Quoting Alexander Batischev :

I want workspace layout to reset to some default once last window is closed. Quick glance though Xmonad-related modules names didn't give me any hints on what hook (or some other facility) to use, so I'm seeking your advice, fellow Xmonaders: how can I accomplish that?

To do this correctly, you'd need xmonad to inform you when it gets window deletion events. The best way to do that is to write a layout (modifier). I don't think a modifier that runs a particular action when the last window disappears has been written yet, but it seems like it shouldn't be too hard to do it once you've learned the basics of how layout works in xmonad. Alternately, if you're willing to only close windows via xmonad (e.g. mod+shift+c), you could make a keybinding like this one: import qualified Data.Set as S ((modMask .|. shiftMask, xK_c), do almostEmpty <- gets ((1 ==) . S.size . mapped) kill when almostEmpty (sendMessage (JumpToLayout blargle)) ) Caveat lector: this code is completely untested, and it certainly won't behave properly if the application closes itself (e.g. from a ^W or ^Q accelerator, from File -> Exit, by clicking a tray icon that hides the window, by middle-clicking the last tab in chromium/Firefox, etc.). Documentation for using the JumpToLayout message, which you will probably need for either solution, is available at http://xmonad.org/xmonad-docs/xmonad-contrib/XMonad-Layout-LayoutCombinators... Some documentation on extending xmonad (but, notably, missing the section on LayoutClass, which is what you would need for the real solution) is available at http://xmonad.org/xmonad-docs/xmonad-contrib/XMonad-Doc-Developing.html Good luck! ~d