This is most likely because operating systems like Windows and OSX don’t give you the freedom to switch, but in Linux: its an entirely different playing field. Hopefully this is helpful to someone.Window managers are arguably the most important program on your computer, yet they are widely unthought of by end-users. Restarting Awesome also resets the number of master windows to the default. To correct this, change the number of master windows back using the other Mod4+shift+h/l shortcut.

Now that all windows are in the master area, changing the master width factor will not change how the windows are displayed.

So if two windows are open, one in the stacking area and one in the master area, and I increase the number of master windows by 1, the window in the stacking area will move to the master area. Instead of reversing the effect of a Mod4+h/l, this shortcut increases or decreases the number of master windows by 1. The other problem was that, in attempting to find a keyboard shortcut that would fix resizing, I would try Mod4+shift+h/l. One is that changing the master width factor is not supported in some layouts, so in those layouts, the shortcuts will not work. There were two reasons I was having problems. Mod4+h increases the master width factor, meaning the master area becomes smaller, and Mod4+l does the opposite. The Master width factor determines where the line between the two areas is. What the user experiences as 'resizing' is controlled by two properties within each layout: The 'master width factor' and the number of master windows. The thumbnail in the top right corner for the tiled layouts is supposed to show the division between the master area and the stacking area. The spiral and dwindle layout are special cases of the tiled layout where the stacking area is arranged in a spiral for the former or as a rectangular fractal for the later. Dialog windows are always managed floating, regardless of the layout applied. In floating layout windows can be resized and moved freely. The master area contains the windows which currently need most attention, whereas the stacking area contains all other windows. In tiled layout windows are managed in a master and stacking area.

Awesome desktop manager