GNOME 3 generally works well for me but it has some quirks. One of those quirks is that new windows don’t actually pop up on the screen with focus as they do in Windows and OS X. When opening a new window, you get a “[Windowname] is ready” notification:
My preference is for new windows to pop in front and steal focus. I can see why that’s not the default since it might cause you to type something in another window where you weren’t expecting to. Fortunately, you can enable what GNOME calls strict window focus with a quick trip to dconf-editor.
Installing dconf-editor is easy:
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# RHEL/CentOS 7 and Fedora 21 yum -y install dconf-editor # Fedora 22 dnf -y install dconf-editor |
Open dconf-editor and navigate to org -> gnome -> desktop -> wm -> preferences.
Once you’re there, look for focus-new-windows. The default setting is smart which will keep new windows in the background and alert you via a notification. If you click on smart, a drop down will appear and you can select strict. That will enable functionality similar to OS X and Windows where new windows will pop up in the front and steal your focus.
The new setting takes effect immediately and there’s no need to logout or close and reopen windows.
UPDATE: If you’d like to avoid installing dconf-editor, use Alexander’s suggestion below and simply run:
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gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.preferences focus-new-windows 'strict' |
Nice, but I hate when windows pop up and steal my focus. What I would like is for a middle way. The notification can get lost. A better way IMO would be to pop up the window, maybe have a special shadow or glow for as long as notifications are shown but it should not grab mouse or keyboard focus until I click it.
To each his own I guess. Personally, I find it insulting to have the OS manage my focus. If I open a document, it’s because I want to open it. :)
Anyway, now that I’m done giving you my un-asked for and probably unwanted opinion, I think this might you:
1. Open the Activities overview and start typing Notifications (or just go to settings via User menu).
2. Click on Notifications to open the panel.
3. Switch Notification Popup to OFF. Alternatively, you can can set the popups to individual apps.
If you don’t want to install dconf-editor, you can also use:
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.preferences focus-new-windows ‘strict’
Ah, I forgot about that, Alexander. I’ve just updated the post! :)
Exactly what I was looking for. Thank you!
hej, I’ve been looking to solve this exact issue, but unfortunately, setting focus-new-windows to ‘strict’ doesn’t solve it for me, new windows still open behind the existing one. (so running gedit from gnome-terminal just gives me “gedit” is ready) any hints?
Confirmed, doesn’t work over here either (gnome 3.16.3 on arch linux) :/
This extension worked for me – https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/1005/focus-my-window/
Thanks ! it is so annoying to continue typing in the previous window after opening a new one :-)
It does not seem to work when the window is appearing on a secondary screen.
You rock!
Yeah, doesn’t seem to work on my system. You use Xorg or Wayland? I’m on ubuntu 17.10 Wayland.