Force windows to open in center of screen?

Asked by Kathen Brewster

It seems as though some apps will open wherever you last left it before closing it (Files has this behavior), but other apps will open in the top left corner no matter what.

With Compiz it was possible to set it so that all applications opened in the center of the screen. Can this be done?

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Danielle Foré (danrabbit) said :
#1

I would say we should probably file bug reports against the offending apps so that all apps remember their last position. But if you specifically want all of them to start centered, you should file a feature request against Gala.

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Kathen Brewster (booiscute) said :
#2

This is what I gathered, hopefully some other people can verify:

Files - Remembers last position
Noise - Centers automatically
Audience - Centers automatically
Geary - Centers automatically
Scratch - Opens slightly the left, but not quite at the top
Terminal - Same behaviour as Scratch
Switchboard - Centers automatically

This is all assuming there are no other apps currently open on the screen. If there are any other apps open at the same time then most other apps you open afterwards will automatically open in the top left corner (Files doesn't do that though as it always opens in the last remembered position). Ex: Open up Noise and then open up terminal. Terminal will open in the top left under "Applications".

Should I file bug reports separately for all the above apps that to do not remember last positions? The other other problem is that non-native apps will still be affected so maybe a feature in Gala to make all apps remember their last position would be better?

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Cody Garver (codygarver) said :
#3

Report a bug for Scratch here: https://bugs.launchpad.net/scratch/+filebug

After that, on the same bug, choose "also affects" and add the other bugged projects (one-at-a-time).

Maybe copy and paste the text in this Question thread for more details.

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Kathen Brewster (booiscute) said :
#4

I'll do that. What about apps like Chrome or Firefox though, since they also do not open in last remembered position?

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Rohit (rohit-arondekar) said :
#5

Sorry to update this thread so late but I came across this while searching for solutions. A workaround is to use gdevilspie https://code.google.com/p/gdevilspie/ ― which gives you very good control over where the window is positioned, maximized and width height among other things. It's also easy to use. There is a small video too on Youtube (www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFnPKyE9zjY).

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