# Xfce4 & Wayland tips

**URL:** <https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/xfce4-wayland-tips/80368>\
**Category:** Community contributions\
**Created:** [June 29, 2026, 3:16pm UTC](https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/xfce4-wayland-tips/80368 "2026-06-29T15:16:52Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 16\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![manuel](https://forum.endeavouros.com/user_avatar/forum.endeavouros.com/manuel/32/396_2.png) [@manuel](https://forum.endeavouros.com/u/manuel)\
**Post date:** [June 29, 2026, 3:16pm UTC](https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/xfce4-wayland-tips/80368/1 "2026-06-29T15:16:52Z")

</div>

Those of us who use Xfce4 with Wayland, let’s share some tips to fellow users.

## Enable touchpad natural scrolling

Looks like many touchpad settings (like **natural scrolling** ) depends on the wayland compositor.  
This fix works with `labwc`.

Add

```auto
  <libinput>
    <device>
      <naturalScroll>yes</naturalScroll>
    </device>
  </libinput>

```

right before the `</labwc_config>` line in the end of the file.

Note that this _may_ work with a mouse too, but currently I can’t test it. If not, probably there’s a simple way to fix it - see the manual page:

```auto
man labwc-config

```

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![r0ckhopper](https://forum.endeavouros.com/user_avatar/forum.endeavouros.com/r0ckhopper/32/51768_2.png) [@r0ckhopper](https://forum.endeavouros.com/u/r0ckhopper)\
**Post date:** [June 29, 2026, 3:30pm UTC](https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/xfce4-wayland-tips/80368/2 "2026-06-29T15:30:18Z")

</div>

> [@manuel](#):
>
> Those of us who use Xfce4 with Wayland, let’s share some tips to fellow users.

Not brave enough yet 😨 but thank you for this 👍

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![manuel](https://forum.endeavouros.com/user_avatar/forum.endeavouros.com/manuel/32/396_2.png) [@manuel](https://forum.endeavouros.com/u/manuel)\
**Post date:** [June 29, 2026, 3:35pm UTC](https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/xfce4-wayland-tips/80368/3 "2026-06-29T15:35:00Z")

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Fear not, Xfce with labwc is easy.  
And the bonus: it is quite fast!

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![r0ckhopper](https://forum.endeavouros.com/user_avatar/forum.endeavouros.com/r0ckhopper/32/51768_2.png) [@r0ckhopper](https://forum.endeavouros.com/u/r0ckhopper)\
**Post date:** [June 29, 2026, 3:36pm UTC](https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/xfce4-wayland-tips/80368/4 "2026-06-29T15:36:55Z")

</div>

> [@manuel](#):
>
> Xfce with labwc is easy.

Maybe I’ll give it a try once the ⚽ World Cup is over and releases me from its clammy grip on my free time.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![manuel](https://forum.endeavouros.com/user_avatar/forum.endeavouros.com/manuel/32/396_2.png) [@manuel](https://forum.endeavouros.com/u/manuel)\
**Post date:** [June 29, 2026, 3:37pm UTC](https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/xfce4-wayland-tips/80368/5 "2026-06-29T15:37:32Z")

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I hear you!

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![PackRat](https://forum.endeavouros.com/user_avatar/forum.endeavouros.com/packrat/32/114391_2.png) [@PackRat](https://forum.endeavouros.com/u/PackRat)\
**Post date:** [June 29, 2026, 4:42pm UTC](https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/xfce4-wayland-tips/80368/6 "2026-06-29T16:42:08Z")

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> [@manuel](#):
>
> Note that this _may_ work with a mouse too,

I believe it will.

You should have a /usr/share/doc/labwc/rc.xml.all file; it’s a complete rc.xml with all the options and annotations. The libinput section is pretty extensive, and (as I understand it) separate libinput sections can be made for any device listed with:

`libinput list-devices`

Here is mine for the touchpad. I usually have a mouse attached, so I disable the touchpad when a mouse is attached:

```auto
  <libinput>
    <device category="DELL097A:00 04F3:30C4 Touchpad">
      <sendEventsMode>disabledOnExternalMouse</sendEventsMode>
      <naturalScroll>yes</naturalScroll>
      <leftHanded>no</leftHanded>
      <pointerSpeed></pointerSpeed>
      <accelProfile></accelProfile>
      <tap>yes</tap>
      <tapButtonMap></tapButtonMap>
      <tapAndDrag></tapAndDrag>
      <dragLock></dragLock>
      <middleEmulation>yes</middleEmulation>
      <disableWhileTyping>yes</disableWhileTyping>
    </device>
  </libinput>

