All MeowMenu settings are exposed in the Properties dialog (right-click the panel button → Properties) and stored in Xfconf.
Properties dialog
Each tab arranges its settings into two equal-width columns, so related options sit side by side. The dialog has no published screenshots, so the option tables below remain the authoritative reference.
General
Option
Description
Preset
Select, save, rename, delete, export, or import a layout preset. The ? control beside the selector reveals the active preset’s description on hover or keyboard focus.
Layout mode
Docked (panel-attached window), Centered (a floating window pinned to the centre of the screen), or FullScreen (full-screen launcher).
Panel gap
Distance between the panel and the menu window, in pixels (Docked only).
Menu width
Width of the menu window in pixels.
Menu height
Height of the menu window in pixels.
Corner radius
Rounded-corner radius of the menu window, in pixels.
Menu opacity
Opacity of the whole menu background, applied uniformly in every layout mode (0–100, where 0 is fully transparent and 100 fully solid), applied live. Foreground content (labels, icons, the selected row) always stays fully opaque. Requires a compositor; without one the menu is always solid and the control is disabled.
Stay visible when focus is lost
Keep the menu open when another window receives focus.
Centered opens the launcher as a floating window at the exact centre of the monitor holding the panel button, at your configured width and height. It stays centred while open: drag any edge to resize and the window grows or shrinks around its fixed centre, and the new size is remembered. The panel gap does not apply (the window never touches a panel edge).
The Layout mode selected controls which other options are available. Disabled options are greyed out and switch live as you change the mode:
Option
Docked
Centered
FullScreen
Menu width
✓
✓
—
Menu height
✓
✓
—
Panel gap
✓
—
—
Corner radius
✓
✓
—
Show panel button title
Display a text label next to the panel button icon.
Panel button title
The label text shown on the panel button.
Show panel button icon
Show the icon on the panel button.
Panel button icon
The icon used for the panel button.
Use a single panel row
Force the panel button into a single row regardless of panel size.
User / Session
Option
Description
Show user profile picture
Display the account avatar at the top of the menu.
Show username
Display the logged-in user’s name.
Profile position
Where the profile block appears: top, bottom, or hidden. Hidden removes the avatar and username (and keeps them out of keyboard focus).
Session commands position
Where the lock/logout/suspend buttons appear: top-right, bottom-right, or hidden. Hidden removes the session buttons.
Profile and Session commands are independent: hiding one always keeps the other on its own side (profile on the left, session buttons on the right), regardless of where the category list sits. The row collapses only when both are hidden. Hidden is fully reversible — switching a hidden element back to a visible position restores it (and the row, if it had collapsed) immediately, with no restart and no need to reset to defaults.
The two positions are coupled so the row always stays coherent:
Docked layout — the Session commands edge follows the Profile edge. Choosing Profile = Top makes Session commands = Top Right (and Bottom Right is greyed out); Profile = Bottom makes Session commands = Bottom Right. When Profile is Hidden both Session-commands edges are available.
Full Screen layout — both Profile and Session commands follow the search bar edge. With the search bar on top, both sit on the top edge (the bottom options are greyed); moving the search bar to the bottom moves both with it. Hiding both leaves only the centred search bar, at exactly the same size and position as when they are shown.
Disallowed edges are shown greyed rather than removed, and if a stored combination is no longer valid for the current layout it is automatically snapped to the nearest coherent edge (the element stays visible — only its edge moves). | Lock screen command | Command run when the lock button is clicked. | | Log out command | Command run when the log out button is clicked. | | Suspend command | Command run when the suspend button is clicked. | | Switch user command | Command run when the switch user button is clicked. |
Search Bar
Option
Description
Position
Place the search bar at the top or bottom of the menu.
Placeholder text
The hint text shown when the search field is empty.
Fuzzy search
Enable approximate (typo-tolerant) matching.
Fuzzy threshold
Sensitivity of the fuzzy matcher (0 = automatic).
Favorites boost
Rank previously-used apps higher in search results.
Favorites boost level
Strength of the boost: low, medium, or high.
Search actions
Custom keyword-triggered commands (e.g. type ! to run a shell command).
Results View
Option
Description
View mode
List (compact), Icon grid, or Tree (category tree).
Show app name
Display the application name in each result row.
Show app description
Display the application comment below the name.
Show tooltip
Show a tooltip with the full app description on hover.
Icon size
Size of app icons in the results list (-1 = inherit from theme).
Grid density
Number of columns in icon-grid mode: low, medium, or high.
Grid columns
Explicit column count for icon-grid mode.
Grid rows
Number of visible rows in icon-grid mode.
Default category
Category shown on open: favorites, recent, or all apps.
Hover to switch category
Change the visible category by hovering over sidebar entries.
Sidebar
Option
Description
Enable sidebar
Turn the category sidebar on or off. When off, the menu shows no sidebar; if Places is enabled the Apps/Places switch moves to the right end of the search bar, and the results view gains a heading naming the default category (FAVORITES, RECENTLY USED, or ALL APPLICATIONS).
