How To Use A Keyboard Shortcut To Toggle Always On Top On GNOME, KDE, MATE, Xfce and Cinnamon Desktops

This article shows how to use a keyboard shortcut to set a window to be always on top, on GNOME, MATE, Xfce, Cinnamon and KDE Plasma desktops, as well as a generic shortcut that works with any EWMH/NetWM compatible X Window Manager (so this generic solution doesn't work on Wayland).

Set an Always on Top keyboard shortcut on GNOME desktop

GNOME doesn't have a default keyboard shortcut for Always on Top any more (it used to have Alt + Space, then t), but there is an option to set your own keyboard shortcut for this window feature. The option is not exposed in Settings - > Keyboard Shortcuts though.

To access the option that allows setting a keyboard shortcut for Always on Top, open Dconf Editor and go to /org/gnome/desktop/wm/keybindings. There, set a keyboard shortcut for always-on-top in this form (example): ['<Alt>1'], ['<Control>2'], ['<Control><Shift>a'] and so on, but obviously, set it to what you want to use for this. Disable the "Use default value" toggle to be able to enter a shortcut.

Set an Always on Top (Keep Above Others) keyboard shortcut on KDE Plasma

KDE Plasma has an option that you can use set a window Always on Top, called Keep Window Above.

To set a keyboard shortcut to toggle this Keep Window Above option on/off, go to System Settings -> Shortcuts -> Global Shortcuts, search for Keep Window Above, and then you'll see an option to assign a keyboard shortcut to this option, like in the screenshot above.

Using the built-in keyboard shortcut to toggle Always on Top on MATE, Xfce and Cinnamon desktops

MATE, Xfce and Cinnamon desktops have a built-in keyboard shortcut to toggle the Always on Top window option.

On MATE and Cinnamon, focus a window, then press Alt + Space, then t to set a window to be always on top. Toggle it off using the same key combination. Cinnamon also offers the ability to set a custom shortcut for this: System Settings -> Keyboard -> Shortcuts -> Windows -> Toggle always on top.

For Xfce, toggle Always on Top using Alt + F12. Or use the same Alt + Space, then t to enable Always on Top; however, to toggle it off, use Alt + Space, then o. Xfce offers the ability to change the key to toggle the window above option: Settings -> Window Manager -> Keyboard -> Toggle above.

Using a generic way of setting a window Always on Top (X only)

If the desktop environment you're using doesn't have a way of setting a keyboard shortcut for the Always on Top window option, or you want to use a custom shortcut and the desktop environment you're using doesn't support this, you can use wmctrl to set a window always on top.

Here's the wmctrl official description: wmctrl is a command that can be used to interact with an X Window manager that is compatible with the EWMH/NetWM specification. wmctrl can query the window manager for information, and it can request that certain window management actions be taken.

Install wmctrl:

Debian / Ubuntu and Linux distributions based on these 2, like Pop!_OS, Zorin OS, Elementary OS, etc.:

sudo apt install wmctrl

Fedora:

sudo dnf install wmctrl

Arch Linux / Manjaro:

sudo pacman -S wmctrl

openSUSE:

sudo zypper install wmctrl

To use wmctrl to set Always on Top, open your desktop environment's custom keyboard shortcuts dialog, add a new shortcut and use this as the command:

wmctrl -r :ACTIVE: -b toggle,above

This uses wmctrl to toggle the "above" window property, so it sets a window Always on Top if it's not already, and it turns Always on Top off if it's active.