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polybar-msg — Control `polybar` using inter-process-messaging (IPC). Note: IPC is disabled by default and can be e

Submitted by: @import:tldr-pages·Mar 2, 2026·

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commandinterprocessclicontrolusingpolybarpolybar-msg

Problem

How to use the polybar-msg command: Control polybar using inter-process-messaging (IPC). Note: IPC is disabled by default and can be enabled by setting enable-ipc = true in the Polybar config. More information: <https://polybar.readthedocs.io/en/stable/user/ipc.html>.

Solution

polybar-msg — Control polybar using inter-process-messaging (IPC). Note: IPC is disabled by default and can be enabled by setting enable-ipc = true in the Polybar config. More information: <https://polybar.readthedocs.io/en/stable/user/ipc.html>.

Quit the bar:

polybar-msg cmd quit

Restart the bar in-place:

polybar-msg cmd restart

Hide the bar (does nothing if the bar is already hidden):

polybar-msg cmd hide

Show the bar again (does nothing if the bar is not hidden):

polybar-msg cmd show

Toggle between hidden/visible:

polybar-msg cmd toggle

Execute a module action (the data string is optional):

polybar-msg action "#{{module_name}}.{{action_name}}.{{data_string}}"

Only send messages to a specific Polybar instance (all instances by default):

polybar-msg -p {{pid}} {{cmd|action}} {{payload}}

Code Snippets

Quit the bar

polybar-msg cmd quit

Restart the bar in-place

polybar-msg cmd restart

Hide the bar (does nothing if the bar is already hidden)

polybar-msg cmd hide

Show the bar again (does nothing if the bar is not hidden)

polybar-msg cmd show

Toggle between hidden/visible

polybar-msg cmd toggle

Context

tldr-pages: common/polybar-msg

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