Make Ctrl-Alt-T to open a terminal tab if any terminal was open

Question

Is there a way to get Ctrl+Alt+T to open a terminal tab, if you already have an open terminal, instead of another terminal window?

I have already changed my preferences to open new terminals in tab. (I still want the key binding to open a terminal if none are open.)

score 3 · Accepted Answer · edited Apr 28 '17 at 09:51

Here is what I've done and it did the job pretty good.

change gnome-terminal preferences to default if you have changed it.
so, set the Ctrl+Shift+t as shortcut for opening a new tab.
We need xdotool (it's around 30KB) install it via:
```
sudo apt install xdotool
```
Now create a file (e.g in your home named .custom-terminal-key.sh) and put these lines in it (Thanks to Jacob Vlijm):
```
#!/bin/bash

if [[ "$(xprop -id "$(xdotool getactivewindow)" WM_CLASS)" == *"gnome-terminal"* ]]; then
  sleep 0.1
  xdotool key ctrl+shift+t
elif ! pgrep 'gnome-terminal'; then
  gnome-terminal
fi
```
Every time we run it, if any gnome-terminal was open, it will simulate a Ctrl+Shift+t key binding, otherwise it runs gnome-terminal.
Finally we change the default behavior of Ctrl+Alt+t, instead of opening a terminal every time you press these, it will run our script.
```
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.default-applications.terminal exec '/home/USER/.custom-terminal-key.sh'
```
Change USER with your real username.
Don't forget to give our script the executable bit:
```
chmod +x ~/.custom-terminal-key.sh
```

We are done.

Whenever you changed your mind just run:

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.default-applications.terminal exec 'gnome-terminal'

Remove our script rm ~/.custom-terminal-key.sh and xdotool: sudo apt remove xdotool.

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 05 '24 at 23:04

Here is a simple way that worked for me on Ubuntu 22:

Install the dependency wm-ctrl with sudo apt install wmctrl
Write a script .custom-terminal-key.sh and place it in under your home directory ~:

#!/bin/bash
win_id=$(wmctrl -l | grep "Terminal" | awk '{print $1}')
if [ -n "$win_id" ]; then
    wmctrl -ia "$win_id"
else
    gnome-terminal &
fi

chmod +x .custom-terminal-key.sh

Open up Settings > Keyboard > View and Customize Shortcuts > Custom Shortcuts (scroll to bottom)
Add a shortcut with any name, the command /home/USER/.custom-terminal-key.sh, and bind it to Ctrl-Alt-T

2 Answers2