Alt-Tab and Focus-Follows-Mouse

 June 2nd, 2012
focus, tech
I have several terminals I leave in their own part of the screen. [1] I have focus follow the mouse [2], so to switch to one of these terminals I move the mouse. When I press alt-tab, it's never because I want to switch to or see these windows, it's because I want to bring up a hidden or partially obscured window. With focus-follows-mouse alt-tab should only affect windows that are stacked.

(Because in my case "non-overlapping windows" and "XTerms" are synonomous, I can set Compiz to do what I want by turning off alt-tab for XTerm windows. I like it a lot.)


[1] On my my desktop. On my laptop I run everything full-screen.

[2] When I move the mouse over a window and start typing, the text shows up in that window. The "focus" switches between windows based on mouse location. See

Comment via: google plus, facebook, substack

Recent posts on blogs I like:

Linkpost for September

Regular announcements: did you know you can hire me for life coaching and general consulting? You can also buy my novella Her Voice Is A Backwards Record wherever fine books are sold (except Google Books).

via Thing of Things September 8, 2025

Against the Teapot Hold in Contra Dancing

The teapot hold is the most dangerous common contra dancing figure, so I’ve been avoiding it. The teapot hold, sometimes called a "courtesy turn hold,” requires one dancer to connect with their hand behind their back. When I realized I could avoid put…

via Emma Azelborn August 25, 2025

Little Puppy

She's very little and she likes to do stuff with me. She also likes to bark around and run around and jump around. She also likes to go to places with me and that's all I have.

via Nora Wise's Blog Posts August 23, 2025

more     (via openring)