FAQ

Setup and configuration

How can I change keyboard layout?

You can use Sway Input Configurator (sway-input-config) to set various input related parameters, including keyboard layouts, variants, etc. This tool is included since Ubuntu Sway Remix 22.10.

Alternative way https://github.com/Ubuntu-Sway/Ubuntu-Sway-Remix/wiki/Configuration#change-keyboard-layout

How can I move the waybar from top to bottom?

Change the waybar position by creating or updating your ~/.config/waybar/config.jsonc:

{
    "include": [
        "/etc/xdg/xdg-ubuntusway/waybar/config.jsonc"
    ],
    "position": "bottom"
}

How can I disable the help onscreen menu permanently?

rm $HOME/.config/nwg-wrapper/help.sh

How can I view Sway's startup log (23.04 or newer)?

journalctl /usr/bin/sway

Screen is corrupted after return from sleep or hibernate mode

Try to add WLR_DRM_NO_MODIFIERS=1 in /etc/profile.d/sway.sh

I get weird screen distortions (with an intel iGPU)

Try to disable Panel Self Refresh (PSR), a power saving feature used by Intel iGPUs. A temporary solution is to disable this feature using the kernel parameter i915.enable_psr=0.

How to disable automatic screen lock?

Click on the "eye" button on the Waybar panel

How to adjust idle time?

Edit /etc/sway/variables, go to the "Idle configuration" and edit "*_timeout" to your liking (values in seconds)

After starting USR in Virtual Machine I get a login prompt. What is default login/password?

For running USR in VM you need to enable 3D hardware acceleration. See. After this, USR should boot into Sway desktop.

How can I delete the clipboard history?

Middle click on the icon on waybar

How can I purge the clipboard history on logout?

add a definition ~/.config/sway/definitions.d/cliphist.conf:

set $purge_cliphist_logout true

How can I disable the window auto-tiling?

add this to .config/sway/variables.d/autostart.conf:

set $autotiling ""

Note: on Ubuntu Sway 22.04 and 22.10 comment the following line in /etc/sway/config.d/99-autostart-applications.conf

'[ -x "$(command -v autotiling)" ] && autotiling -w 1 3 5 7 9'

How can I disable the clipboard history?

add this to .config/sway/variables.d/autostart.conf:

set $cliphist_watch ""
set $cliphist_store ""

Note: on Ubuntu Sway 22.04 and 22.10 comment the following lines in `/etc/sway/config.d/99-autostart-applications.conf'

'[ -x "$(command -v wl-paste)" ] && [ -x "$(command -v cliphist)" ] && wl-paste --watch cliphist store'
'[ -x "$(command -v wl-paste)" ] && [ -x "$(command -v cliphist)" ] && wl-paste --watch pkill -RTMIN+9 waybar'

Customizing

How can I customize sway without losing my customizations after an upgrade?

You can add variable overrides in ~/.config/sway/variables.d/ and add more sway configuration inside ~/.config/sway/config.d/. please refer to the sway wiki for lots of ideas and hints. Make sure the files in either location end in .conf for them to be loaded.

How can I customize waybar without losing my customization after an upgrade (22.04 - 23.04 only)?

Copy over and edit the customization template, it will get picked up automatically:

cp ~/.config/waybar/config.jsonc.example ~/.config/waybar/config.jsonc

How can I set a fixed geo location for the night-light feature?

Update the waybar module by creating or editing your ~/.config/waybar/config.jsonc with appropriate values for latitude and longitude:

{
    "include": [
        "/etc/xdg/xdg-ubuntusway/waybar/config.jsonc"
    ],
    "custom/sunset": {
        "interval": "once",
        "tooltip": false,
        "return-type": "json",
        "format": "{icon}",
        "format-icons": {
            "on": "",
            "off": ""
        },
        "exec": "latitude=50.1 longitude=8.7 /usr/share/sway/scripts/sunset.sh",
        "on-click": "/usr/share/sway/scripts/sunset.sh toggle; pkill -RTMIN+6 waybar",
        "exec-if": "/usr/share/sway/scripts/sunset.sh check",
        "signal": 6
    },
}

How to restart Waybar on Ubuntu Sway Remix 23.10 or newer?

Since Ubuntu Sway Remix 23.10 Waybar starts using systemd (as a user service). To restart Waybar after changing configuration, use the following command:

systemctl --user restart waybar

How can I change background image?

Use Azote application

How can I change GTK and Qt themes?

Use nwg-look for GTK themes, cursors and icons settings, and Kvantum manager to changing Qt theme