SCRIPT: #!/bin/bash current="$(wmctrl -d | awk '/\*/ {print $1}')" currentopen="$(wmctrl -l | awk -v "curr=$current" 'curr==$2')" opennames="$(echo "$currentopen" | awk '{for (i=4; i <= NF; i++) printf("%s%c", $i, (i==NF)?ORS:OFS)}')" echo "\$opennames output:" echo "$opennames" echo "\$s output:" for s in $opennames; do echo "$s" done OUTPUT IN TERMINAL: [kittykatt@arch-laptop][~]$ sh openwindowstest.sh $opennames output: XChat: KittyKatt @ [1]FreeNode / #bash (+Ccntl 600) - kittykatt@arch-laptop:~ $s output: XChat: KittyKatt @ [1]FreeNode / #bash (+Ccntl 600) - kittykatt@arch-laptop:~ [kittykatt@arch-laptop][~]$