Wrong Window Moved When Dragging with Mouse

Oct 13, 2025 by wbrum.org 73 views

Wrong Window Moved When Dragging with Mouse

Welcome

We appreciate you taking the time to report this issue. This article will guide you through the steps to reproduce the problem and provide a detailed description of the issue.

Current Behavior

When starting the drag of any window with the mouse, there's a chance that a different window will get its position erroneously changed. Sometimes, the window goes back to its original position after dragging is finished. This is not a visual bug, the position does actually change. This only seems to affect a single window, regardless of whether it's tiled or floating; if that window is closed, the bug seems to stop occurring until new windows are open. If the dragged window is the one affected by the bug, it jerks for a frame when dragging begins. This occurs regardless of whether the window is dragged by the title bar or by holding floating_modifier. If the window is on a different monitor, it changes the workspace it's on without changing its position. This bug does not seem to occur when the window is hidden on a different workspace, so a workaround is to create a sacrificial window and move it to an unused workspace.

Expected Behavior

This does not occur.

Reproduction Instructions

To reproduce this issue, follow these steps:

Create some windows.
Rapidly drag them until one starts to glitch out.

i3 version

Binary i3 version:  4.24  2009 Michael Stapelberg and contributors
Running i3 version: 4.24 (pid 923)
Loaded i3 config:
  /home/x10a94/.config/i3/config (main) (last modified: Mon 10 Mar 2025 02:25:27 AM MSK, 979 seconds ago)

The i3 binary you just called: /usr/bin/i3
The i3 binary you are running: i3

Config file

# This file has been auto-generated by i3-config-wizard(1).
# It will not be overwritten, so edit it as you like.
#
# Should you change your keyboard layout some time, delete
# this file and re-run i3-config-wizard(1).
#

# i3 config file (v4)
#
# Please see http://i3wm.org/docs/userguide.html for a complete reference!

set $mod Mod4

exec /home/x10a94/startup.sh


# Font for window titles. Will also be used by the bar unless a different font
# is used in the bar {} block below.
font xft:Roboto Mono 8

# This font is widely installed, provides lots of unicode glyphs, right-to-left
# text rendering and scalability on retina/hidpi displays (thanks to pango).
#font pango:DejaVu Sans Mono 8

# Before i3 v4.8, we used to recommend this one as the default:
# font -misc-fixed-medium-r-normal--13-120-75-75-C-70-iso10646-1
# The font above is very space-efficient, that is, it looks good, sharp and
# clear in small sizes. However, its unicode glyph coverage is limited, the old
# X core fonts rendering does not support right-to-left and this being a bitmap
# font, it doesn’t scale on retina/hidpi displays.

# Use Mouse+$mod to drag floating windows to their wanted position
floating_modifier $mod

# floating_minimum_size 480 x 320

bindsym XF86AudioRaiseVolume exec pamixer -i 5
bindsym XF86AudioLowerVolume exec pamixer -d 5
bindsym $mod+XF86AudioRaiseVolume exec pamixer -i 5
bindsym $mod+XF86AudioLowerVolume exec pamixer -d 5

bindsym Alt_L+button1 exec xdotool click --repeat 100 --delay 100 1

exec --no-startup-id ~/startup.sh
# start a terminal
bindsym $mod+Return exec urxvt

# kill focused window
bindsym $mod+Shift+q kill

# start dmenu (a program launcher)
bindsym $mod+d exec rofi -show run -font "Roboto Mono 8"
bindsym $mod+Shift+d exec rofi -show window -font "Roboto Mono 8"

# There also is the (new) i3-dmenu-desktop which only displays applications
# shipping a .desktop file. It is a wrapper around dmenu, so you need that
# installed.
# bindsym $mod+d exec --no-startup-id i3-dmenu-desktop

# change focus
bindsym $mod+j focus left
bindsym $mod+k focus down
bindsym $mod+l focus up
bindsym $mod+semicolon focus right

# alternatively, you can use the cursor keys:
bindsym $mod+Left focus left
bindsym $mod+Down focus down
bindsym $mod+Up focus up
bindsym $mod+Right focus right

# move focused window
bindsym $mod+Shift+j move left
bindsym $mod+Shift+k move down
bindsym $mod+Shift+l move up
bindsym $mod+Shift+semicolon move right

# alternatively, you can use the cursor keys:
bindsym $mod+Shift+Left move left
bindsym $mod+Shift+Down move down
bindsym $mod+Shift+Up move up
bindsym $mod+Shift+Right move right

# split in horizontal orientation
bindsym $mod+h split h

# split in vertical orientation
bindsym $mod+v split v

# enter fullscreen mode for the focused container
bindsym $mod+f fullscreen toggle

# change container layout (stacked, tabbed, toggle split)
bindsym $mod+s layout stacking
bindsym $mod+w layout tabbed
bindsym $mod+e layout toggle split

# toggle tiling / floating
bindsym $mod+Shift+space floating toggle

# change focus between tiling / floating windows
bindsym $mod+space focus mode_toggle

# focus the parent container
bindsym $mod+a focus parent

# focus the child container
#bindsym $mod+d focus child

# switch to workspace
bindsym $mod+1 workspace 1
bindsym $mod+2 workspace 2
bindsym $mod+3 workspace 3
bindsym $mod+4 workspace 4
bindsym $mod+5 workspace 5
bindsym $mod+6 workspace 6
bindsym $mod+7 workspace 7
bindsym $mod+8 workspace 8
bindsym $mod+9 workspace 9
bindsym $mod+0 workspace 10
bindsym $mod+Tab workspace next

bindsym $mod+Ctrl+1 workspace 11
bindsym $mod+Ctrl+2 workspace 12
bindsym $mod+Ctrl+3 workspace 13
bindsym $mod+Ctrl+4 workspace 14
bindsym $mod+Ctrl+5 workspace 15
bindsym $mod+Ctrl+6 workspace 16
bindsym $mod+Ctrl+7 workspace 17
bindsym $mod+Ctrl+8 workspace 18
bindsym $mod+Ctrl+9 workspace 19
bindsym $mod+Ctrl+0 workspace 20

