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I often run scripts to transform a CSV file which I then preview in LibreOffice. I often open the CSV with xdg-open file.csv. However, if I run that command when the file is already open, LibreOffice simply focuses that window - it doesn't reload the file from disk.

Is there a way, from the command line, that I can specify a window to close in the GUI? I can't just kill the process, since LibreOffice shares a single pid for all its windows. I'm running the latest version of Cinnamon on Mint 17.1.

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2 Answers 2

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You could use xkill, xdotool or wmctl.

type xkill on the terminal and then click on the window you want to close.

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  • I suggest you explain how to achieve the goal with these tools.
    – guntbert
    May 14, 2015 at 18:46
  • type xkill on the terminal and then click on the window you want to close.
    – VaTo
    May 14, 2015 at 21:04
  • You should put this explanation into your answer.
    – guntbert
    May 14, 2015 at 21:06
  • Based on this, I found xdotool meets my needs: `xdotool search "$FILENAME" windowactivate --sync key --window 0 --clearmodifiers alt+F4.
    – Jon G - Megaphone Tech
    May 14, 2015 at 22:57
  • xkill will kill the process (not just close the program).
    – Brōtsyorfuzthrāx
    Feb 14, 2018 at 9:51
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xkill works if you actually want to kill the application, but if you only want to close the window, xdo or xdotool are better.

My use case is to close/show Transmission's window. Transmission runs a daemon, and xkill also kills the daemon. But I only want to close the window, not kill the entire application.

xdotool has a windowclose action, which could be used with something like:
xdotool search "Transmission" windowclose

However, this doesn't work for some reason. Both xdotool and xdo find multiple windows for "Transmission" (same amount whether a window is shown or not), maybe that's causing issues for xdotool.

But xdo worked for me:
xdo close -a "Transmission"

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