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Rodrigo Sasaki
Asked: 2014-01-29 04:01:01 +0800 CST

Unable to use IntelliJ IDEA keyboard shortcuts on Ubuntu

  • 772

I am very new to Ubuntu, and I'm having a problem that I don't know how to get it fixed. I even tried looking it up on the web for answers, but maybe I don't know the right terms to search for it.

I work with IntelliJ IDEA, an application for development. And I am very used to the keyboard shortcuts, but when I made the switching from Windows XP to Ubuntu 13.10, some shortcuts don't work anymore. For example, such as;

  • Ctrl + Alt + ←
  • Alt + F8

Is there any reason as to why? and are there any fix for this? Or maybe just something to guide me on my searching

Thank you all very much in advance.

shortcut-keys

12 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    As a bit of reading taught me, Intellij IDEA is a keyboard-centric IDE. What it means is that a user can work with it without touching the mouse. Also, I've managed to find to keymap settings:

    For Ubuntu

    See How to change keyboard shortcuts?

    Here’s a list of tweaks you need to make with default system key bindings so that they won’t interfere with IntelliJ IDEA actions (listed in brackets).

    • Disable the Shade window action, assigned to Ctrl + Alt + S (Settings dialog)
    • Change or disable the Lock Screen action, assigned to Ctrl + Alt + L (Reformat code)
    • Change or disable the Launch terminal action, assigned to Ctrl + Alt + T (Surround with)
    • Change or disable the Switch to workspace action, assigned to Ctrl + Alt + Arrow Keys (Navigation)
    • Disable the Move window action, assigned to Alt + F7 (Find usages)
    • Change or disable the Resize window action, assigned to Alt + F8 (Evaluate expression)

    Hope this helps!

    Note: You can always revert Ubuntu shortcuts back to its default state. Just refer to How can I restore default keyboard shortcuts?, in case if you're lost.

    Source: -- Intellij IDEA Keymap

    • 219

  2. I ran into this problem too, my solution, however, was different.

    No hack or changing your systemwide keymap required

    IntelliJ has different Keymaps, which you can change according to your OS.

    You can change your IntelliJ Keymap from the settings.

    Just go to Settings -> Keymap and select your desired keymap from the dropdown. In my case, I chose "Default for GNOME" since I am using Ubuntu Gnome 16.04.

    • 40

  3. For ubuntu 18.04 LTS ctrl + alt + left （Intellij idea shortcut conflict）

    • install Dconf Editor in ubuntu software

    • launch Dconf Editor, go to /org/gnome/desktop/wm/keybindings/switch-to-workspace-left

    • double click like below

    • use default value (click Off) -> Custom value (like me or else)

    • you could use it in intellij idea now

    enter image description here

    • 29

  4. I have created this script that disables all clashing shortcuts between Ubuntu (tested with 15.10) and IntelliJ (and probably more Jetbrains products). It disables them in Ubuntu.

    It also creates a backup file so that you can restore your previous settings.

    To not have some shortcuts disabled, comment them out in the KEYS array.

    #!/bin/bash
set -euo pipefail

# Disables Ubuntu shortcuts that clash with IntelliJ Idea (and probably other
# Jetbrain products).
#
# Creates a backup file to restore the previous settings. To not have some
# shortcuts disabled, comment them out in the `KEYS` array.
#
# Tested on : Ubuntu 15.10
# Author    : Jonas Gröger

readonly BACKUP_FILE="undo-fix-shortcuts-$(date +%s%N).sh"
readonly KEYS=(
    "/org/gnome/desktop/wm/keybindings/toggle-shaded"
    "/org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/media-keys/screensaver"
    "/org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/media-keys/terminal"
    "/org/gnome/desktop/wm/keybindings/switch-to-workspace-down"
    "/org/gnome/desktop/wm/keybindings/switch-to-workspace-up"
    "/org/gnome/desktop/wm/keybindings/switch-to-workspace-left"
    "/org/gnome/desktop/wm/keybindings/switch-to-workspace-right"
    "/org/gnome/desktop/wm/keybindings/begin-move"
    "/org/gnome/desktop/wm/keybindings/begin-resize"
    # To disable resetting a value, just comment out the line
)
readonly DISABLED_VALUE="['disabled']"

main() {
    # Make backup
    printf "#!/bin/bash\n" >>  "$BACKUP_FILE"
    for key in "${KEYS[@]}"; do
        local value
        value=$(dconf read "$key")
        printf "dconf write \"%s\" \"%s\"\n" "$key" "$value" >> "$BACKUP_FILE"
    done

    # Disable all Ubuntu shortcuts
    for key in "${KEYS[@]}"; do
        dconf write "$key" "$DISABLED_VALUE"
    done
}
main

    You can get it from here: 

    wget -O fix-shortcuts.sh https://gist.githubusercontent.com/JonasGroeger/94cfa1071fa12572f465/raw/fix-shortcuts.sh
    • 9

  5. See here for a way to disable Ubuntu shortcuts programmatically and only if windows of certain applications are active.

    Specifically, use these values (assuminging you use the JetBrains Toolbox with its standard install path; adapt otherwise):

    apppattern = "JetBrains"
backupfile = "~/.local/share/JetBrains/keymap_backup"

    While the script runs, Ubuntu shortcuts will always work except when IDEA et al. have focus.

    I have a collection of JetBrains-specific shortcuts here; input is appreciated.

    • 4

  6. Just to expand a little bit on AzkerM's excellent answer:

    • Disable the Move window action, assigned to Alt + F7 (Find usages)
      • from Settings --> Keyboard --> Shortcuts --> Windows --> Move Window
    • Change or disable the Resize window action, assigned to Alt + F8 (Evaluate expression)
      • from Settings --> Keyboard --> Shortcuts --> Windows --> Resize Window
    • 2

  7. Just some quick workaround:
    If you have a "Windows" key on your keyboard, you can just add it to the whole shortcut combination - it should work. For example:

    • Ctrl + Win + Alt + T (Surround with)
    • Win + Alt + F8 (Evaluate expression)
    • 2

  8. Additionally, I suggest to disable all shortcuts for workspaces (if you don't use it) via the following commands:

    gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.keybindings switch-to-workspace-up []
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.keybindings switch-to-workspace-down []
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.keybindings switch-to-workspace-left []
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.keybindings switch-to-workspace-right []
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.keybindings move-to-workspace-right []
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.keybindings move-to-workspace-up []
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.keybindings move-to-workspace-left []
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.keybindings move-to-workspace-down []
    • 2

  9. I am running Ubuntu 16.04 and what was happening is when I used these key strokes (ctrl-alt-left/right), the window was resizing and placing itself to the right or left of my screen. I tried disabling these key bindings in: Settings/Keyboard/Navigation, even though I don't have workspaces enabled. It still didn't prevent the behavior I was seeing.

    Fortunately, I opened up Compiz and stumbled across the Window Management/Grid plugin that was mapping these keys to place windows in a grid position. I disabled this plugin and now my IntelliJ key shortcuts work fine with ctrl-alt-left/right.

    • 1

  10. For Ubuntu 16.04 go to settings > Keyboard and find the particular combination conflicting with your desired out click on it and update the combination to a new one.

    • 0