Make keyboard in Ubuntu 14.04 act like in Windows?
I am a veteran programmer used to using Windows primarily for coding. I am now doing a lot of coding on Linux using Ubuntu 14.04. I'm really enjoying the distro but the default keyboard behaviour is driving me batty.
In Windows, I use the arrows on the numeric keypad for navigating text. However, when it comes to highlighting while navigating this is where Ubuntu's default keyboard behaviour is unwanted (for me). On Windows, to highlight text for editing purposes I hold the Shift key down while navigating. For example, to highlight one word to the right I press Ctrl + Shift + (Num Keypad) Right Arrow. In Ubuntu, Ctrl + (Num Keypad) Right Arrow moves one word to the right but Ctrl + (Num Keypad) Right Arrow does nothing or prints the "6" character depending on the app.
If I use the mini-keypad (all arrows) then Ctrl + Shift works like in Windows, but not the arrows on the numeric keypad, which is what I want instead. How can I make the numeric keypad in Ubuntu work like it does in Windows? I don't see anything in System | Preferences | Keyboard that seems to help.
Solution 1:
For some versions of Ubuntu (as well as Linux Mint), there's a built-in setting for this:
- Open "Keyboard" preferences via "System Settings."
- Click the "Options" button.
- Click on "Miscellaneous keyboard options."
- Select "Shift with numeric keys works as in MS Windows."
For other versions, including Ubuntu 14.04, that setting isn't available by default, but there's an easy solution:
- Open a terminal and run
sudo apt-get install gnome-tweak-tool. - Run
gnome-tweak-tool. - Click on "Typing."
- Click on "Miscellaneous compatibility options."
- Select "Shift with numeric keypad keys works as in MS Windows" (which may only appear as "Shift with numeric keypad ke...").
Solution 2:
https://askubuntu.com/questions/57079/xubuntu-make-shiftnumpad-work-like-windows
This answer is via Linux command-line: - edit /etc/default/keyboard - make sure it contains this line
XKBOPTIONS="numpad:microsoft"