Ubuntu – How to cleanly swap alt and ctrl keys in xubuntu

keyboardkeyboard-layoutmacxubuntu

I have found many answers to this question, but none worked for me.

I'm using xubuntu 15.04.

I'm trying to swap the ctrl and alt keys.

I have tried that :
How to swap Command and Control keys with xkb step by step?

Nothing seems to change.

That, using altwin:ctrl_alt_win :
How do you remap a key to the Caps Lock key in Xubuntu?

It works, but only temporary…
So i tried to add alt win:ctrl_alt_win to /etc/default/keyboard and then dpkg-reconfigure keyboard-configuration but nothing changes.

Is there a simple and clean way to do that ?

Thanks

Best Answer

Quick answer: instead of alt win:ctrl_alt_win, you should use ctrl:swap_lalt_lctl to swap alt and ctrl keys.

Reference: type man keyboard, deep in, and you will find file /usr/share/doc/keyboard-configuration/xorg.lst contains options you need.

Related Solutions

Ubuntu – How to remap a key to the Caps Lock key in Xubuntu

Another way:

sudo vi /etc/default/keyboard

then find the line that starts with XKBOPTIONS, and add ctrl:nocaps to make Caps Lock an additional Control key or ctrl:swapcaps to swap Caps Lock and Control.

For example, mine looks like

XKBOPTIONS="lv3:ralt_alt,compose:menu,ctrl:nocaps"

then run

sudo dpkg-reconfigure keyboard-configuration

The reason this way is better is that it will take effect on the virtual consoles (e.g. Ctrl+Alt+F1) as well as in the graphical desktop.

Ubuntu – How to swap ctrl and alt keys in ubuntu 16.04

Edit the file /usr/share/X11/xkb/symbols/ctrl to add the following lines to swap Right Alt with Right Ctrl key:

// Swap the functions of the right Alt key and the right Ctrl key.
partial modifier_keys
xkb_symbols "swap_ralt_rctl" {
    replace key <RALT> { [ Control_R, Control_R ] };
    replace key <RCTL> { [ Alt_R, Meta_R ] };
};

Similarly you can add lines to swap Left Alt with Left Ctrl.

Edit the file /usr/share/X11/xkb/rules/evdev.lst to dd the following line in the ! option section:
```
ctrl:swap_ralt_rctl Swap Right Alt key with Right Ctrl key
```
Edit the file /usr/share/X11/xkb/rules/evdev to add the following line in the !option = symbols section:
```
ctrl:swap_ralt_rctl = +ctrl(swap_ralt_rctl)
```
Use dconf from dashboard (if necessary install it with apt-get install dconf-tools) and either of the following methods:
- Open dconf editor from dashboard and navigate to the key /org/gnome/desktop/input-sources/xkb-options and set its value to:
```
['ctrl:swap_lalt_lctl','ctrl:swap_ralt_rctl']
```
- Use dconf from terminal (probably the command below should work instead of the previous step, but I am not sure about it):
```
dconf write "/org/gnome/desktop/input-sources/xkb-options" "['ctrl:swap_lalt_lctl','ctrl:swap_ralt_rctl']"
```

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Ubuntu – How to remap a key to the Caps Lock key in Xubuntu

Ubuntu – How to swap ctrl and alt keys in ubuntu 16.04

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