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Asked: 2010-12-16 10:54:34 +0800 CST

How can I restore default keyboard shortcuts?

  • 772

I have customized some of the shortcuts in System ▸ Preferences ▸ Keyboard Shortcuts.

How can I restore individual shortcuts to their default settings? I do not want to reset all of the shortcuts, just a few of my choice.

shortcut-keys

11 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    It looks like the way keyboard shortcuts are implemented has slightly changed for Ubuntu 13.04

    The shortcut settings are saved in the following locations (may be different for 12.10):

    org.gnome.desktop.wm.keybindings
org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.media-keys
org.gnome.shell.keybindings
org.compiz.integrated

    You can find these in the dconf-editor application, then using the "Set to Default" button to reset each desired entry. dconf-editor can be installed at the command line with sudo apt-get install dconf-tools.

    Otherwise, you could also try resetting any one of the locations by using the following command in the terminal:

    gsettings reset-recursively <insert location>

    E.g.:

    gsettings reset-recursively org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.media-keys`
    • 41

  2. They key bindings stored in the gconf database, but they aren't all in the same place unfortunately.

    However, you can get a list of all the key bindings gconf keys by looking in the files located in /usr/share/gnome-control-center/keybindings/.

    For example, /usr/share/gnome-control-center/keybindings/01-desktop-key.xml contains the list of keys for all the shortcuts Keyboard Shortcuts lists under Desktop.

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<KeyListEntries name="Desktop">
  <KeyListEntry name="/apps/gnome_settings_daemon/keybindings/help"/>
  <KeyListEntry name="/apps/gnome_settings_daemon/keybindings/calculator"/>
  <KeyListEntry name="/apps/gnome_settings_daemon/keybindings/email"/>
  <KeyListEntry name="/apps/gnome_settings_daemon/keybindings/www"/>
  <KeyListEntry name="/apps/gnome_settings_daemon/keybindings/power"/>
  <KeyListEntry name="/apps/gnome_settings_daemon/keybindings/screensaver"/>
  <KeyListEntry name="/apps/gnome_settings_daemon/keybindings/home"/>
  <KeyListEntry name="/apps/gnome_settings_daemon/keybindings/search"/>
</KeyListEntries>

    Once you know the key name you can restore it to its default value.

    For example, let's say you want to restore the shortcut to launch the calculator,

    screenshot

    Simply run:

    gconftool -u "/apps/gnome_settings_daemon/keybindings/calculator"

    screenshot

    • 13

  3. Building DoR's answer, this simple script, typed at the command line, will reset all shortcuts:

    cd /usr/share/gnome-control-center/keybindings
for entry in $(grep KeyListEntry * |cut -d'/' -f2- |cut -d'"' -f1); do
    echo $entry
    gconftool -u "/$entry"
done
    • 7 
  4. gsettings reset-recursively  org.gnome.desktop.wm.keybindings
    • 7

  5. You can't. But you can see what are default values if you press help and click Section 1.2 ― Keyboard Skills and then on the right you have a list of key grous:

    • Global Shortcut Keys
    • Window Shortcut Keys
    • Application Keys
    • Access Keys

    regards

    • 5

  6. On Ubuntu 17.10 (in the new settings window):

    enter image description here

    Choose Settings > Devices > Keyboard, then Reset All...

    • 3

  7. Here is something I discovered by accident:

    Open gconf-editor (press Alt+F2 and type in gconf-editor).

    Find the setting you want to reset. I found several places they are located:

    1. Apps > gnome_settings_daemon > keybindings

    2. Apps > metacity > global_keybindings

    3. Apps > metacity > window_keybindings

    There may be others.

    Right click on the setting, and click 'Unset Key'. This will restore it to the default setting.

    • 1

  8. In Ubuntu 13.04 it's looking like a lot of the shortcuts can be found at org->gnome->settings-daemon->plugins->media-keys. I was able to reset my volume buttons with it and I didn't even need to look up the default values as there's a reset button.

    • 1

  9. dconf dump + load mass export and restore

    1. Dump them all to a file:

      dconf dump / >~/.config/dconf/user.conf

    2. Open that file on a text editor and select the settings that you care about:

      editor ~/.config/dconf/user.conf

      If you use Vim, you will want this syntax highlight.

      You will soon ask yourself what is <Primary>.

    3. If you don't know the name of the setting, but know how to modify it from a GUI like unity-control-center, run:

      dconf watch /

      and then modify them. The exact setting will then appear on the terminal.

    4. When you want to restore those settings, run:

      dconf load / <~/.config/dconf/user.conf

    5. Git track the config file to never lose it. https://github.com/andsens/homeshick is my current favorite method.

    Tested on Ubuntu 15.10.

    • 1

  10. This worked for me without restarting Ubuntu or Gnome Desktop. I had tried using "Shutter" for screen capture, and it changed some hotkey bindings for PrintScreen and Alt+PrintScreen. After uninstalling Shutter I needed to restore the hotkey settings that it had changed. I was able to change my hotkey bindings for those keys by running gconf-editor (from a terminal window) and then changing settings in both of these places:

    • apps->metacity->global_keybindings
    • apps->metacity->keybinding_commands

    I'm running Ubuntu 10.04 LTS, Gnome Desktop 2.30.2

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