How to disable CMD+Q combination?

Solution 1:

Unfortunately, Firefox (at least the 3.6 version I experimented with) does not disable the command shortcut for Quit when you change it in System Preferences.

I think the quick and easy fix for this is to add ⌘Q as a global shortcut to something else innocuous. In my experiments, I found this to work:

1. Open System Preferences.
2. Click on the Keyboard pane.
3. Click Keyboard Shortcuts tab.
4. Click Exposé & Spaces shortcuts in the left side list.
5. Under "Exposé" change the shortcut for "Desktop" to ⌘Q

Now when you accidentally hit ⌘Q, your desktop will magically and amusingly appear reminding you of your folly. Hit ⌘Q again and you're back exactly where you were.

As a sidenote, after a while you may want to change this back after you "unlearn" your behaviour. ⌘Q, the Mac equivalent to "ALT-F4" has been the standard shortcut since the introduction of the Macintosh, and like the other "standard" shortcuts ⌘W,⌘Z,⌘C,⌘V and so on, it's best to learn them to ease use of other Mac computers or when you upgrade.

Solution 2:

Here's how to change that particular shortcut for Firefox:

1. Open System Preferences. This is in the Applications folder.
2. Go to the Keyboard pane, and click the Keyboard Shortcuts tab.
3. Click the [+] button near the bottom.
4. Select Firefox from the Application menu. For Menu Title, type 'Quit Firefox' (without the quotes)
5. For the Keyboard Shortcut, push a key combination that you're not likely to hit by accident (control-q, for example).
6. Open Firefox. Now, cmd-q does nothing (you can quit with ctrl-q, or whatever you set it to).

Hope this helps.