i3wm : start applications on specific workspaces when i3 starts

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

Answers:

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Method 1

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'

Method 2

# 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

Method 3

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

Method 4

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

Method 5

Just use assign [class="<use your program name here e.g. - Firefox>"] $workspace<eg. 5>.
It is working for me.

Method 6

My config:

##################################

Worskpace Settings

##################################

assign [class=”Code”] $ws4

assign [class=”jetbrains-studio”] $ws4

assign [class=”winword.exe”] $ws5

assign [class=”excel.exe”] $ws5

assign [class=”powerpnt.exe”] $ws5

for_window [class=”Firefox”] move to workspace $ws3

for_window [class=”Spotify”] move to workspace $ws6

All methods was sourced from stackoverflow.com or stackexchange.com, is licensed under cc by-sa 2.5, cc by-sa 3.0 and cc by-sa 4.0