How To Snap Windows in All Corners with GNOME Shell in Ubuntu 18.04

In this guide, we will walk you through the process of snapping windows in all corners using the GNOME Shell in Ubuntu 18.04. This feature can be incredibly useful for multitasking and organizing your workspace.

Introduction to GNOME Shell

GNOME Shell is the default interface in GNOME 3, and it’s a significant part of Ubuntu 18.04. It includes various features like window management, application launching, and system settings. One of the handy features it offers is the ability to snap windows to different corners of the screen.

Installing Required Packages

Before we begin, we need to ensure that the necessary packages are installed. We will need the gnome-shell-extensions and chrome-gnome-shell packages. Open a terminal window and execute the following command:

sudo apt install gnome-shell-extensions chrome-gnome-shell

In this command, sudo gives you superuser privileges, apt is the package handling utility in Ubuntu, and install is the command to download and install a package.

Installing the “Put Windows” GNOME Extension

Next, we need to install the “Put Windows” GNOME extension. This extension allows us to snap windows to any corner of the screen.

1. Open your web browser and navigate to the GNOME Extensions website.
2. In the search bar, type “Put Windows” and press Enter.
3. Click on the “Put Windows” extension from the search results.
4. On the extension page, turn on the switch on the right side to install the extension.

If you are prompted to install the “GNOME Shell integration” extension from the Chrome Web Store, go ahead and install it. This extension allows your web browser to manage and control GNOME extensions.

Configuring the “Put Windows” Extension

After installing the “Put Windows” extension, we need to configure it to set our preferred keyboard shortcuts.

1. Click on the installed “Put Windows” extension in your browser’s extension list.
2. Click on the screwdriver and wrench icon to open the extension’s settings.
3. In the settings, you can set your preferred keyboard shortcuts for window snapping. For example, you can use Super + Keypad 7 to snap a window to the top-left corner.

The Super key is usually the key with the Windows logo on it. Keypad 7 refers to the number 7 key on your keyboard’s numeric keypad.

If your keyboard does not have a numeric keypad, you can use alternative shortcuts. For example, you can set Super + Q to snap a window to the upper-left corner.

Conclusion

With the “Put Windows” GNOME extension, you can easily snap windows to any corner of your screen in Ubuntu 18.04. This feature can greatly enhance your productivity by allowing you to organize your workspace more effectively.

Remember, the “Put Windows” extension offers more than just corner snapping. It provides a variety of window snapping positions that you can customize to your liking.

For more advanced tiling behavior, you might want to explore other GNOME extensions like “ShellTile”. Like “Put Windows”, “ShellTile” can be installed from the GNOME Extensions website.

We hope this guide has been helpful in showing you how to snap windows in all corners with GNOME Shell in Ubuntu 18.04. Happy multitasking!