Working with Windows

An Invitation to KDE
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# Chapter 4. Working with Windows

If you have not already done so, start an application using the Application Starter, like "Find Files".

# 4.1. A window! What now?

Well, usually people work inside windows, but sometimes you may want to manipulate windows. Here's a quick overview of some of the most common window-related functions:

Move a window

  Drag the window's titlebar, or hold the Alt key down and drag anywhere in the window.

Resize a window:

  Drag the window's border, or hold the Alt key down and drag with the right mouse button anywhere in the window.

Maximize a window

  Click the maximize button in the titlebar (the square, next to the X) to make the window fill the screen, or if the window is already maximized, to shrink it back to it's original size. Clicking with the middle maximizes the window vertically: the right, horizontally.

Iconify a window

  Click the iconify button in the titlebar (next to Maximize) to hide the window. Get it back by clicking on the window's icon in the taskbar.

Switch between windows

  Aside from the usual mouse click to switch to another window, you can use Alt-Tab to switch windows. See below for more techniques.

## 4.1.1. Titlebar buttons

KDE windows have some pretty standard buttons on their titlebars which give you fast access to some common operations. The default button layout looks like this:

On the left side:

- a menu button. This usually shows a mini icon for the application. Click on it to get a window operations menu. Shortcut: Alt-F3 opens the window menu.

- a sticky button, with a picture of a tack. What the heck is this? Stay tuned!

On the right side:

- an iconify button.

- a maximize button.

- a close button. This closes the window. Shortcut: Alt-F4.

## 4.1.2. Switching between windows

Now that we know how to deal with windows we encourage you to open some other windows with the panel since we will now discuss how to switch between different windows. Since this is such a common activity, KDE offers several ways to do it; pick your favorite!

Many window systems require you to click the mouse in another window to begin using it. This is KDE's default behavior, termed "ClickToFocus" focus policy. But you can also configure your desktop in a way that moving the mouse pointer onto a window will activate it. This is called "FocusFollowMouse". If you select this policy using the KDE Control Center, the window under the mouse pointer is always the active one. It doesn't necessarily come to the front automatically, but you can still click onto the titlebar or the border of a window or -- a KDE special -- you can use the Alt key and click the middle mouse button anywhere on the window to raise it.

Here are some other methods to switch windows:

- Pick a window from the window list menu. To open the menu, click the middle mouse button on an empty area of the desktop, or click the icon with several windows on the panel.

- Hold down the Alt key and press Tab to cycle through the windows.

- Use the taskbar (see below).

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