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neydroydrec
Asked: 2012-08-19 09:36:55 +0800 CST

How to set keyboard-shortcut to Meta in Kubuntu?

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I would like to set a shortcut for the Run-Command in Kubuntu 12.04, where the shortcut key would be the Win key (aka Meta).

The Global Keyboard Shortcut settings however does not allow me to use the Meta key alone, but rather in combination with some other key.

As a keyboard-power-user, I find this frustrating: I want to open-search as fast as possible and the Win key is a perfect candidate, which I used to use with Gnome or XFCE.

Is there a possibility to override this rule preventing me from using the Meta key alone as a shortcut key?

12.04

1 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    Meta key can't be used as a shortcut alone, because Qt, and therefore KDE, uses it only as a modifier.

    But you can set it to some two-key shortcut that you like. Go to Global Keyboard Shortcuts – KDE Control Module, look for something like KRunner or Command Run Interface in KDE component and change the Alt+F2 keyboard shortcut to something like Meta+Space.

    And if you really want to have it mapped to just the Meta key, I found a solution in this article. It suggests to remap the Meta key to some other key like F13.
    Just add the line xmodmap -e 'keycode 133 = F13' to your autostart script. Then you should run the same line in a terminal or just relogin for it to take effect.
    If you want to do it with different keys, use xev | grep keycode, press the keys and look at the output.

    Then change the shortcut as usual, and when you press the Meta key, it will show up as F13. Note that F13 won't work as a modifier key, so you can't make key combinations with it, and also some applications might need to use the Meta key itself, so that won't work too.

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