The wmctrl tool provides command line access to almost all features defined in the EWMH (Extended Window Manager Hints) specification. It can be used, for example, to get information about the window manager, to get a detailed list of desktops and managed windows, to switch and resize desktops, to make windows full-screen, always-above or sticky, and to activate, close, move, resize, maximize and minimize them.

You can install it by:

sudo apt-get install wmctrl

You can get information about your virtual desktops (workspaces) with wmctrl -d:

$ wmctrl -d

0  * DG: 2720x1536  VP: 0,0  WA: 0,24 1360x744  N/A

And list open windows with wmctrl -l.

$ wmctrl -l

0x02000004  0 onezero Desktop

0x02e00002  0     N/A DNDCollectionWindow

0x02e00003  0     N/A launcher

0x01e00004  0 onezero cairo-dock

0x02e00004  0     N/A panel

0x04800061  0 onezero Transmission

0x02e0000a  0     N/A Dash

0x03a00044  0 onezero arranging windows from the gnu/linux command line with wmctrl ~ Moving to Freedom - Chromium

0x04400006  0 onezero one@onezero: ~

0x04c000e9  0 onezero Google - Mozilla Firefox

The -G option shows you the geometry of the windows:

$ wmctrl -lG

0x02000004  0 0    0    1360 768  onezero Desktop

0x02e00002  0 -1460 -868 1360 768      N/A DNDCollectionWindow

0x02e00003  0 0    24   58   744      N/A launcher

0x01e00004  0 290  653  780  115  onezero cairo-dock

0x02e00004  0 0    0    1360 24       N/A panel

0x04800061  0 408  95   732  500  onezero Transmission

0x02e0000a  0 -1402 -844 1302 744      N/A Dash

0x03a00044  0 0    24   1360 744  onezero Center a window via command line - Ask Ubuntu - Stack Exchange - Chromium

0x04400006  0 127  94   983  434  onezero one@onezero: ~

0x04c000e9  0 5    47   1349 715  onezero Google - Mozilla Firefox

You can specify a window by referencing its title or partial title after -r. -e is for moving and resizing.

wmctrl -r "Mozilla Firefox" -e <G>,<X>,<Y>,<W>,<H>

where:

<G>: Gravity specified as a number. The numbers are defined in the EWMH specification. The value of zero is particularly

     useful, it means "use the default gravity of the window".

<X>,<Y>: Coordinates of new position of the window.

<W>,<H>: New width and height of the window.

So, to move a window to the upper left corner and make it 1000 pixels wide by 700 tall, you’d use 0,0,0,1000,700:

wmctrl -r "Mozilla Firefox" -e 0,0,0,1000,700

To move/resize it, I used the workaround of “unmaximizing” it first, using the -b option

wmctrl -r "Mozilla Firefox" -b remove,maximized_vert,maximized_horz

wmctrl -r "Mozilla Firefox" -b add,maximized_vert,maximized_horz

The things you need to understand first

• The -e option expects a list of comma separated integers: gravity,X,Y,width,height

  
  

  

  
  

  Above is my screen resolution, so width = 1360 and height = 786.

  
  



• Aligning a window to left-half of the screen:

  
  

  wmctrl -r "Mozilla Firefox" -e 1,0,0,680,768
  
  

  
  



• Aligning a window to right-half of the screen:

  
  

  wmctrl -r "Mozilla Firefox" -e 1,680,0,680,768
  
  

  
  



• Aligning a window to the center of the screen (1360 / 4 = 340):

  
  

  wmctrl -r "Mozilla Firefox" -e 1,340,0,680,768
  
  

  
  

  

  
  

Manipulate the above commands as needed for your screen settings.

For more help:

• Aero Snap feature for GNU/Linux with wmctrl


• arranging windows from the gnu/linux command line with wmctrl


• Extended Window Manager Hints


• wmctrl user documentation (examples)