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I've successfully configured four workspaces by using the switcher applet, but I can't find where to configure shortcuts (like ctrl+alt+left to move to the one on the left).

Some resources says it should be under Preferences > Keyboard Shortcuts, but I can only find entries for Sound, Desktop (including lock screen, home folder, search, calc and other apps) and Custom ones.

Is something missing in my install? Is it possible to include by hand those shortcuts? Should I just ditch MATE workspaces and use Compiz ones (that do not integrate with the windows applet)?

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  • possible duplicate of askubuntu.com/questions/9576/…
    – pfeiffep
    May 11, 2016 at 22:58
  • not exactly a duplicate as those options do not appear in my Shortcuts editor
    – igorsantos07
    May 15, 2016 at 19:07
  • I have the same problem: I configured my short-cuts in 15.10 and they are retained in 16.04.1, but the Windows Management entries are missing from Keyboard Shortcuts, although Help says they should be there, as does the answer below. I don't know if it's specifically a Mate problem - my 15.10 was Ubuntu Gnome.
    – AFH
    Oct 1, 2016 at 14:23

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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These settings are normally found in Keyboard Shortcuts:

System > Preferences > Hardware > Keyboard Shortcuts

https://roseannastar.files.wordpress.com/2016/08/keyboardshortcuts.png

Click where it shows the key combo or says 'disabled' and press the key combination you want.

If you cannot use this feature for some reason or you prefer a CLI method, use Gsettings.

Here are all the possible keybindings for workspace manipulation and their likely default values:

org.mate.Marco.global-keybindings switch-to-workspace-left '<Control><Alt>Left'
org.mate.Marco.global-keybindings switch-to-workspace-11 'disabled'
org.mate.Marco.global-keybindings switch-to-workspace-10 'disabled'
org.mate.Marco.global-keybindings switch-to-workspace-1 'disabled'
org.mate.Marco.global-keybindings switch-to-workspace-12 'disabled'
org.mate.Marco.global-keybindings switch-to-workspace-4 'disabled'
org.mate.Marco.global-keybindings switch-to-workspace-2 'disabled'
org.mate.Marco.global-keybindings switch-to-workspace-3 'disabled'
org.mate.Marco.global-keybindings switch-to-workspace-7 'disabled'
org.mate.Marco.global-keybindings switch-to-workspace-5 'disabled'
org.mate.Marco.global-keybindings switch-to-workspace-6 'disabled'
org.mate.Marco.global-keybindings switch-to-workspace-8 'disabled'
org.mate.Marco.global-keybindings switch-to-workspace-prev 'disabled'
org.mate.Marco.global-keybindings switch-to-workspace-right '<Control><Alt>Right'
org.mate.Marco.global-keybindings switch-to-workspace-9 'disabled'
org.mate.Marco.global-keybindings switch-to-workspace-down '<Control><Alt>Down'
org.mate.Marco.global-keybindings switch-to-workspace-up '<Control><Alt>Up'
org.mate.Marco.window-keybindings move-to-workspace-8 'disabled'
org.mate.Marco.window-keybindings move-to-workspace-10 'disabled'
org.mate.Marco.window-keybindings move-to-workspace-12 'disabled'
org.mate.Marco.window-keybindings move-to-workspace-11 'disabled'
org.mate.Marco.window-keybindings move-to-workspace-left '<Control><Shift><Alt>Left'
org.mate.Marco.window-keybindings move-to-workspace-down '<Control><Shift><Alt>Down'
org.mate.Marco.window-keybindings move-to-workspace-1 'disabled'
org.mate.Marco.window-keybindings move-to-workspace-2 'disabled'
org.mate.Marco.window-keybindings move-to-workspace-3 'disabled'
org.mate.Marco.window-keybindings move-to-workspace-4 'disabled'
org.mate.Marco.window-keybindings move-to-workspace-5 'disabled'
org.mate.Marco.window-keybindings move-to-workspace-6 'disabled'
org.mate.Marco.window-keybindings move-to-workspace-7 'disabled'
org.mate.Marco.window-keybindings move-to-workspace-9 'disabled'
org.mate.Marco.window-keybindings move-to-workspace-up '<Control><Shift><Alt>Up'
org.mate.Marco.window-keybindings move-to-workspace-right '<Control><Shift><Alt>Right'
org.mate.Marco.window-keybindings toggle-on-all-workspaces 'disabled'

To change one use the gsettings set command, for example 

gsettings set org.mate.Marco.window-keybindings move-to-workspace-3 '<Mod4>3'

This command sets super+3 as a shortcut to move the current window to workspace 3.

To remove a keybinding, set it to 'disabled'. See man gsettings for more detail. You may have to experiment to achieve exactly what you want.

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  • this still doesn't show up in my Ubuntu 16.04 (with backuped homedir from old install). Could this be related to Compiz being used in place of Marco? By running gsettings get org.mate.Marco.window-keybindings move-to-workspace-3 I did get "disabled", so it's not like the option is gone from my system...
    – igorsantos07
    Aug 9, 2016 at 3:50
  • I remember I posted this question when I had trouble with Compiz and was trying to live without it. Fortunately after a couple of weeks I got that thing sorted out, but it seems those options never showed up in the Keyboard Shortcuts screen.
    – igorsantos07
    Aug 9, 2016 at 3:50
  • 1
    Yeah I would guess it was because of using compiz... the schemas will be different presumably. Like in my other comment, try gsettings list-recursively | grep -i workspace ... but you fixed it anyway :)
    – Zanna ♦
    Aug 9, 2016 at 5:45
  • how can I add a new 'Key'? for example, I want to create a shortcut for 'caja', and when I try something like this: gsettings set org.mate.Marco.global-keybindings caja '<Control><Alt>e' I get this error: No such key “caja”
    – danilo
    Aug 1, 2019 at 13:30
  • I solved my problem, enabled a similar menu by installing and launching an app named gnome-control-center, when I stumbled upon this question.
    – FantomX1
    Oct 25, 2020 at 17:23

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