Constantly moving from Mouse to keyboard and back to mouse is labourious, it slows down productivity and is painful. One of the ways which you can combat this is to make use of keyboard shortcuts.
No more taking your hands off the keyboard and reaching for the mouse to do things (that’s for mugs and Mac users).
Table of Contents
Super Key
Windows has it’s ugly Windows key, Apple have the Command key, Ubuntu has the Superkey, which a better name to start with.
By default the Superkey is the Windows key on a normal keyboard, but this can be changed.
Single tap
Tapping the Superkey once opens the search bar and tiles all your open apps. You can just type to search for an application.
To select a different running app / window use the mouse or arrow keys and click or press ENTER.
The same can be achieved by clicking the icon at the top of the Dock
Double tap
Tapping the Superkey twice in rapid succession allows you to switch desktop pager and displays the app menu.
You get the same effect as pressing the Ubuntu logo at the bottom of the Dock.
Accessibility
Toggle screen reader
SUPERKEY + ALT + S will enable / disable the screenreader.
Toggle screen zoom
SUPERKEY + ALT + 8 will toggle a zoom on the screen.
Multi-monitor
Move windows to other monitors
If you are lucky enough to have a multi-monitor setup, this is the one for you.
SUPERKEY + SHIFT + UP will move the current application one monitor up.
SUPERKEY + SHIFT + DOWN will move the current application one monitor down.
SUPERKEY + SHIFT + LEFT will move the current application one monitor left.
SUPERKEY + SHIFT + RIGHT will move the current application one monitor right.
Workspaces
Workspaces are a lifesaver, it allows you to switch between tasks and keep everything in one place.
Move apps to workspaces
SUPERKEY + SHIFT + PAGE DOWN will move the current application one workspace to the right.
SUPERKEY + SHIFT + PAGE UP will move the current application one workspace to the left.
Navigate workspaces
CTRL + ALT + LEFT or SUPERKEY + PAGE UP will navigate you to the previous workspace.
CTRL + ALT + RIGHT or SUPERKEY + PAGE DOWN will navigate you to the next workspaces.
SUPERKEY + HOME will switch you back to workspace 1, useful if this has your work on it and your boss is approaching.
SUPERKEY + END will switch you to the last workspace, now get back to playing Tux Racer on that workspace.
Screen recording
Reocrd a screencast
SHIFT + CTRL + ALT + R will allow you to record an interactive screencast.
Take a screenshot
SHIFT + PRINT will allow you to select an area to take a screenshot
ALT + PRINT will take a screenshot of the current window.
Opening Apps
Open Terminal
To quickly open the default terminal press CTRL + ALT + T
Popup run console
ALT + F2 will display a popup run console.
Interacting with the system / desktop
Open the settings dropdown
SUPERKEY + S will drop down the settings menu from the top right of the screen. It’s the bit where you can adjust speakers, connect to Wifi, etc.
Toggle Notification tray
SUPERKEY + M will toggle the notification tray on and off, useful to see the date, calendar, events or notifications.
Display the apps menu
Opening the apps menu can be done byyu double tapping the Superkey or by pressing SUPERKEY + A
Display the desktop
To minimise all the open windows at once and display the desktop press SUPERKEY + L
Apps
Close current application window
CTRL + Q will close the current application window.
Switch between apps
To switch between open apps, you can do one of the following:
ALT + TAB displays a mini image of the every application, useful for when you have multiple of them open
SUPERKEY + TAB Displays a grouped version of the applications with the icon only, after a short delay the group is expanded underneath.
You can use the DOWN key and LEFT and RIGHT direction keys to select the version of the application you want, or with SUPERKEY still pressed switch to pressing SUPERKEY + .
Snap Windows to desktop
You can quickly snap windows to the left or right of the screen or maximise / restore.
SUPERKEY + LEFT - Snaps to the left half of the screen
SUPERKEY + RIGHT - Snaps to the right half of the screen
SUPERKEY + UP - Maximises the window to full screen
SUPERKEY + DOWN - Restore the window back to previous.
Security
Lock the computer
To quickly lock the computer press SUPERKEY + L
Logout
CTRL + ALT + DEL will log you out, useful for exiting the office quicker than anyone else.
Customisation
These are not fixed, they come as default and you can change them to whatever works for you.
Customise keyboard shortcuts
Open the “Settings” application and navigate down to “Keyboard” then select “View and Customise Shortcuts”
