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xdotool how to select desktop send F5 and return?

Desktop icons on left screen go down into black holewindow manager independent window resizingHow to modify xdotool output to export them as variables?How to make xdotool type Unicode charactersxdotool - how do I select text using shift+Home or shift+End?xdotool script to perform mouse moves and clicks17.10 workspaces, xdotool, and wmctrlxdotool: what are “class” and “classname” for a window?What are the differences between `key` and `type` commands of xdotool?How to make xdotool auto-click repeatedly?

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margin-bottom:0;

3

It sounds simple; xdotool selects desktop, simulates F5 key press and returns focus to calling window / program.

After googling though it doesn't sound simple anymore.

I need to do this from bash / gnome-shell.

Any ideas?

---

This project is related to this Q&A where the icons drop off the left screen into a black whole because of different sized monitors:

• Desktop icons just dropped down left screen into never-never land

Thanks to Podesta's help I created this code:

TestIcons () # TestIcons

This is what the screen looks like:

command-line bash gnome-shell window-manager xdotool

share|improve this question

edited May 31 at 1:04

WinEunuuchs2Unix

asked May 30 at 2:56

WinEunuuchs2UnixWinEunuuchs2Unix

59.4k1818 gold badges119119 silver badges233233 bronze badges

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  What do you mean by selects deskstop?
  
  – Podesta
  May 30 at 7:19
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @Podesta Moves focus to desktop. Something like moving cursor outside of current window and left clicking.
  
  – WinEunuuchs2Unix
  May 30 at 10:32
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Something like minimizing all windows would do the trick? I played a bit with xdotool and it seems fairly straight forward. I'll try to post something. Is there anything in particular that you were or imagined you would have issues with?
  
  – Podesta
  May 30 at 10:40
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @Podesta For years I've never used Show desktop because on restoring Conky doesn't reappear. However that is more a conky problem I should be solving and unrelated to this project.
  
  – WinEunuuchs2Unix
  May 30 at 10:42
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  If you only have one window open, then something like windowminimize should still do the trick without the show desktop shortcut. Otherwise you could also make it a loop to minimize everything.
  
  – Podesta
  May 30 at 10:48
  
  

  
  
  
  

 | 
show 4 more comments

3

It sounds simple; xdotool selects desktop, simulates F5 key press and returns focus to calling window / program.

After googling though it doesn't sound simple anymore.

I need to do this from bash / gnome-shell.

Any ideas?

---

This project is related to this Q&A where the icons drop off the left screen into a black whole because of different sized monitors:

• Desktop icons just dropped down left screen into never-never land

Thanks to Podesta's help I created this code:

TestIcons () # TestIcons

This is what the screen looks like:

command-line bash gnome-shell window-manager xdotool

share|improve this question

edited May 31 at 1:04

WinEunuuchs2Unix

asked May 30 at 2:56

WinEunuuchs2UnixWinEunuuchs2Unix

59.4k1818 gold badges119119 silver badges233233 bronze badges

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  What do you mean by selects deskstop?
  
  – Podesta
  May 30 at 7:19
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @Podesta Moves focus to desktop. Something like moving cursor outside of current window and left clicking.
  
  – WinEunuuchs2Unix
  May 30 at 10:32
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Something like minimizing all windows would do the trick? I played a bit with xdotool and it seems fairly straight forward. I'll try to post something. Is there anything in particular that you were or imagined you would have issues with?
  
  – Podesta
  May 30 at 10:40
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @Podesta For years I've never used Show desktop because on restoring Conky doesn't reappear. However that is more a conky problem I should be solving and unrelated to this project.
  
  – WinEunuuchs2Unix
  May 30 at 10:42
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  If you only have one window open, then something like windowminimize should still do the trick without the show desktop shortcut. Otherwise you could also make it a loop to minimize everything.
  
  – Podesta
  May 30 at 10:48
  
  

  
  
  
  

 | 
show 4 more comments

It sounds simple; xdotool selects desktop, simulates F5 key press and returns focus to calling window / program.

After googling though it doesn't sound simple anymore.

I need to do this from bash / gnome-shell.

Any ideas?

---

This project is related to this Q&A where the icons drop off the left screen into a black whole because of different sized monitors:

• Desktop icons just dropped down left screen into never-never land

Thanks to Podesta's help I created this code:

TestIcons () # TestIcons

This is what the screen looks like:

command-line bash gnome-shell window-manager xdotool

share|improve this question

edited May 31 at 1:04

WinEunuuchs2Unix

asked May 30 at 2:56

WinEunuuchs2UnixWinEunuuchs2Unix

59.4k1818 gold badges119119 silver badges233233 bronze badges

TestIcons () # TestIcons

share|improve this question

edited May 31 at 1:04

WinEunuuchs2Unix

asked May 30 at 2:56

WinEunuuchs2UnixWinEunuuchs2Unix

59.4k1818 gold badges119119 silver badges233233 bronze badges

share|improve this question

edited May 31 at 1:04

WinEunuuchs2Unix

asked May 30 at 2:56

WinEunuuchs2UnixWinEunuuchs2Unix

59.4k1818 gold badges119119 silver badges233233 bronze badges

asked May 30 at 2:56

WinEunuuchs2UnixWinEunuuchs2Unix

59.4k1818 gold badges119119 silver badges233233 bronze badges

asked May 30 at 2:56

WinEunuuchs2UnixWinEunuuchs2Unix

59.4k1818 gold badges119119 silver badges233233 bronze badges

1 Answer
1

active

oldest

votes

4

Script below work of @WinEunuuchs2Unix and is the final solution. My original answer is at the end.

