In Ubuntu, Fedora and other Linux with GNOME desktop, you may found that many applications have child dialogues attached to parent windows.

For example, when opening ‘About’ dialog for Files or adding custom shortcut in System Settings. The parent window will always attach the pop-up child dialog. User can not move it out of the way until close it.

For those who don’t like this feature, it’s easy to detach the child windows. And, this tutorial is going to show you how!

Option 1: Single command to detach child windows

For those who are familiar with Linux command, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open a terminal window.

When terminal opens, run command:

gsettings set org.gnome.mutter attach-modal-dialogs false

It applies the change immediately once you hitting Enter, though it’s for current user only!

Option 2: Use Gnome Tweaks (Graphical)

Gnome Tweaks, the popular graphical configuration tool for GNOME desktop, also has the option to do the similar job.

First, search for and install “Gnome Tweaks” from Ubuntu Software (or Gnome Software):

Then, launch Gnome Tweaks and navigate to “Windows” in left. Finally, turn off the option for “Attach Modal Dialogs” option and done.