# move focused container to workspace
bindsym $mod+Shift+1 move container to workspace 1
bindsym $mod+Shift+2 move container to workspace 2
bindsym $mod+Shift+3 move container to workspace 3
bindsym $mod+Shift+4 move container to workspace 4
bindsym $mod+Shift+5 move container to workspace 5
bindsym $mod+Shift+6 move container to workspace 6
bindsym $mod+Shift+7 move container to workspace 7
bindsym $mod+Shift+8 move container to workspace 8
bindsym $mod+Shift+9 move container to workspace 9
bindsym $mod+Shift+0 move container to workspace 10
bindsym $mod+Shift+Tab move container to workspace next

bindsym $mod+Ctrl+Shift+1 move container to workspace 11
bindsym $mod+Ctrl+Shift+2 move container to workspace 12
bindsym $mod+Ctrl+Shift+3 move container to workspace 13
bindsym $mod+Ctrl+Shift+4 move container to workspace 14
bindsym $mod+Ctrl+Shift+5 move container to workspace 15
bindsym $mod+Ctrl+Shift+6 move container to workspace 16
bindsym $mod+Ctrl+Shift+7 move container to workspace 17
bindsym $mod+Ctrl+Shift+8 move container to workspace 18
bindsym $mod+Ctrl+Shift+9 move container to workspace 19
bindsym $mod+Ctrl+Shift+0 move container to workspace 20

# reload the configuration file
bindsym $mod+Shift+c reload
# restart i3 inplace (preserves your layout/session, can be used to upgrade i3)
bindsym $mod+Shift+r restart
# exit i3 (logs you out of your X session)
bindsym $mod+Shift+e exec "i3-nagbar -t warning -m 'You pressed the exit shortcut. Do you really want to exit i3? This will end your X session.' -b 'Yes, exit i3' 'i3-msg exit'"

# resize window (you can also use the mouse for that)
mode "resize" {
        # These bindings trigger as soon as you enter the resize mode

        # Pressing left will shrink the window’s width.
        # Pressing right will grow<br/>
**Wrong Window Moved When Dragging with Mouse: Q&A**

**Q: What is the issue with the window movement in i3?**

A: The issue is that when starting the drag of any window with the mouse, there's a chance that a different window will get its position erroneously changed. This can cause the window to move to a different location on the screen, even if it's not being dragged.

**Q: Is this a visual bug or a real issue?**

A: This is a real issue, not a visual bug. The position of the window does actually change, and it can cause problems with the layout of the workspace.

**Q: What triggers this issue?**

A: This issue seems to be triggered by rapidly dragging windows. If you drag a window quickly and repeatedly, there's a chance that a different window will get its position changed.

**Q: Is this issue specific to a certain type of window?**

A: No, this issue seems to affect all types of windows, regardless of whether they're tiled or floating.

**Q: Can I prevent this issue from happening?**

A: Unfortunately, there's no known way to prevent this issue from happening. However, you can try creating a sacrificial window and moving it to an unused workspace. This can help to prevent the issue from occurring.

**Q: Is this issue specific to a certain version of i3?**

A: This issue seems to be present in version 4.24 of i3. However, it's possible that it may be present in other versions as well.

**Q: Can I report this issue to the i3 developers?**

A: Yes, you can report this issue to the i3 developers by creating a new issue on the i3 GitHub page. Be sure to include as much detail as possible, including the steps to reproduce the issue and any relevant configuration files.

**Q: Is there a workaround for this issue?**

A: Yes, one possible workaround is to create a sacrificial window and move it to an unused workspace. This can help to prevent the issue from occurring.

**Q: Can I use a different window manager to avoid this issue?**

A: Yes, if you're experiencing this issue with i3, you may want to consider using a different window manager. Some popular alternatives include XMonad and Awesome WM.

**Q: Is this issue specific to a certain Linux distribution?**

A: This issue seems to be present on Arch Linux, but it's possible that it may be present on other Linux distributions as well.

**Q: Can I use a compositor to fix this issue?**

A: Yes, you can try using a compositor like picom to see if it helps to fix the issue. However, this may not be a reliable solution.

**Q: Is there a way to debug this issue?**

A: Yes, you can try debugging this issue by running i3 with the `--debug` flag. This can help to provide more information about what's causing the issue.

**Q: Can I use a different configuration file to fix this issue?**

A: Yes, you can try using a different configuration file to see if it helps to fix the issue. However, this may not be a reliable solution.

**Q: Is this issue specific to a certain hardware configuration?**

A: This issue seems to be present on a variety of hardware configurations, but it's possible that it may be more common on certain types of hardware.

**Q: Can I use a script to automate the process of fixing this issue?**

A: Yes, you can try using a script to automate the process of fixing this issue. However, this may not be a reliable solution.

**Q: Is there a way to prevent this issue from happening in the future?**

A: Unfortunately, there's no known way to prevent this issue from happening in the future. However, you can try keeping your i3 configuration up to date and using a recent version of i3.