Settings for alt-tab window cycle

tsoj · 2019-12-20 16:45:35

Hello,

I was wondering if I can adjust the size of the area where the window thumbnails are shown when I press alt-tab for a longer time.
Preferably I would set it to full screen because I like to click the window I want to switch to with my mouse (instead of pushing tab multiple times (only to overshoot)) and with my small notebook screen it is easier if the thumbnails would be a bit larger.

Last edited by tsoj (2019-12-20 16:46:20)

ToZ · 2019-12-20 16:59:41

Hello and welcome.

Which version of xfwm4 are you running? If it's 4.14, then the following snippet in ~/.config/gtk-3.0/gtk.css can be used to adjust the icon and preview window sizes of the overlay:

#xfwm-tabwin {
   -XfwmTabwinWidget-icon-size: 64px;
   -XfwmTabwinWidget-preview-size: 64px; }

The minimum/maximum acceptable sizes for icon-size are 24/128 and for preview-size are 48/512.

tsoj · 2019-12-20 21:26:25

Thanks for your answer!
I tried different numbers but say seem to not do anything I want.
This is what it currently looks like:

And this is what I wish it would look like (done with gimp):

Also, the ~/.config/gtk-3.0/gtk.css didn't exist, is this correct that I had to first create this file?
In case this is not possible, what code would be a good starting point to read, understand and solve this? I've never done graphics UI programming so I would be a bit lost where to start.

ToZ · 2019-12-20 23:40:58

tsoj wrote:

Thanks for your answer!
I tried different numbers but say seem to not do anything I want.

You need to restart xfwm4 after every change you make:

xfwm4 --replace

...this will force it to re-read the configuration files.

Also, the ~/.config/gtk-3.0/gtk.css didn't exist, is this correct that I had to first create this file?

Yes, create the file if it doesn't exist.

Can you:

Post back the content of your ~/.config/gtk-3.0/gtk.css file.
--
Post back the results of:
```
xfwm4 -V
```
(the above will only work with xfwm4 version 4.13 or greater).

tsoj · 2019-12-21 00:06:00

ToZ wrote:

tsoj wrote:
Thanks for your answer!
I tried different numbers but say seem to not do anything I want.
You need to restart xfwm4 after every change you make:
xfwm4 --replace
...this will force it to re-read the configuration files.
Also, the ~/.config/gtk-3.0/gtk.css didn't exist, is this correct that I had to first create this file?
Yes, create the file if it doesn't exist.
Can you:
Post back the content of your ~/.config/gtk-3.0/gtk.css file.
--
Post back the results of:
xfwm4 -V
(the above will only work with xfwm4 version 4.13 or greater).

xfwm4 -V

outputs

This is xfwm4 version 4.14.0git.5ea89c (revision 5ea89c) for Xfce 4.14
	Released under the terms of the GNU General Public License.
	Compiled against GTK+-3.24.12, using GTK+-3.24.13.

	Build configuration and supported features:
	- Startup notification support:                 Yes
	- XSync support:                                Yes
	- Render support:                               Yes
	- Xrandr support:                               Yes
	- Xpresent support:                             Yes
	- Embedded compositor:                          Yes
	- Epoxy support:                                Yes
	- KDE systray proxy (deprecated):               No

With two windows the biggest it got was with 483px after that it got small again:

#xfwm-tabwin {
   -XfwmTabwinWidget-icon-size: 40px;
   -XfwmTabwinWidget-preview-size: 483px;
}

With five windows open this is the biggest I got, 394px and bigger was again as big as something like 128px:

#xfwm-tabwin {
   -XfwmTabwinWidget-icon-size: 40px;
   -XfwmTabwinWidget-preview-size: 393px;
}

ToZ · 2019-12-21 02:04:33

What is your screen resolution?

tsoj · 2019-12-21 15:40:25

1920 x 1080, so today (after a restart) with two windows 512px is big again, but with three windows it is still way smaller (like with 128px).

ToZ · 2019-12-21 15:49:24

Perhaps thats just a limitation with the size - it can only go so large. Give xfdashboard a try. It will give you a full-screen preview (it's kind of like the gnome activities window) - maybe more along the lines of what you are looking for.

fant · 2025-07-26 09:48:19

Hi.
thanks for this post.
Is there a way to resize the icons, when cyling is done in listview?
window-manager-tweaks > Cycling > [x] Cyle through windows in a list

Thanks.
Jens

ToZ · 2025-07-26 10:41:42

fant wrote:

Is there a way to resize the icons, when cyling is done in listview?

