Unable to use IntelliJ IDEA keyboard shortcuts on Ubuntu

Question

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.

score 223 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 20 '21 at 12:04

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

Francisco C. · Answer 2 · 2016-07-02T18:54:33.927

40

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.

edited Jul 02 '16 at 18:54

answered Jun 25 '16 at 05:18

Francisco C.

509

score 30 · Answer 3 · edited Jul 10 '18 at 06:45

30

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

edited Jul 10 '18 at 06:45

Sebastian

614

answered May 06 '18 at 09:42

think

401

Jonas Gröger · Answer 4 · 2018-06-25T09:21:47.273

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

score 5 · Answer 5 · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:24

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.

score 4 · Answer 6 · answered Sep 12 '19 at 18:59

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 []

score 2 · Answer 7 · answered Feb 24 '16 at 11:15

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

score 2 · Answer 8 · answered Nov 28 '17 at 20:53

2

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)

answered Nov 28 '17 at 20:53

guzoff

121

score 1 · Answer 9 · answered Jun 13 '16 at 22:08

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.

score 0 · Answer 10 · answered Sep 04 '18 at 05:28

I use Xneur to switch mistyped text to other language. My system langauge is chaged by Ctrl + Shift what blocks Intellij hotkeys like Ctrl + Shift + F (Global search) and Ctrl + Shift + C (Comment). So left shift is ignored.

One solution is to change language using Ctrl_L + Shift_L and use Ctrl_R + Shift_R for Intellij. But it is some kind of discomfort.
The other solution is to use Xneur (sudo ap-get install xneur) to retype mistyped text in other language. You can disable any system langauge switching and assign it to xneur hotkeys (the same Ctrl+Shift). Xneur can be added to autostarted apps.

Adam Kučera · Answer 11 · 2019-10-14T11:50:29.967

0

In addition to changing the system key bindings as suggested by the accepted answer or to changing the IDEA key map, I suggest to also check any running applications if their key maps do not clash with IDEA.

In my case in was Clipit and its Ctrl + Alt + P and Ctrl + Alt + O.

Check out this answer for more extensive tutorial on how to find conflicting apps.

edited Oct 14 '19 at 11:50

answered Oct 14 '19 at 11:40

Adam Kučera

101

score 0 · Answer 12 · answered Oct 21 '22 at 16:54

I had this problem after configuring some keymaps for my i3wm on Ubuntu.

To make work againg, on Gnome, I did:

Open GNOME Tweaks (Install it, if you don't have)
Go to Keyboard & Mouse
Click in button "Aditional Layout Options"
I Removed aditional configs. In my case was "Switching to another layout" and "Alt + Shift".

After that my Webstorm was able to get all my "alt + shift" keymaps.

score 0 · Answer 13 · answered Oct 29 '17 at 09:22

0

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.

answered Oct 29 '17 at 09:22

Cengkuru Michael

101

Unable to use IntelliJ IDEA keyboard shortcuts on Ubuntu

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