Window Management (Win / Linux)

Window management on Windows and Linux. For macOS see prod-window-management-mac; for keyboard remapping that often pairs see prod-keyboard-system-tweakers.

Windows — snap-to-zone

• ★ FancyZones — free; ships in Microsoft PowerToys; custom zones, hotkey snap, app-rules. The default Win mover in 2026.
• AquaSnap — paid + free personal; smarter snap-and-tile gestures than the built-in Aero Snap.
• DisplayFusion — paid; multi-monitor focus; window mgmt is one of many features.
• WindowGrid — free; lightweight grid placement.
• Windows Snap Layouts (Win11, built-in) — free; hover the maximize button; perfectly fine for casual users.

Windows — tiling WMs

• ★ GlazeWM — free OSS; i3-shape tiling WM for Windows; the rising default in 2024–26 if you want real tiling on Win.
• Komorebi — free OSS; the other major Win tiling WM; more configurable; pairs with whkd for hotkeys.
• PowerToys Workspaces — free; saves and restores app/window layouts; complement to FancyZones, not a tiler.
• bug.n — older AHK-based tiler; deprecated.
• Workspacer — older Win tiling WM; less active.

Linux — tiling WMs (X11)

• ★ i3 — free OSS; the canonical tiling WM; fast, simple, text config; the gateway drug to tiling.
• ★ bspwm — free OSS; binary-tree tiling; controlled via bspc commands; pairs with sxhkd for hotkeys.
• AwesomeWM — free OSS; Lua-configurable; very flexible.
• dwm — free OSS; suckless; you patch the C source to configure it.
• xmonad — free OSS; Haskell-configurable; mathematician aesthetic.
• Qtile — free OSS; Python-configurable; great if you want to script your WM in Python.

Linux — tiling WMs (Wayland)

• ★ Hyprland — free OSS; the rising 2024–26 Wayland star — animations, blur, dynamic tiling, big config language. The default for new Wayland setups.
• ★ Sway — free OSS; i3-compatible config; Wayland; the boring-good choice.
• river — free OSS; minimal Wayland tiler.
• Niri — free OSS; scrollable-tiling Wayland compositor; emerging in 2025.
• Wayfire, Hikari, Cosmic — other Wayland compositors with tiling features (Cosmic = System76's new desktop).

Linux — desktop-environment tilers

• KWin scripts (KDE) — KDE Plasma 6 has solid tiling out of the box (Polonium, Bismuth scripts).
• PaperWM (GNOME extension) — scrollable horizontal tiling on GNOME.
• Tactile (GNOME) — tile windows with hotkeys.
• gTile (GNOME) — grid-based tiling extension.
• Pop Shell (Pop!_OS) — automatic tiling layered onto GNOME.

Hotkey daemons (pair these with tilers)

• sxhkd (X11) — pair with bspwm.
• whkd (Win) — pair with Komorebi.
• GlazeWM has a built-in YAML hotkey config.
• AutoHotkey (Win) — see prod-macro-automation-consumer.
• Hyprland / Sway have built-in keybinds in the config.

Status bars / launchers that pair

• Polybar (X11), Waybar (Wayland) — status bars.
• Rofi, Wofi, dmenu — launchers; see prod-launchers.
• Eww, Ags — custom widgets / dashboards.
• dunst, mako — notification daemons.

Patterns to adopt

• Start with the DE's built-in features. Win11 Snap and KDE / GNOME tiling are pretty good now — you may not need a third-party WM.
• ★ Use the Vim-style HJKL move/resize if you want muscle-memory across i3/Sway/Hyprland/AeroSpace — this is portable.
• Workspace-per-task > big-monitor — most tiling WM users put one project per workspace.
• Save your config in dotfiles — see dotfiles.

Pick this if…

• Default Windows snap, free: FancyZones (PowerToys).
• Real tiling on Windows: GlazeWM (or Komorebi if you want more config).
• Default Linux tiling X11: i3 — still the right starting point.
• Default Linux tiling Wayland 2026: Hyprland (or Sway for stability over flash).
• GNOME without leaving the DE: PaperWM or Pop Shell.
• KDE Plasma: KWin built-in tiling + Polonium script.
• Saving / restoring window layouts on Win: PowerToys Workspaces.