Maximise to Workspace

A GNOME Shell extension that moves maximised or fullscreen windows to a dedicated empty workspace, keeping your main workspace clean and uncluttered.

• Maximise or go fullscreen - the window is moved to the first available empty workspace (or a newly created one), and focus follows it there.
• Unmaximise or exit fullscreen - the window is returned to workspace 0 (the main workspace, displayed as "Workspace 1" in the GNOME UI), and the now-empty dedicated workspace is removed.
• Already alone - if a window is the only one on its workspace when maximised, it stays put but is still tracked so it returns to the main workspace on unmaximise.

Workspace 0 is the permanent home for all non-prominent windows. The extension enforces this automatically.

• Triggers on both GNOME maximise (Super+↑) and true fullscreen (e.g. F11, video players)
• Works across all monitors - no primary-monitor restriction
• Cleans up empty workspaces when windows leave them
• No settings or configuration required
• Handles windows that are already maximised or fullscreen when the extension is enabled

• GNOME Shell 45 or later

Visit extensions.gnome.org and search for Maximise to Workspace. (Coming soon.)

git clone https://github.com/ardenn/maximise-to-workspace.git
ln -s "$PWD/maximise-to-workspace" \
  ~/.local/share/gnome-shell/extensions/maximise-to-workspace@ardenn.github.io

Log out and back in (Wayland), or press Alt+F2, type r, and press Enter (X11). Then enable the extension:

gnome-extensions enable maximise-to-workspace@ardenn.github.io

Or toggle it via the Extensions app.

gnome-extensions disable maximise-to-workspace@ardenn.github.io
rm ~/.local/share/gnome-shell/extensions/maximise-to-workspace@ardenn.github.io

Check the GNOME Shell log for any errors:

journalctl -f /usr/bin/gnome-shell

Inspired by:

• gnome-shell-extension-maximize-to-workspace by rliang - maximise trigger and restore pattern
• kiwi-kemma by kem-a - modern ES-module API and workspace lifecycle management