How to re-enable the caps lock key

keyboard-layoutx11xkbxmodmap

I am currently setting up my default keyboard layout like this:

setxkbmap -layout us -variant dvorak -option ctrl:nocaps,[...]

It disables the caps lock key and makes it an additional ctrl key, along with a swarm of other options.

I would like to do the following to switch keyboard layouts:

setxkbmap -layout us -variant dvorak-l -option ctrl:swapcaps

However, it does not re-enable the caps lock key; both the left control key and the caps lock stay as control keys as far as I can see.

I know I can clear the whole options list, but in the interest of maintainability, I would rather not copypaste the options around. How do I re-enable caps lock?

Update:
Looking at keypresses with xev(1), it appears ctrl:nocaps gives a Control_L for both keys, and ctrl:swapcaps "restores" the caps lock key (pressing the key gives Caps_Lock). However, the caps lock LED does not light up nor does it actually work.

Looking at the xkeyboard-config/symbols/ctrl file in X.org sources does hint at the problem:

xkb_symbols "nocaps" {
    replace key <CAPS>  {  [ Control_L, Control_L ] };
    modifier_map  Control { <CAPS>, <LCTL> };
};
xkb_symbols "swapcaps" {
    replace key <CAPS>  {  [ Control_L ] };
    replace key <LCTL>  {  [ Caps_Lock ] };
};

The latter option lacks a modifier_map line, whatever that does

Best Answer

The following commands should work:

xmodmap -e 'keycode 0x42 = Caps_Lock'

or

setxkbmap -option

The commands above work just fine to restore the default behaviour, which I hardly ever need, luckily.

I normally remap the capslock to Control (luckily VI/VIM supports CTRL-C instead of ESC) with the following command:

setxkbmap -option ctrl:nocaps -layout gb

Related Solutions

Remapping Caps Lock with Xmodmap Doesn’t Work – Fix

The xmodmap(1) man page has an example for exactly this

   !
   ! Swap Caps_Lock and Control_L
   !
   remove Lock = Caps_Lock
   remove Control = Control_L
   keysym Control_L = Caps_Lock
   keysym Caps_Lock = Control_L
   add Lock = Caps_Lock
   add Control = Control_L

but if you want to finish doing it the way you started, I think you need to add at least the remove and add lines

   remove Lock = Caps_Lock
   remove Control = Control_L
   keycode 37 = Caps_Lock
   keycode 66 = Control_L
   add Lock = Caps_Lock
   add Control = Control_L

I'm guessing that's the case based on this paragraph

   add MODIFIERNAME = KEYSYMNAME ...
           This adds all keys containing the given keysyms  to  the  indi‐
           cated  modifier  map.  The keysym names are evaluated after all
           input expressions are read to make it easy to write expressions
           to swap keys (see the EXAMPLES section).

which makes it sound like modifier changes (shift, control, etc.) don't get applied until you run that too.

(And logically the same with remove)

The keycode version has the advantage of being idempotent, meaning that the effect won't change if xmodmap is run multiple times.

Linux Mint Keyboard Shortcuts – Map Caps Lock to Control

You can accomplish this with xmodmap. Add the following to ~/.xmodmap:

remove Lock = Caps_Lock
keysym Caps_Lock = Control_L
add Control = Control_L

and run the command xmodmap ~/.xmodmap. You can put this command in whatever startup files are processed by your WM or DE. This will only work in X but it will work regardless of what graphical environment you use.

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