whatisgithub

What is paperwm?

yougotwill/paperwm — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-07-18 · repo last pushed 2026-04-21

Audience · developerComplexity · 2/5MaintainedSetup · easy

In one sentence

A GNOME window manager that arranges open windows in a scrollable horizontal row instead of stacking them, so you navigate by scrolling instead of Alt-Tabbing.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((PaperWM))
    What it does
      Scrollable window row
      Auto-tiling windows
      Column grouping
    Features
      Multi-monitor workspace stack
      Keyboard and gesture control
      Customizable keybindings
    Tech stack
      GNOME Shell extension
    Audience
      Developers
      Designers
      Researchers

Code map

Detail Auto

An interactive map of this repo's files and how they connect — its source is parsed live in your browser. Click Visualize to build it.

filefunction / class

What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Organize many open windows into a scrollable horizontal strip instead of overlapping stacks.

USE CASE 2

Group related windows into a column to view them together.

USE CASE 3

Jump between recent workspaces across multiple monitors using the workspace stack preview.

USE CASE 4

Navigate windows with keyboard shortcuts or trackpad gestures instead of hunting through overlaps.

What is it built with?

GNOME ShellJavaScript

How does it compare?

yougotwill/paperwm0verflowme/alarm-clock0verflowme/seclists
Language—CSS—
Last pushed2026-04-212022-10-032020-05-03
MaintenanceMaintainedDormantDormant
Setup difficultyeasyeasyeasy
Complexity2/52/51/5
Audiencedevelopervibe coderops devops

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 30min

Installs through the official GNOME extensions store, a test VM setup is provided to try it before committing.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
Show me how to install PaperWM from the GNOME extensions store and set up basic keyboard navigation.
Prompt 2
Explain how PaperWM's automatic horizontal window tiling works compared to a normal stacking window manager.
Prompt 3
How do I group windows into columns in PaperWM, and how do I customize the keybindings?
Prompt 4
Walk me through testing PaperWM safely in the provided virtual machine setup before installing it on my main system.

Frequently asked questions

What is paperwm?

A GNOME window manager that arranges open windows in a scrollable horizontal row instead of stacking them, so you navigate by scrolling instead of Alt-Tabbing.

Is paperwm actively maintained?

Maintained — commit in last 6 months (last push 2026-04-21).

How hard is paperwm to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated easy, with roughly 30min to a first successful run.

Who is paperwm for?

Mainly developer.

Open on GitHub → Ask about another repo

This repo across BitVibe Labs

Verify against the repo before relying on details.

What are similar repos?