Position
Place the sidebar on the left, right, top, or bottom. Top and bottom turn the categories into a horizontal, icon-only strip. The strip is centred, as wide as the search box, and surrounded by equal gaps above and below; Top places it just below the search bar and above the results, Bottom places it below the results. It scrolls sideways when it has more icons than fit, and “Show category name” is unavailable there. The same geometry holds in Full Screen, where the centred results box keeps its symmetric side margins.
Show category name
Display the category label next to its icon. On a left/right sidebar, hiding the names also makes the Apps/Places switch vertical so the sidebar can stay narrow.
Category icon size
Size of category icons (-2 = inherit from theme).
Sort categories
Sort the category list alphabetically.
Recent items max
Maximum number of recently-used apps to track.
Include favorites in recent
Also show favorited apps in the Recent category.
Unified bar
Render profile, search, and session controls on one horizontal row (FullScreen mode only).
Places
Option
Description
Enable Places
Show a file/folder browser pane in the menu.
Show icons
Render the Apps/Places switch as two icon buttons (an app-grid icon and a folder icon, with tooltips) instead of text labels. Forced on, and shown greyed in Preferences, when the sidebar is on top/bottom or disabled.
Show recent files
Include recently opened files in the Places view.
Show bookmarks
Include user bookmarks (from Thunar or GTK bookmarks).
Bookmark sync
Keep the Places bookmarks in sync with MeowMenu or Thunar.
Max items
Maximum number of items shown in the Places view.
Remember last mode
Reopen MeowMenu showing the last-used Places sub-section.
Missing recent files and bookmarks
When a recent item or bookmark points to a file or folder that has been deleted or renamed, MeowMenu shows it greyed-out and its tooltip notes that the target is missing. A greyed-out entry cannot be opened directly — clicking it does nothing — but its right-click menu still offers Open Containing Folder, which opens the parent directory so a renamed file can be located. Missing bookmarks can also be removed with Remove from Favourites.
Xfconf reference
For scripting or headless configuration, read and write settings directly via xfconf-query:
# List all MeowMenu properties for a panel plugin instance
xfconf-query -c xfce4-panel -lv | grep meowmenu
# Set a single property
xfconf-query -c xfce4-panel -p /plugins/<id>/<key> -s <value>
Replace <id> with the numeric plugin ID shown by xfconf-query -c xfce4-panel -lv | grep meowmenu.
Appearance
Key (relative to /plugins/<id>/)
Type
Default
Description
corner-radius
int
0
Radius, in pixels, that rounds the menu’s visible outer corners (0 = square).
panel-gap
int
0
Gap between the panel and the menu window.
menu-width
int
450
Menu window width in pixels.
menu-height
int
500
Menu window height in pixels.
menu-opacity
int
100
Opacity of the whole menu background in every layout mode (0 = fully transparent, 100 = fully solid), applied live. Foreground content always stays fully opaque; has no effect without a compositor.
stay-on-focus-out
bool
false
Keep menu open when focus moves away.
Layout
Key
Type
Default
Description
layout-mode
string
docked
docked, centered, or fullscreen.
sidebar-position
string
left
left, right, top, or bottom. (A legacy hidden value is migrated to sidebar-enabled = false.)
search-bar-position
string
top
top or bottom.
profile-position
string
top
top, bottom, or hidden. (A legacy bottom-right value is migrated to bottom.)
commands-position
string
top-right
top-right, bottom-right, or hidden.
unified-bar
bool
false
Merge profile, search, and session into one row (FullScreen only).
Results view
Key
Type
Default
Description
view-mode
int
1
0 = icons, 1 = list, 2 = tree.
launcher-show-name
bool
true
Show the app name.
launcher-show-description
bool
true
Show the app description.
launcher-show-tooltip
bool
true
Show a hover tooltip.
launcher-icon-size
int
-1
Icon size (-1 = theme default).
grid-density
string
medium
low, medium, or high columns in grid mode.
Sidebar
Key
Type
Default
Description
sidebar-enabled
bool
true
Show the category sidebar. When false the sidebar is removed and, with Places on, the Apps/Places switch moves into the search-bar row.
category-show-name
bool
true
Show category label text.
category-icon-size
int
-2
Category icon size (-2 = theme default).
hover-switch-category
bool
false
Switch category on hover instead of click.
sort-categories
bool
true
Sort categories alphabetically.
default-category
int
0
0 = favorites, 1 = recent, 2 = all.
recent-items-max
int
10
Maximum recent app count.
favorites-in-recent
bool
false
Include favorites in the Recent list.
Search
Key
Type
Default
Description
search/fuzzy-enabled
bool
true
Enable fuzzy (typo-tolerant) matching.
search/fuzzy-threshold
int
0
Fuzzy sensitivity (0 = automatic).
search/favorites-boost-enabled
bool
true
Boost frequently-used apps in results.
search/favorites-boost-level
int
2
Boost strength: 1 = low, 2 = medium, 3 = high.
search/frecency-alpha
int
70
Recency weight in the ranking score (0–100).
Places
Key
Type
Default
Description
places/enabled
bool
false
Enable the Places pane.
places/switch-show-icons
bool
false
Render the Apps/Places switch as icon buttons instead of text. Forced on (render-time only) when the sidebar is on top/bottom or disabled.