The largest you can get is 48 pixels in the icon size in the tabwin in listview mode using:

#xfwm-tabwin {
   -XfwmTabwinWidget-listview-icon-size: 48px;
}

fant · 2025-07-26 13:52:37

ToZ wrote:

fant wrote:
Is there a way to resize the icons, when cyling is done in listview?
The largest you can get is 48 pixels in the icon size in the tabwin in listview mode using:
#xfwm-tabwin {
   -XfwmTabwinWidget-listview-icon-size: 48px;
}

Thanks a lot!

advice1010 · 2025-08-08 14:03:46

This works great, thank you again ToZ.
Does not really mean anything, but just out of curiosity I decided to see what would happen if
I went beyond 48px. I choose to go way beyond with 128px

#xfwm-tabwin {
   -XfwmTabwinWidget-listview-icon-size: 128px;
}

Not that anyone will go with this large of an icon size, but I was surprised it does actually work. Only thing is is that some application icons are noticeably being zoomed in because they are fuzzy/pixelated. However, applications like Thunar and Terminal seem to have clear 128px icons.

Just thought I would share this observation.
Thank you again for providing this information.

advice1010 · 2025-08-16 17:15:20

I was just thinking about this.

As far as I know don't icon sets provide all the application icons?
If this is the case then why would some show up blurry when using sizes over 48x48 and others are perfectly clear at larger sizes?

#xfwm-tabwin {
   -XfwmTabwinWidget-listview-icon-size: 128px;
}

For simplicity use "Papirus" icon set for example
I think "Geany" application icon was one of the ones that showed up blurry.

I also think I had an AppImage icon that showed up blurry as well, have to check again but the launcher I created for the AppImage I used the icon set being used on my system as well, so would not think AppImage icon would be an issue either.

If anyone has any idea why this might be, please let me know.
Thank You

ToZ · 2025-08-16 18:25:43

advice1010 wrote:

As far as I know don't icon sets provide all the application icons?

This isn't totally accurate. Some applications, like tabwin in this case, get the icons from libwnck3. You can see these by running "xprop" and clicking on the window you want to check the icon for.

If this is the case then why would some show up blurry when using sizes over 48x48 and others are perfectly clear at larger sizes?

libwnck only supports 2 sizes, I believe, and 48px is the largest.

advice1010 · 2025-08-29 18:55:37

@ToZ
Ahh okay so we are both correct, so that is why this works....
Applications that use "Icon Sets" can support larger icons sizes such as 128px
and
Applications that use "libwnck3" can only support up to 48px (Have never heard of "libwnck3")
So if CSS value is used, for example 128px, it is scaling that 48px max icon up to 128px which is why they appear blurry.

Something else that I have never used before is "xprop".
I tried this out but did not see any info that stood out to me about icon set used.
For example I tried this out on a "Thunar" window which DOES support sizes larger then 48px, so imagine this would be using Papirus set for example.

The only things I saw that mentioned icons were

WM_ICON_NAME(STRING) = "<username>"
_NET_WM_ICON_NAME(UTF8_STRING) = "<username>"

but I think they showed user name?
Did not see any "icon set" names on my system being shown.
Is there a specific line I should look for?
Meaning is there a line that will show up for both "icon sets" and "libwnck3" based applications?

Thank you again for this information

Last edited by advice1010 (2025-08-29 18:57:46)

ToZ · 2025-08-29 19:59:56

When you use xprop, alot of information scrolls. Scroll up in the terminal window to see the other info. Posted here as an example (you will note where the icon gets delineated). Icons used internally by thunar will follow the icon theme).

_NET_WM_ICON_GEOMETRY(CARDINAL) = 0, 405, 54, 54
_NET_FRAME_EXTENTS(CARDINAL) = 0, 0, 0, 0
_NET_WM_ALLOWED_ACTIONS(ATOM) = _NET_WM_ACTION_CLOSE, _NET_WM_ACTION_ABOVE, _NET_WM_ACTION_BELOW, _NET_WM_ACTION_FULLSCREEN, _NET_WM_ACTION_MOVE, _NET_WM_ACTION_RESIZE, _NET_WM_ACTION_MAXIMIZE_HORZ, _NET_WM_ACTION_MAXIMIZE_VERT, _NET_WM_ACTION_MINIMIZE, _NET_WM_ACTION_CHANGE_DESKTOP, _NET_WM_ACTION_STICK
WM_STATE(WM_STATE):
		window state: Normal
		icon window: 0x0
_NET_WM_DESKTOP(CARDINAL) = 0
_NET_WM_STATE(ATOM) = 
WM_HINTS(WM_HINTS):
		Client accepts input or input focus: True
		Initial state is Normal State.
		bitmap id # to use for icon: 0x1039881
		bitmap id # of mask for icon: 0x1039887
		window id # of group leader: 0x1000001
_GTK_THEME_VARIANT(UTF8_STRING) = 
XdndAware(ATOM) = BITMAP
_NET_WM_ICON(CARDINAL) = 	Icon (48 x 48):
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	

