This article needs to be updated. (May 2026) |
KWin is a Wayland compositor and an X window manager.[2][3] It is released as a part of KDE Plasma, for which it is the default window manager. KWin can also be used on its own or with other desktop environments.
| KWin | |
|---|---|
 KWin 5.24 with Cover Switch effect | |
| Developers | KDE (Martin Grässlin, et al.) |
| Stable release | |
| Written in | C++ (Qt) |
| Operating system | Linux, BSD, other Unix-like |
| Type | |
| License | GNU General Public License |
| Website | invent |
| Repository | |
KWin can be configured by scripting using QML or QtScript, both of which are based on ECMAScript.[4]
History
edit| Name | Version | Details |
|---|---|---|
| KWM | 1.0 | |
| KWin | 2.0 | Extended support for themes and window effects. |
| 3.0 | Improved support for the extended ICCCM standards from freedesktop.org. | |
| 4.0 | Compositing support and Compiz-like effects.[citation needed] | |
| 4.4 (02/2010) | Maximizing and tiling by snapping to the screen-edges, grouping and tabbing.[5] | |
| 4.5 | Tiling.[6] (removed in version 4.10) | |
| 4.9 | Incompatible API change.[7] | |
| 4.11 | Last release based on KDE Platform 4, added experimental Wayland support.[8] | |
| 5.0 | First release based on KDE Frameworks 5 and Qt 5.[9] | |
| 5.12 | Released February 2018, KWin/X11 got feature frozen, meaning no new X11 specific features will be added. Martin Flöser stated that new features are easy and straight forward with the Wayland back-end, but require considerably more development to add the same feature to the X11 back-end.[10] |
Look and feel
editThere are many window decorations for KWin, including the current default Breeze (shown below), the previous default Oxygen, Microsoft Windows-like Redmond, and Keramik.
Compositing
editCurrently available compositing backends include OpenGL 1.2, OpenGL 2.0, OpenGL 3.1[11] and OpenGL ES 2.0.[12]
Included effects
edit
As of KDE 4.3, the following effects are built-in:
Accessibility
edit| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Invert | Inverts the color of the desktop and windows |
| Looking glass | A screen magnifier that looks like a fish eye lens |
| Magnifier | Magnify the section of the screen that is near the mouse cursor |
| Sharpen | Makes the entire desktop look sharper |
| Snap Helper | Helps locate the centre of the screen when moving a window |
| Track mouse | Display a mouse cursor locating effect when activated |
| Zoom | Magnify the entire desktop |
Appearance
edit| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Explosion | Make windows explode when they are closed |
| Fade | Make windows smoothly fade in and out when they are shown or hidden |
| Fade Desktop | Fade between virtual desktops when switching between them |
| Fall apart | Close windows fall into pieces |
| Highlight Windows | Highlight the appropriate window when hovering over taskbar entries |
| Login | Smoothly fade to the desktop when logging in |
| Logout | Desaturate the desktop when displaying the logout dialog |
| Magic Lamp | Simulate a magic lamp when minimizing windows |
| Minimize animation | Animate the minimizing of windows |
| Mouse mark | Allows you to draw lines over your desktop |
| Scale In | Animate the appearance of windows |
| Sheet | Make modal dialogues smoothly fly in and out when shown or hidden |
| Slide | Slide windows across the screen when switching virtual desktops |
| Sliding popups | Sliding animation for Plasma Popups |
| Taskbar Thumbnails | Display window thumbnails when hovering over taskbar entries |
| Thumbnail aside | Display window thumbnails on the edge of the screen |
| Translucency | Make windows translucent under different conditions |
| Wobbly windows | Deform windows while they are moving |
Candy
edit| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Snow | Simulate snow falling on the desktop |
Focus
edit| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Dialog parent | Darkens the parent windows of the currently active dialogue |
| Dim Inactive | Darken inactive windows |
| Dim screen for administrator mode | Darkens the entire screen when requesting root privileges |
| Slide Back | Slide back windows losing focus |
Tools
edit| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Show FPS | Show kwins performance in the corner of the screen |
| Show Paint | Highlight areas of the desktop that have been recently updated |
Window management
edit| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Box switch | Removed in latest versions, no longer available. |
| Cover switch | Removed in latest versions, no longer available. |
| Desktop grid | Zoom out so all desktops are displayed side-by-side in a grid |
| Flip switch | Removed in latest versions, no longer available. |
| Present windows | Zoom out until open windows can be displayed side by side |
| Resize Window | Effect to outline geometry while resizing a window |
See also
edit
- Comparison of X window managers
- Compiz
- Mutter (software)
- Desktop Window Manager (Microsoft Windows)
- Quartz Compositor (macOS)
References
edit- ↑ "Tagging 6.4.3". July 15, 2025. Retrieved July 18, 2025.
- ↑ "KDE Plasma 5.5 Release". KDE. December 8, 2015.
- ↑ "KWin/Wayland - KDE Community Wiki". community.kde.org. Retrieved July 18, 2025.
- ↑ "KWin scripting tutorial". Retrieved July 18, 2025.
- ↑ "KDE SC 4.4.0 Caikaku Release Announcement". February 9, 2010. Retrieved June 13, 2010.
- ↑ "KDE Software Compilation 4.5 Beta2 Release Announcement". June 9, 2010. Retrieved June 13, 2010.
- ↑ "Scripting Update Notes". March 6, 2012. Retrieved June 19, 2013.
- ↑ "Plasma Workspaces 4.11 Continues to Refine User Experience". August 14, 2013. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
- ↑ "New Plasma brings a cleaner interface on top of a new graphics stack". July 15, 2014. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
- ↑ "KWin/X11 is feature frozen". January 16, 2018.
- ↑ Martin Gräßlin (June 18, 2013). "What we did in KWin 4.11". Retrieved July 18, 2025.
- ↑ Martin Gräßlin (February 18, 2011). "KWin Embraces New Platforms with OpenGL ES 2.0 Support". KDE. KDE.NEWS. Retrieved July 18, 2025.