0

One solution that works through SSH :

$ cat /etc/X11/default-display-manager | xargs basename
lightdm

answered May 26 '23 at 14:27

SebMa

2,291

score 0 · Answer 14 · edited Jun 12 '20 at 14:37

0

Script

The following script resulted as the best answer to a similar question I posted over at unix.se. It also works great with Unity and LXDE.

if [ "$XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP" = '' ]
then
  desktop=$(echo "$XDG_DATA_DIRS" | sed 's/.*\(xfce\|kde\|gnome\).*/\1/')
else
  desktop=$XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP
fi
desktop=${desktop,,}  # convert to lower case
echo "$desktop"

edited Jun 12 '20 at 14:37

Community

1

answered Feb 24 '14 at 17:42

Serge Stroobandt

5,268
1
48
59

Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy · Answer 15 · 2016-04-03T08:13:23.713

This is sort of possible with dbus and the Accounts Service (both by default in Ubuntu).

$ qdbus --system org.freedesktop.Accounts \                                                                
> /org/freedesktop/Accounts/User1000 \                                                                                     
> org.freedesktop.Accounts.User.XSession                                                                                   
ubuntu

Worth noting that I've tested this with logging in through lightdm (that is the graphical login screen) , it did detect a classic desktop like blackbox , and obviously detects Unity. I suspect this is a value of what user selects on the login screen as session, that's why it's a bit easier to use that checking for processes

How to determine which window manager (and desktop environment) is running

15 Answers15

Ubuntu 18.04 and 20.04 (Ubuntu on GNOME)

Ubuntu 18.04 (Ubuntu on Wayland)

Ubuntu 16.04

Unity (7)

Ubuntu 14.04

Unity running with Mir

Unity running without Mir

XFCE

Ubuntu 12.04

KDE

Unity 3D

Unity 2D

Gnome

Gnome Classic

Gnome Classic (no effects)

Other Ubuntu based distributions

Mint 13 (Cinnamon)

Mint 16 (KDE edition)

Mint 17 (Cinnamon)

Lubuntu 12.04

Wasta 14.04 / 18.04

Wasta 14.04 using Gnome desktop.

Ubuntu Mate 18.04

Xubuntu 18.04

Kali Linux kali-rolling 2020.2

Installation

output

Desktop Environment lxqt (e.g. Lubuntu >= 18.10)

Script

Linked

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