#!/bin/bash

TestIcons () 
TestIcons

---

A few other xdotools commands that can be useful in similar situation:

If your window manager has a show desktop command, it can be useful to minimize, and bring back all windows. Usually it is set to ctrl+alt+d:

xdotool key ctrl+alt+d

If you want to save the currently active window, to later bring it back, you can use:

myWindow="$(xdotool getactivewindow)"

Ti minimize a window you can use. Adding it to a loop allows you to minimize all windows, as an alternative to the show dekstop.

xdotool windowminimize $(xdotool getactivewindow)

To bring the active window you saved back to the focus:

xdotool windowactivate "$myWindow"

To close the active window use:

xdotool getactivewindow windowkill

And most important, all those commands that you can use with active window, you can actually search and apply to specific cases. For example, searching for this specific window, based on the title.

xdotool search --desktop 0 --name "command line - xdotool" windowactivate

There are many different ways of searching for windows, based on the title, the class, if they are visible, etc. It can also manipulate both windows positions and the mouse. The manpage for xdotol is very comprehensive. Combining them with a bash script would give plenty of freedom to achieve most things.

share|improve this answer

edited Jun 1 at 1:36

answered May 30 at 12:13

PodestaPodesta

75522 silver badges1111 bronze badges

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  I'll try it after work. Thanks
  
  – WinEunuuchs2Unix
  May 30 at 12:17
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Don't worry. I'm not sure if it actually does what you want. I think part of it is that I don't use icons on the desktop, so I'm a bit lost. Posted it just to have something more concrete to discuss and iterate on.
  
  – Podesta
  May 30 at 12:19
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Seems to be a glitch in my system when trying to restore windows. I received an "CRTC" error the first time and nothing restored. Second time no error but still nothing restored. I found a better solution wmctrl -k on show desktop and wmctrl -k off restore windows (hide desktop?). If you would like to add that to your answer I'll gladly accept it for all your help. Later I'll change my question to show the final solution with .gif animation. Hopefully tonight :)
  
  – WinEunuuchs2Unix
  May 30 at 23:16
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  2
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  I've updated the question with the .gif. It's actually hard to record screen when windows are minimized by show desktop command.
  
  – WinEunuuchs2Unix
  May 31 at 1:05
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  I still want to accept your answer but you need to copy and paste my solution into it first.
  
  – WinEunuuchs2Unix
  Jun 1 at 1:04
  

  
  
  
  

 | 
show 7 more comments

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4

Script below work of @WinEunuuchs2Unix and is the final solution. My original answer is at the end.

#!/bin/bash

TestIcons () 
TestIcons

---

A few other xdotools commands that can be useful in similar situation:

If your window manager has a show desktop command, it can be useful to minimize, and bring back all windows. Usually it is set to ctrl+alt+d:

xdotool key ctrl+alt+d

If you want to save the currently active window, to later bring it back, you can use:

myWindow="$(xdotool getactivewindow)"

Ti minimize a window you can use. Adding it to a loop allows you to minimize all windows, as an alternative to the show dekstop.

xdotool windowminimize $(xdotool getactivewindow)

To bring the active window you saved back to the focus:

xdotool windowactivate "$myWindow"

To close the active window use:

xdotool getactivewindow windowkill

And most important, all those commands that you can use with active window, you can actually search and apply to specific cases. For example, searching for this specific window, based on the title.

xdotool search --desktop 0 --name "command line - xdotool" windowactivate

There are many different ways of searching for windows, based on the title, the class, if they are visible, etc. It can also manipulate both windows positions and the mouse. The manpage for xdotol is very comprehensive. Combining them with a bash script would give plenty of freedom to achieve most things.

share|improve this answer

edited Jun 1 at 1:36

answered May 30 at 12:13

PodestaPodesta

75522 silver badges1111 bronze badges

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  I'll try it after work. Thanks
  
  – WinEunuuchs2Unix
  May 30 at 12:17
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Don't worry. I'm not sure if it actually does what you want. I think part of it is that I don't use icons on the desktop, so I'm a bit lost. Posted it just to have something more concrete to discuss and iterate on.
  
  – Podesta
  May 30 at 12:19
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Seems to be a glitch in my system when trying to restore windows. I received an "CRTC" error the first time and nothing restored. Second time no error but still nothing restored. I found a better solution wmctrl -k on show desktop and wmctrl -k off restore windows (hide desktop?). If you would like to add that to your answer I'll gladly accept it for all your help. Later I'll change my question to show the final solution with .gif animation. Hopefully tonight :)
  
  – WinEunuuchs2Unix
  May 30 at 23:16
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  2
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  I've updated the question with the .gif. It's actually hard to record screen when windows are minimized by show desktop command.
  