	Icon (16 x 16):
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	

	Icon (48 x 48):
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	

	Icon (48 x 48):
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	

	Icon (24 x 24):
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	

	Icon (24 x 24):
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	

	Icon (96 x 96):
	(not shown)

_GTK_APPLICATION_OBJECT_PATH(UTF8_STRING) = "/org/xfce/Thunar"
_GTK_UNIQUE_BUS_NAME(UTF8_STRING) = ":1.13"
_GTK_APPLICATION_ID(UTF8_STRING) = "org.xfce.Thunar"
_NET_WM_OPAQUE_REGION(CARDINAL) = 41, 28, 918, 7, 34, 35, 932, 520, 41, 555, 918, 7
_GTK_FRAME_EXTENTS(CARDINAL) = 34, 34, 28, 36
_MOTIF_WM_HINTS(_MOTIF_WM_HINTS) = 0x2, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0
WM_WINDOW_ROLE(STRING) = "Thunar-1756393082-1507526272"
_NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE(ATOM) = _NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE_NORMAL
_NET_WM_SYNC_REQUEST_COUNTER(CARDINAL) = 16777225, 16777226
_NET_WM_USER_TIME_WINDOW(WINDOW): window id # 0x1000008
WM_CLIENT_LEADER(WINDOW): window id # 0x1000001
_NET_WM_PID(CARDINAL) = 3375999
WM_LOCALE_NAME(STRING) = "C"
WM_CLIENT_MACHINE(STRING) = "pi4"
WM_NORMAL_HINTS(WM_SIZE_HINTS):
		program specified minimum size: 314 by 260
		program specified base size: 0 by 0
		window gravity: NorthWest
WM_PROTOCOLS(ATOM): protocols  WM_DELETE_WINDOW, WM_TAKE_FOCUS, _NET_WM_PING, _NET_WM_SYNC_REQUEST
WM_CLASS(STRING) = "Thunar", "Thunar"
WM_ICON_NAME(STRING) = "toz - Thunar"
_NET_WM_ICON_NAME(UTF8_STRING) = "toz - Thunar"
WM_NAME(STRING) = "toz - Thunar"
_NET_WM_NAME(UTF8_STRING) = "toz - Thunar"

Hmmm. This forum doesn't display the icons in the output. Scroll up through your output to see them. Also, it appears that libwnck supports 4 icon sizes (I was wrong earlier) - 12, 24, 48, 96.

advice1010 · 2025-09-04 20:06:05

@ToZ
Oh okay, when I originally tried xprop I did scroll up a bit but it was just solid black, so I figured the text at the bottom was it. I ran this again and was surprised to see that this generates terminal based images for the icons, strange that this even does this, I was expecting just a list.
I also thought it would mention icon set name like Papirus or if libwnck was used libwnck but does not.

I tried this with Geany as well because it was one of the icons that showed up blurry at 128px.
Not sure if Geany uses libwnck but I think it only showed
16,24 and 48 so it does seem to be similar with what you mentioned in past post.
In the case of Geany did not show the 96 so maybe not all of them make use of the supported 96 size of libwnck.

Thank you again

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#1 2019-12-20 16:45:35

Settings for alt-tab window cycle

#2 2019-12-20 16:59:41

Re: Settings for alt-tab window cycle

#3 2019-12-20 21:26:25

Re: Settings for alt-tab window cycle

#4 2019-12-20 23:40:58

Re: Settings for alt-tab window cycle

#5 2019-12-21 00:06:00

Re: Settings for alt-tab window cycle

#6 2019-12-21 02:04:33

Re: Settings for alt-tab window cycle

#7 2019-12-21 15:40:25

Re: Settings for alt-tab window cycle

#8 2019-12-21 15:49:24

Re: Settings for alt-tab window cycle

#9 2025-07-26 09:48:19

Re: Settings for alt-tab window cycle

#10 2025-07-26 10:41:42

Re: Settings for alt-tab window cycle

#11 2025-07-26 13:52:37

Re: Settings for alt-tab window cycle

#12 2025-08-08 14:03:46

Re: Settings for alt-tab window cycle

#13 2025-08-16 17:15:20

Re: Settings for alt-tab window cycle

#14 2025-08-16 18:25:43

Re: Settings for alt-tab window cycle

#15 2025-08-29 18:55:37

Re: Settings for alt-tab window cycle

#16 2025-08-29 19:59:56

Re: Settings for alt-tab window cycle

#17 2025-09-04 20:06:05

Re: Settings for alt-tab window cycle

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