How can I restore default keyboard shortcuts?

Question

I have customized some of the shortcuts in System ▸ Preferences ▸ Keyboard Shortcuts.

How can I restore individual shortcuts to their default settings? I do not want to reset all of the shortcuts, just a few of my choice.

Answer 1

It looks like the way keyboard shortcuts are implemented has slightly changed for Ubuntu 13.04

The shortcut settings are saved in the following locations (may be different for 12.10):

org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.media-keys
org.compiz.integrated
org.gnome.desktop.wm.keybindings
org.gnome.shell.keybindings

You can find these in the dconf-editor application, then using the "Set to Default" button to reset each desired entry. dconf-editor can be installed at the command line with sudo apt-get install dconf-tools.

Otherwise, you could also try resetting any one of the locations by using the following command in the terminal:

gsettings reset-recursively <insert location>

(e.g. gsettings reset-recursively org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.media-keys)

Answer 2

On Ubuntu 17.10 (in the new settings window):

Choose Settings > Devices > Keyboard, then Reset All...

Answer 3

Use the dconf editor then go to org.gnome.desktop.wm.keybindings. Anything that is bold has been modified and you can click on Set to Default on the lower right for those entries.

Answer 4

gsettings reset-recursively  org.gnome.desktop.wm.keybindings

Answer 5

In Ubuntu 13.04 it's looking like a lot of the shortcuts can be found at org->gnome->settings-daemon->plugins->media-keys. I was able to reset my volume buttons with it and I didn't even need to look up the default values as there's a reset button.

Answer 6

This worked for me without restarting Ubuntu or Gnome Desktop. I had tried using "Shutter" for screen capture, and it changed some hotkey bindings for PrintScreen and Alt+PrintScreen. After uninstalling Shutter I needed to restore the hotkey settings that it had changed. I was able to change my hotkey bindings for those keys by running gconf-editor (from a terminal window) and then changing settings in both of these places:

• apps->metacity->global_keybindings
• apps->metacity->keybinding_commands

I'm running Ubuntu 10.04 LTS, Gnome Desktop 2.30.2

Answer 7

Here is something I discovered by accident:

Open gconf-editor (press Alt+F2 and type in gconf-editor).

Find the setting you want to reset. I found several places they are located:

1. Apps > gnome_settings_daemon > keybindings

2. Apps > metacity > global_keybindings

3. Apps > metacity > window_keybindings

There may be others.

Right click on the setting, and click 'Unset Key'. This will restore it to the default setting.

Answer 8

Building DoR's answer, this simple script, typed at the command line, will reset all shortcuts:

cd /usr/share/gnome-control-center/keybindings
for entry in $(grep KeyListEntry * |cut -d'/' -f2- |cut -d'"' -f1); do
    echo $entry
    gconftool -u "/$entry"
done

Answer 9

They key bindings stored in the gconf database, but they aren't all in the same place unfortunately.

However, you can get a list of all the key bindings gconf keys by looking in the files located in /usr/share/gnome-control-center/keybindings/.

For example, /usr/share/gnome-control-center/keybindings/01-desktop-key.xml contains the list of keys for all the shortcuts Keyboard Shortcuts lists under Desktop.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<KeyListEntries name="Desktop">

<KeyListEntry name="/apps/gnome_settings_daemon/keybindings/help"/>

<KeyListEntry name="/apps/gnome_settings_daemon/keybindings/calculator"/>

<KeyListEntry name="/apps/gnome_settings_daemon/keybindings/email"/>

<KeyListEntry name="/apps/gnome_settings_daemon/keybindings/www"/>

<KeyListEntry name="/apps/gnome_settings_daemon/keybindings/power"/>

<KeyListEntry name="/apps/gnome_settings_daemon/keybindings/screensaver"/>

<KeyListEntry name="/apps/gnome_settings_daemon/keybindings/home"/>

<KeyListEntry name="/apps/gnome_settings_daemon/keybindings/search"/>

</KeyListEntries>

Once you know the key name you can restore it to its default value.

For example, let's say you want to restore the shortcut to launch the calculator,

Simply run:

gconftool -u "/apps/gnome_settings_daemon/keybindings/calculator"

Answer 10

You can't. But you can see what are default values if you press help and click Section 1.2 ― Keyboard Skills and then on the right you have a list of key grous:

• Global Shortcut Keys
• Window Shortcut Keys
• Application Keys
• Access Keys

regards