How can I restore default keyboard shortcuts?

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.

3

11 Answers

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

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`

1

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"

2

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

1

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

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

1

On Ubuntu 17.10 (in the new settings window):

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

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.

2

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.

dconf dump + load mass export and restore

1. Dump them all to a file:

   dconf dump / >~/.config/dconf/user.conf

2. Open that file on a text editor and select the settings that you care about:

   editor ~/.config/dconf/user.conf

   If you use Vim, you will want this syntax highlight.

   You will soon ask yourself what is <Primary>.

3. If you don't know the name of the setting, but know how to modify it from a GUI like unity-control-center, run:

   dconf watch /

   and then modify them. The exact setting will then appear on the terminal.

4. When you want to restore those settings, run:

   dconf load / <~/.config/dconf/user.conf

5. Git track the config file to never lose it. is my current favorite method.

Tested on Ubuntu 15.10.

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

1

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.

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