up vote 57 down vote favorite
17

I want to disable the Super key, when I press Super nothing should happen.

How can I do that?

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The "Super" key (a.k.a. "Windows" key) acts like a meta key such as Ctrl and Alt. In Unity, it's supposed to open the Launcher. To open the applications menu, use Alt + F1. I've no idea how to disable it though. – Lekensteyn Feb 19 '12 at 12:10
up vote 64 down vote accepted

You can change that in Compiz.

  1. Install compizconfig-settings-manager

    sudo apt-get install compizconfig-settings-manager

  2. Hit Alt+F2, type about:config and hit Enter to open the Unity configuration.

  3. Change or disable the shortcut for Key to show the launcher as you like to free your Super key:

    enter image description here

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The tab layout is different now (in 13.04), but you click around you can still find the Launcher setting, and it still works. This is a blessing for Emacs users. – user100464 Aug 6 '13 at 14:32
    
This does not work anymore. I have no idea why but it appears like there is no way to disable the "Super" key showing the "search bar" in Ubuntu anymore (if there ever was a way). I've tried literally everything. – Mike May 5 '15 at 23:35
    
@Mike, it works for me (Ubuntu 15.04), it's like user100464 said, it's just in a different location – amit-hoze Sep 7 '15 at 19:48
2  
Works for me Ubuntu 15.10. The new location is "Ubuntu Unity Plugin > Launcher" – Nathanael Weiss Jan 24 '16 at 6:39
    
I disabled "Key to show the launcher", but now a new search felt pops up "type your command" when I press the super key. Ubuntu 17.04 – Peheje Sep 1 '17 at 8:34
up vote 14 down vote

Execute the following command and then log in Unity desktop environment again.

dconf write /org/compiz/profiles/unity/plugins/unityshell/show-launcher '""'

In Ubuntu 12.04 and later:

gconftool-2 --set "/apps/compiz-1/plugins/unityshell/screen0/options/show_launcher" --type string ""
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This is great for those of us who don't want to have to install compiz-settings-manager! – Programster Jul 5 '13 at 21:04
    
Has the way keyboard shortcuts work changed between Ubuntu 12.04 and 14.04? – gonzobrains Jan 16 '15 at 19:33
1  
On Ubuntu 14.04 (Trusty), I used gsettings set org.compiz.integrated show-hud "['']". – Mikel May 12 '15 at 23:43
2  
The dconf write ... worked for me in 16.04. – mmoya Sep 1 '16 at 9:55
    
@mmoya checked on Ubuntu 16.10 - didn't work: dconf write.. – yetanothercoder Oct 3 '17 at 8:12
up vote 9 down vote

Just putting the following lines into your ~/.Xmodmap and then log out and log in Unity again.

keycode 133 = NoSymbol
keycode 134 = NoSymbol
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I suspect that would prevent the user from assigning that key to any other function. – Edward Falk Nov 12 '14 at 1:02
    
Which is just what I needed. I actually add NoSymbol multiple times on each line in order to suppress its use with other modifier keys. Thanks! – gonzobrains Jan 8 '15 at 23:25
    
this is the simple thing thanks bro – Gujarat Santana Aug 4 '17 at 16:06

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