  – WinEunuuchs2Unix
  May 31 at 1:05
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  I still want to accept your answer but you need to copy and paste my solution into it first.
  
  – WinEunuuchs2Unix
  Jun 1 at 1:04
  

  
  
  
  

 | 
show 7 more comments

4

Script below work of @WinEunuuchs2Unix and is the final solution. My original answer is at the end.

#!/bin/bash

TestIcons () 
TestIcons

---

A few other xdotools commands that can be useful in similar situation:

If your window manager has a show desktop command, it can be useful to minimize, and bring back all windows. Usually it is set to ctrl+alt+d:

xdotool key ctrl+alt+d

If you want to save the currently active window, to later bring it back, you can use:

myWindow="$(xdotool getactivewindow)"

Ti minimize a window you can use. Adding it to a loop allows you to minimize all windows, as an alternative to the show dekstop.

xdotool windowminimize $(xdotool getactivewindow)

To bring the active window you saved back to the focus:

xdotool windowactivate "$myWindow"

To close the active window use:

xdotool getactivewindow windowkill

And most important, all those commands that you can use with active window, you can actually search and apply to specific cases. For example, searching for this specific window, based on the title.

xdotool search --desktop 0 --name "command line - xdotool" windowactivate

There are many different ways of searching for windows, based on the title, the class, if they are visible, etc. It can also manipulate both windows positions and the mouse. The manpage for xdotol is very comprehensive. Combining them with a bash script would give plenty of freedom to achieve most things.

share|improve this answer

edited Jun 1 at 1:36

answered May 30 at 12:13

PodestaPodesta

75522 silver badges1111 bronze badges

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  I'll try it after work. Thanks
  
  – WinEunuuchs2Unix
  May 30 at 12:17
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Don't worry. I'm not sure if it actually does what you want. I think part of it is that I don't use icons on the desktop, so I'm a bit lost. Posted it just to have something more concrete to discuss and iterate on.
  
  – Podesta
  May 30 at 12:19
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Seems to be a glitch in my system when trying to restore windows. I received an "CRTC" error the first time and nothing restored. Second time no error but still nothing restored. I found a better solution wmctrl -k on show desktop and wmctrl -k off restore windows (hide desktop?). If you would like to add that to your answer I'll gladly accept it for all your help. Later I'll change my question to show the final solution with .gif animation. Hopefully tonight :)
  
  – WinEunuuchs2Unix
  May 30 at 23:16
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  2
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  I've updated the question with the .gif. It's actually hard to record screen when windows are minimized by show desktop command.
  
  – WinEunuuchs2Unix
  May 31 at 1:05
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  I still want to accept your answer but you need to copy and paste my solution into it first.
  
  – WinEunuuchs2Unix
  Jun 1 at 1:04
  

  
  
  
  

 | 
show 7 more comments

Script below work of @WinEunuuchs2Unix and is the final solution. My original answer is at the end.

#!/bin/bash

TestIcons () 
TestIcons

---

A few other xdotools commands that can be useful in similar situation:

If your window manager has a show desktop command, it can be useful to minimize, and bring back all windows. Usually it is set to ctrl+alt+d:

xdotool key ctrl+alt+d

If you want to save the currently active window, to later bring it back, you can use:

myWindow="$(xdotool getactivewindow)"

Ti minimize a window you can use. Adding it to a loop allows you to minimize all windows, as an alternative to the show dekstop.

xdotool windowminimize $(xdotool getactivewindow)

To bring the active window you saved back to the focus:

xdotool windowactivate "$myWindow"

To close the active window use:

xdotool getactivewindow windowkill

And most important, all those commands that you can use with active window, you can actually search and apply to specific cases. For example, searching for this specific window, based on the title.

xdotool search --desktop 0 --name "command line - xdotool" windowactivate

There are many different ways of searching for windows, based on the title, the class, if they are visible, etc. It can also manipulate both windows positions and the mouse. The manpage for xdotol is very comprehensive. Combining them with a bash script would give plenty of freedom to achieve most things.

share|improve this answer

edited Jun 1 at 1:36

answered May 30 at 12:13

PodestaPodesta

75522 silver badges1111 bronze badges

#!/bin/bash

TestIcons () 
TestIcons

xdotool key ctrl+alt+d

myWindow="$(xdotool getactivewindow)"

xdotool windowminimize $(xdotool getactivewindow)

xdotool windowactivate "$myWindow"

xdotool getactivewindow windowkill

xdotool search --desktop 0 --name "command line - xdotool" windowactivate

share|improve this answer

edited Jun 1 at 1:36

answered May 30 at 12:13

PodestaPodesta

75522 silver badges1111 bronze badges

answered May 30 at 12:13

PodestaPodesta

75522 silver badges1111 bronze badges

answered May 30 at 12:13

PodestaPodesta

75522 silver badges1111 bronze badges