```

You should be able to make a separate section for a mouse.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![manuel](https://forum.endeavouros.com/user_avatar/forum.endeavouros.com/manuel/32/396_2.png) [@manuel](https://forum.endeavouros.com/u/manuel)\
**Post date:** [June 29, 2026, 8:24pm UTC](https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/xfce4-wayland-tips/80368/7 "2026-06-29T20:24:40Z")

</div>

Just to add, for the command you mentioned above package `libinput-tools` is needed.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![serutan](https://forum.endeavouros.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/e0b2c6/32.png) [@serutan](https://forum.endeavouros.com/u/serutan)\
**Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 3:23am UTC](https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/xfce4-wayland-tips/80368/8 "2026-06-30T03:23:51Z")

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Just want to make sure that switching between Wayland and X is as simple as the Arch wiki seems to say. If so, it would be interesting to check it out. Looks like the in house XFCE compositor is in first stage alpha i.e. currently only useful for those who want to help out the developer by being guinea pigs.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![manuel](https://forum.endeavouros.com/user_avatar/forum.endeavouros.com/manuel/32/396_2.png) [@manuel](https://forum.endeavouros.com/u/manuel)\
**Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 8:04am UTC](https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/xfce4-wayland-tips/80368/9 "2026-06-30T08:04:58Z")

</div>

True, the development with the official compositor for Xfce is still considered alpha quality.

But `labwc` has been around for quite a while, and it is updating rather frequently. Each update has made it better. I have been using it for a long time already without issues other than some features (that I’d rarely use) which are not yet implemented.

Actually, X with Xfce4 has had problems lately…

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![serutan](https://forum.endeavouros.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/e0b2c6/32.png) [@serutan](https://forum.endeavouros.com/u/serutan)\
**Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 2:57pm UTC](https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/xfce4-wayland-tips/80368/10 "2026-06-30T14:57:09Z")

</div>

Thanks, I think I’ll give it a try.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![manuel](https://forum.endeavouros.com/user_avatar/forum.endeavouros.com/manuel/32/396_2.png) [@manuel](https://forum.endeavouros.com/u/manuel)\
**Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 5:40pm UTC](https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/xfce4-wayland-tips/80368/11 "2026-06-30T17:40:15Z")

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Hope you’ll enjoy it!

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![vazicebon](https://forum.endeavouros.com/user_avatar/forum.endeavouros.com/vazicebon/32/81098_2.png) [@vazicebon](https://forum.endeavouros.com/u/vazicebon)\
**Post date:** [July 2, 2026, 1:10pm UTC](https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/xfce4-wayland-tips/80368/12 "2026-07-02T13:10:07Z")

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> [@manuel](#):
>
> Xfce with labwc is easy

I tried it last year, but when I noticed I could not use workspaces, I got back to X.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![manuel](https://forum.endeavouros.com/user_avatar/forum.endeavouros.com/manuel/32/396_2.png) [@manuel](https://forum.endeavouros.com/u/manuel)\
**Post date:** [July 2, 2026, 5:47pm UTC](https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/xfce4-wayland-tips/80368/13 "2026-07-02T17:47:01Z")

</div>

Here they seem to work, although I’m not using them much.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![vazicebon](https://forum.endeavouros.com/user_avatar/forum.endeavouros.com/vazicebon/32/81098_2.png) [@vazicebon](https://forum.endeavouros.com/u/vazicebon)\
**Post date:** [July 3, 2026, 1:41pm UTC](https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/xfce4-wayland-tips/80368/14 "2026-07-03T13:41:20Z")

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It was a problem before, I just installed Labwc and it’s working now. 😀

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![serutan](https://forum.endeavouros.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/e0b2c6/32.png) [@serutan](https://forum.endeavouros.com/u/serutan)\
**Post date:** [July 9, 2026, 6:03am UTC](https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/xfce4-wayland-tips/80368/15 "2026-07-09T06:03:01Z")

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The main wonky thing I’ve noticed is that for some reason Firefox minimizes when another window is selected/program launched. Note a gamebreaker but a bit annoying since I like alt-tabbing windows.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![manuel](https://forum.endeavouros.com/user_avatar/forum.endeavouros.com/manuel/32/396_2.png) [@manuel](https://forum.endeavouros.com/u/manuel)\
**Post date:** [July 9, 2026, 9:19am UTC](https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/xfce4-wayland-tips/80368/16 "2026-07-09T09:19:08Z")

</div>

That doesn’t happen here (with Xfce & labwc), alt-tabbing works as expected.  
May be some setting with labwc. There are lots of documentation on the man pages too (`man labwc` and some other pages for labwc).