Docs \ Modes \ Scrolling Mode

Scrolling Mode

The third mode, after niri. Each workspace is a strip of columns that scrolls sideways: two half-width columns fill the screen, and the view moves just enough to keep the focused column in sight, sliding there so you can see where you went. A new window opens as a column to the right of the focused one, so opening a window never squeezes the others.

Scrolling mode: a strip of columns

Switch to it in Options > Mode, or with gemwm msg mode scrolling.

Keys

Keys Does
Super+Left/Right, Super+wheel move between columns
Super+Up/Down move between the windows stacked in a column
Super+[ / Super+] consume or expel
Super+Ctrl+Left/Right move the focused column
Super+Ctrl+Up/Down move the window within its column
Super+R the column’s width: a third, a half, two thirds
Super+Z full width, and back

Consume or expel: a window alone in its column joins the neighbouring column as a new row; a window sharing a column leaves it for a column of its own. Columns hold rows, nothing deeper.

Layout

[layout]
mode = scrolling          # the mode GemWM starts in
gap = 8                   # pixels between columns
column-width = 0.5        # new columns' share of the screen

The strip slides as you move; see animation.