Tiling Shell makes Ubuntu multitasking feel just as good as Windows

Switching to a new operating system can feel like a daunting task, especially when you have to learn a whole new paradigm for how to use your computer. However, things really aren’t as dire as they might seem before you start, and there are tools you can use to make your transition easier. I’ve used Windows all my life, but after recently spending time with Ubuntu, I also wanted something that would make window management as easy as FancyZones does on Windows 11.

Enter Tiling Shell, a window management tool that’s pretty much just an Ubuntu version of FancyZones. This GNOME extension quickly became one of the most important tools on my PC, just as FancyZones tends to be on Windows, and it works wonderfully.

Installing GNOME extensions

You need to set up things a bit first

First things first, Tiling Shell is a GNOME extension, and you have to set that up first. GNOME extensions are a very important part of the Ubuntu experience for me, but it takes a little bit of work to get them going. Initially, I installed extensions through my web browser using the browser plug-in, but the experience isn’t the best in my experience.

Instead, I recommend installing the GNOME Extensions manager app, which provides a dedicated UI for installing and managing your installed extensions. All you need to do to get started is run this command in the terminal:

sudo apt install gnome-shell-extension-manager

The extension manager will show up on your app list, and then you can find Tiling Shell through there to install it. It’s fairly easy, all things considered.

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Easily manage and choose layouts

Tiling Shell is available at a moment’s notice

Once it’s installed, Tiling Shell lives in the menu bar along the top of your screen, making it even easier to use than FancyZones, which would require you to open the app. By clicking the Tiling Shell icon, you can instantly switch between the available layouts. Tiling Shell provides a few by default, but you also get a button for editing them or creating a while new one, so you can create the perfect layout for you.

Creating and editing layouts is also fairly easy. Once you get started, just click anywhere along the screen to create a new horizontal split in the current area. To create a vertical split, hold Ctrl on the keyboard while clicking the mouse. This lets you easily create the perfect setup for your specific needs and wants, and you can also resize areas more precisely once you’ve created the split, so you can get things just right.

I actually have a very basic use case for this. I usually create two main areas of the same size on my 32:9 monitor, then create a third smaller area on the far right of the screen so I can have my messaging apps there, whether it’s Slack or Beeper. This is the perfect workflow for me, and while it’s not overly complex, it can only really be done with a tool like Tiling Shell, so it’s completely indispensable to me.

However, depending on the size and resolution of your monitor, you may want to go a lot crazier with this, and that’s where the real magic lies. Ubuntu has a decently capable window manager, but much like Windows 11, it requires dragging windows to the edges of the screen, and there are only so many combinations you can have. Tiling Shell gives you a ton more flexibility and the ability to quickly snap apps into a specific area of the current layout, so it’s a huge step up.

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You’ll need to change some settings

There will be some conflicts

As I just mentioned, Ubuntu does offer a tiled window manager out of the box that’s quite similar to Windows, albeit far more responsive. That sounds like a good thing, but I did find myself accidentally triggering it while trying to use Tiling Shell, which caused some conflicts between the two.

To make things easier on yourself, I recommend changing a couple of settings. First, in Tiling Shell itself, I would scroll down and disable the option to drag windows to the screen edges to resize them. Despite being shown here, this feature actually seems to tie into Ubuntu’s built-in window management feature, and it interferes with the behavior I’d expect from FancyZones.

Once you’ve changed this setting, go into the Ubuntu Settings app and open the Multitasking section to make sure the Active Edges feature is also turned off. If both settings are off, you can now use your preferred layout for pinning apps far more easily without accidentally triggering a different tiling system.

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Tiling Shell makes Ubuntu nearly perfect for me

I’ve talked at length about how FancyZones or an equivalent tool is absolutely essential to how I use my desktop PC, so the fact that Tiling Shell exists and works as well as it does is fantastic for me. With this, I can use my PC basically just as well as I would on Windows, and it really doesn’t hold me back from having a great experience. This and other tools can help make sure your transition away from Windows goes smoothly, so I can’t recommend it enough.