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How can I start applications on specific workspaces in i3 when it starts?

Why is this not working in my config file? :

workspace 1; exec firefox; workspace 2; exec chromium; workspace 1
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5 Answers 5

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According to the Arch Wiki i3 page, to autostart an application on a specific workspace, you use i3-msg:

exec --no-startup-id i3-msg 'workspace 1:Web; exec /usr/bin/firefox'
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    Yes, a line like exec --no-startup-id i3-msg 'workspace 1; exec firefox; workspace 2; exec urxvt; workspace 1' works. But, I find it a little odd to use exec on i3-msg which is a command meant to execute i3 commands. Why can't I directly write workspace 1; exec firefox; workspace 2; exec urxvt; workspace 1 in my config file?
    – Gradient
    Commented Oct 24, 2013 at 5:05
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    This just opens everything in Workspace 1 for me.
    – cmc
    Commented Oct 30, 2014 at 16:15
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    Works for most apps. However google-chrome-stable always opens on the last workspace in my setup. For example, with this configuration, Chrome opens on workspace 4 next to htop.
    – danijar
    Commented Jun 23, 2015 at 20:05
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    Note that i3 now provides layout saving/restoring features that make it unnecessary to call i3-msg in most cases.
    – Wieland
    Commented Apr 16, 2016 at 15:32
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    @danijar I would imagine it is because the amount of time it takes to startup Chrome exceeds the amount of time it takes to switch to workspace 4 and open urxvt. Google is smart and knows that the sooner it can get you a window the better, but they do this by returning "success" to the executing terminal/application (eg exec) ASAP and then loading the browser in a forked process, which is why exec thinks it was done with Chrome and it moved to the next line in your config. Add && sleep 3 and I'd bet Chrome opens in workspace 3. May need to go as high as 5 depending on # of extensions.
    – dragon788
    Commented Jun 19, 2017 at 22:23
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# This is what I use in ie config
# custom variables for workspaces
set $ws1 "1< txt >"
set $ws2 "2> fm "
set $ws3 "3< Web >"
set $ws4 4
set $ws5 5
set $ws6 6
set $ws7 7
set $ws8 8
set $ws9 9


##==================================================##
#                         *** Workspace specific settings ***                     #
##=================================================##
# Assign Workspaces:
assign [class="Firefox"] $ws3
assign [class="Chromium"] $ws3
assign [class="Google-chrome-beta"] $ws3
assign [class="^Geany"] $ws1

NOTE: to apply config, you can use:

i3-msg reload

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    This works for some applications, but not for others. I suspect it could be related with the string used in the class argument. Is there any way to know exactly to which class is an application associated?
    – Luís de Sousa
    Commented Mar 25, 2019 at 7:29
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    @LuísdeSousa you xprop | grep CLASS in terminal, your mouse pointer changes into a crosshair, you click on the program you want to get the class of and use the second variable that comes up in your terminal. Example result for Chrome: WM_CLASS(STRING) = "google-chrome", "Google-chrome"
    – kittenparry
    Commented Mar 27, 2019 at 3:34
  • @kittenparry. Thank you for the suggestion, but still using the string from the xprop command the windows are not assigned to the desired workspace.
    – Luís de Sousa
    Commented Mar 28, 2019 at 9:33
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    @LuísdeSousa some programs don't work with it like Spotify. For them you might write something similar to this for_window [class="Spotify"] move to workspace $ws10 where $ws10 is your workspace variable.
    – kittenparry
    Commented Mar 28, 2019 at 9:35
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It's an autostart on workspace launch only, not an autostart when i3 starts but I thought it could be useful.

For example, to launch my web browser in the named second workspace "web" this is what I did in my config :

bindsym $mod+2 workspace 2:web; layout tabbed; exec [ $(ps h -C vimb | wc -l) = 0 ] && /usr/bin/vimb -s

When I hit key 2, my web browser starts but when it's already opened it didn't relaunch it, it just switch to the web workspace.

Note: the layout part can be annoying sometime, it's not a requirement.

For more details see my conf

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    You can do it much easily by assigning workspace. For example to move pidgin to 3-rd workspace on its every launch, I have in the config assign [class="Pidgin"] $tag3.
    – Hi-Angel
    Commented Oct 23, 2016 at 2:34
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    Assigning to a workspace is different. @tyjak's solution will cause an application to launch when you open a particular workspace. Assigning an application to a workspace will cause that application to be moved to a workspace whenever you open it.
    – Mike
    Commented Nov 19, 2016 at 8:29
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I just got it working with this at the end of my ~/.config/i3/config file:

for_window [class="Firefox"] move container to workspace 2
exec --no-startup-id firefox
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  • According to Arch Linux i3 Example for Firefox: First set your variable set $ws1 "Firefox" and then insert following line for_window [class="Firefox"] move to workspace $ws1
    – Markus Weber
    Commented Nov 25, 2018 at 0:05
  • Thank you. It works for me.
    – Kazuya Gosho
    Commented Aug 22, 2022 at 4:55
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Just use assign [class="<use your program name here e.g. - Firefox>"] $workspace<eg. 5>. It is working for me.

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