Raspberry Pi OS has a new Wayland compositor called Labwc. It replaces Wayfire, which was used when the Raspberry Pi switched to Wayland from the X11 display server. Older Pi devices, like the Raspberry Pi 3 and earlier, used Mutter because Wayfire couldn’t run on their limited hardware.

Raspberry Pi spent a lot of time testing more permanent options and settled on Labwc. The developers found that it works well on all Raspberry Pi models, especially the new Raspberry Pi 5. You should do so if you’ve yet to upgrade, as Labwc is much more powerful and efficient. Here’s how to do it.

Upgrade Raspberry Pi OS to switch to the Labwc compositor

Upgrade in a few minutes

To gain access to the new Labwc Wayland compositor, you’ll need to upgrade your operating system to the latest version. This is slightly different from simple package upgrades but just as easy.

  1. Update your local repositories from the official remote servers using this command: 
    sudo apt update
  2. Perform a complete system upgrade by passing the full-upgrade directive to apt instead of just upgrade: 
    sudo apt full-upgrade
  3. After the upgrades have been applied, reboot your Raspberry Pi.

When your Pi finishes rebooting, and you’ve logged in, you’ll be greeted by a pop-up asking if you want to switch from Wayfire to Labwc. Click on Switch To Labwc. After a few moments, your desktop will disappear and reappear using Labwc instead of Wayfire.

If you want to revert to Wayfire at any time, you can do so from the command-line raspi-config tool. You can switch back to Wayfire at Advanced Options -> Wayland -> Wayfire.

Complete the migration with the new raindrop screen configuration tool

Use this display configuration tool

Along with the change to a new compositor, Raspberry Pi has also rolled out a new display configuration tool. In my experience, the new tool was installed automatically, but some folks have found it didn’t entirely switch. To make sure you’ve got everything running the latest tools, checking is relatively easy.

  1. First, remove the old arandr tool and all of its configuration files: 
    sudo apt purge arandr
  2. Next, install raindrop: 
    sudo apt install raindrop
  3. Finally, open raindrop from Raspberry Pi menu -> Preferences -> Screen Configuration.

By looking at the window title, you can ensure it’s raindrop running instead of arandr. If the window title is Screen Configuration, you’re running raindrop.

The raindrop utility allows you to set the resolution, refresh rate, and orientation of your connected displays. While arandr may still work, you should switch to raindrop as it’s rewritten entirely in C and optimized for the Raspberry Pi, Labwc, and touch screens.

Speaking of touch screens, how about an on-screen keyboard?

Install Squeekboard easily

If you’ll be using your Pi with a touch screen, you may want to install the newest on-screen keyboard for Labwc. This is Squeekboard, an on-screen keyboard explicitly designed for Wayland. Installing it is just as easy as everything else we’ve done.

  1. From the Terminal, use apt to install the tool and its plugins. 
    sudo apt install squeekboard wfplug-squeek
  2. Reboot your Raspberry Pi for the installation to take effect.

Once Squeekboard is installed, pressing on a text input field on a supported touch screen activates the on-screen keyboard. This is an excellent option for tablet projects using the Raspberry Pi or any other scenario where using a physical keyboard is inconvenient.

Keep your Raspberry Pi up-to-date

The changeover to labwc happened in October 2024, but some folks may not have installed the upgrades yet. While understandable, this does highlight a strong reason to keep your Raspberry Pi software updated, besides security updates and bug fixes.