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Ubuntu 14.04

I know that Ctrl + Pagedown/Pageup is used for tab switching Also we can change it in Edit > Keyboard shortcuts. I want to change the shortcut to Ctrl + Tab (forward) and Ctrl + Shift + Tab (previous) but it doesn't let me do so. I am habitual of changing tabs with these keys (as in browsers). Is there anyway to change the shortcut to Ctrl + Tab? So far I am using ` and ~ (exactly above the tab key) for my ease. but tab would be wonderful.

Thanks in advance

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This has been known for years. Referring to this bug report from 2007 it says:

comment from upstream:

"There are a couple of keys which are not candidates to be keyboard accelerators, independently of the modifiers. Tab is one of those keys, as it (with various combinations of modifiers) are reserved by gtk for its own use and the window manager.

In other words, for gnome-terminal Tab is a special key and you cannot use it as part of a shortcut.

The alternative I can suggest is to assign Ctrl + Tab to the xdotool key Ctrl+Page_Down command. xdotool is a program that allows simulating mouse behavior,key presses, and window controlling functions (very very versatile tool). I have used it quite a lot, so by this point if it's installed by default, so you will need to install it with sudo apt-get install xdotool. Basically you will be pressing Ctrl + Tab but xdotool will simulate the Ctrl + Pg_Down. Same idea with the reverse cycling shorcut.

The big disadvantage is that this is a global action, meaning that if some other program has Ctrl + Tab shortcut that isn't for tab switching, it will definitely conflict with that program. Another disadvantage is that you cannot hold Ctrl and keep on pressing Tab repeatedly. Only the whole shortcut works and once at a time.

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    I have made myself used to ctrl + pgup/pgdn. As this works in most apps :) Mar 24, 2016 at 14:02
  • For the caveats explained in this answer, the solution at askubuntu.com/a/875482/95056 from the referenced bug report is much better.
    – mlncn
    Sep 3, 2021 at 2:21

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