Ubuntu – How to change keyboard shortcut for switching between windows of the same application

This was my problem too. Alt+<key above tab> didn't work to switch windows in the current application.

In addition, when i pressed and held down the super key to see the unity shortcuts, normally one would see this:

I'm assuming that is for a US keyboard? I stole the screenshot from another post, and on my danish keyboard it now shows Alt + Onehalf.

But when I had this problem, I did not see the line pointed to by the red arrow!!!

So check if you see a keyboard shortcut for "Switch windows of current application". If you don't this is for you:

The fix was as hinted at above to change the XKBMODEL setting in /etc/default/keyboard where I changed from XKBMODEL="microsoft4000" to XKBMODEL="pc105".

I did that and ran sudo dpkg-reconfigure keyboard-configuration. Not sure this last step was required.

Then I needed to reboot.

Now it works.

This appears to be a bug in Compiz (Unity's window manager), in that the Alt+` shortcuts should appear in its shortcut list, but instead they show as disabled.

To disable (or change) the Alt+` and Alt+Shift+` to switch between multiple windows of one application:

1. Click here to install the Compiz Settings Manager (CCSM) using the Software Center

   • Or install it from the terminal with sudo apt-get install compizconfig-settings-manager from the terminal

2. Start it from the Dash or by typing ccsm from the terminal.

   Statutory Warning: Compiz Config Settings Manager is an advanced tool and one tiny mistake, typo or an accidental click of the mouse can leave your desktop unusable, requiring time and effort to fix it. Please be very careful and follow instructions...thanks. If you mess up, please see this answer on how to fix things.

3. Type "Unity" in the filter box on the left, and click on the Ubuntu Unity Plugin:

   

4. Click on the Switcher Tab on top, and

   

   • Look for the Key to flip through windows in the switcher entry near the bottom (scroll down if necessary)
   • Click on the Disabled button next to it
   • Check the Enabled box on the "Edit Key" popup
   • The keys will show, and click on the Grab key combination button
   • Press any keyboard shortcut combination (it doesn't matter, unless you want to remap this behavior to another shortcut); this will appear beneath the box.
   • Click on OK, and this shortcut will now show in place of the Disabled button
   • Now click this button again, uncheck the Enabled box, and click on OK so that the shortcut again shows Disabled.

The Alt+` is now disabled. To also disable the reverse Alt+Shift+` shortcut, repeat step 4 for the Key to flip through windows in the switcher entry.

Finally, close CCSM and if you no longer need it, please consider uninstalling it.