🪟 Install dwm (Dynamic Window Manager)

📆 2026-04-04 11:31

This tutorial is a continuation of:

🐧 Arch Linux Installation

It assumes you already have a working Arch Linux system.

dwm is a minimal, fast, and highly customizable tiling window manager written in C. It follows the suckless philosophy: simple, clean, and efficient. This tutorial is for the official dwm installation.

A lot of people, including me, have their own builds (with patches and customizations) of dwm. If you would like to take a look at my arch/dwm/slstatus build you can see it at:

https://github.com/SavaAlexandruStefan/Reuse-An-Old-Computer-with-Arch-and-DWM.git

it also has a handy install script that makes it easier to install.

The README files should contain all the info you need. The config.def.h in dwm and slstatus also have comments to help you customize.

Let's install, for now, the official, unpatched DWM ...

More info and documention are on:

dwm official website

Requirements

Before installing dwm, make sure you have:

• A working Xorg installation
• gcc
• make
• libX11
• libXft
• libXinerama (optional, for multi-monitor)

On Arch Linux:

sudo pacman -S base-devel libx11 libxft libxinerama xorg xorg-xinit xorg-server 

Download dwm

Clone the official repository:

git clone https://git.suckless.org/dwm
cd dwm

Configuration

dwm is configured by editing the file `config.def.h`

Copy it:

cp config.def.h config.h

Edit `config.h` to customize:

• Keybindings
• Fonts
• Colors
• Layout behavior

Read the comments. It's all explained and you can easily customize dwm to your liking!

Install

sudo make install

Running dwm

Add to your ~/.xinitrc:

exec dwm

If you are starting other processes make sure they are before exec dwm:

# set wallpaper
feh --bg-scale ~/Work/dwm/wallpaper.jpg &
# start dunst notification daemon
dunst &
# start custom bash script
/home/sava/.config/scripts/music_notification.sh &
#start slstatus
slstatus &
# start dwm
exec dwm

and then start X:

startx

Default Keybindings

Mod key = Alt or Super

• Mod + Enter → terminal
• Mod + j / k → focus
• Mod + Shift + q → quit
• Mod + d → launcher (if configured)

Patching dwm

There are a lot of custom patches for dwm, make by users like you and me, that customize DWM and make it better. A full list of patches are avaiable at:

dwm patches

To apply a patch you can download it to the dwm folder and run:

patch -p1 < patch.diff

Once the patch is done, rebuild:

make clean install

Tips

• Backup your config.h
• Read the source code (it's small!)
• Use dmenu for launching apps

Troubleshooting

Just in case DWM doesn't start you should

• check ~/.xinitrc for typos
• verify Xorg works
• check logs: ~/.local/share/xorg/Xorg.0.log

Conclusion

dwm is powerful because of its simplicity. Once set up, it gives you a fast, distraction free environment.

Enjoy your minimal setup!

🪙 Donate

If this tutorial saved you time, sanity, or a mild existential crisis... consider fueling future chaos with a small donation:

☕ Buy me a Ko-Fi

🎓 Back to my tutorials

🚶 Back to my homepage