How to use window menu accelerators/mnemonics in Ubuntu 18.04 LTS?

Question

On Ubuntu 16.04 LTS I have used simple keyboard shortcut to set property Always on Top (Nautilus window as example):

Alt+Space,
t
After next Alt+Space or right mouse click I see that window was set to Always on Top.

In standard Ubuntu 18.04 LTS with GNOME Shell I can press Alt+Space:

but it does not react to t.

Seems to be a real bug 1710421 since 17.10.

How to enable such menu accelerators/mnemonics in standard Ubuntu 18.04 LTS?

4 yr. old gnome-shell bug, not going to be fix, you're wasting your time. Use any other shell and it works fine.. — doug, Aug 20 '18 at 21:24
I'm using window manager right now so I can't really test it. But the second answer in this post, the one using wmctrl, I think it's worth a try. Not a direct answer to your question but you can use your keyboard at least. — aasril, Aug 24 '18 at 06:14
One of the few questions where the question has more upvotes than the answer! :D :D :D Good question! — Fabby, Sep 10 '18 at 10:39
why would they remove something that users are so accustomed to? — asgs, Oct 13 '18 at 16:20
@N0rbert I'm a fan of XFCE and I've always liked it and used it. It's only the Ubuntu 16 to 18 upgrade that changed this behavior. is XFCE also using Gnome shell under the hood? — asgs, Oct 13 '18 at 16:26

N0rbert · Accepted Answer · 2020-07-26T14:05:11.233

13

On GNOME Shell it is impossible! Welcome to the new brave world with unpredictable limits and problems!

To get these shortcuts on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS and 20.04 LTS in place you can switch to:

Unity - installable with sudo apt-get install ubuntu-unity-desktop:
GNOME FlashBack - installable with sudo apt-get install gnome-panel:
MATE Desktop Environment (my favorite, as it avoids GNOMEs Hell) - installable with sudo apt-get install ubuntu-mate-desktop^:
XFCE (xubuntu-desktop^) does not have mnemonic for Always on Top, but usable and looks very nice:
Cinnamon (cinnamon-desktop-environment) have all necessary mnemonics:
KDE (kubuntu-desktop^) have mnemonics, they may be accessed from Alt+F3 (so called Window Operations Menu) - for example to keep window above others you need to click Alt+F3, M (for More Actions), A (for Keep Above Others) and menu is rich:
Openbox (openbox), LXDE / LXQT / Lubuntu (lubuntu-desktop^, lxqt) have mnemonics, they are accessed with Alt+Space:
Budgie (ubuntu-budgie-desktop^) have mnemonics, they are accessed with Alt+Space:

edited Jul 26 '20 at 14:05

answered Sep 10 '18 at 11:26

N0rbert

99,918

2

Per inputs from N0rber, I managed to remove Gnome shell and switched to Xubuntu. I get Xfce's simplicity along with the Keyboard Mnemonics. It's a win-win! Thank you very much! – asgs Oct 13 '18 at 19:31
2

You could add LXDE/Openbox :) – DK Bose Oct 17 '18 at 17:22
1

@DKBose added LXDE/Openbox, thanks for suggestion :) – N0rbert Oct 17 '18 at 18:39
what does the ^ do at the end of the package name? – törzsmókus Aug 17 '20 at 13:51
@törzsmókus ^ means task as in tasksel. Used to correctly and fully install the desktop meta-packages. – N0rbert Aug 17 '20 at 15:14

vanadium · Answer 2 · 2021-01-28T09:40:16.350

9

Unfortunately, there is no mnemonic support anymore for the Alt+Space window menu. There appears to be no intentions to bring it back. The current bug report is two years old. The original issue was filed back in 2014.

Still, keyboard shortcuts are available for the most common actions. These are quicker as they do not require you to see the menu and reduce the effort to a single keystroke.

Minimize: Super+h.
Maximize: Super+↑.
Restore: Super+↓. Alt+F10 toggles between maximize and restore.
Move: Alt+F7.
Resize: Alt+F8.
Close window: Alt+F4.

These key assignments can be changed in Settings - Keyboard.

For Always on top, no keyboard combination is defined by default, nor exposed through Settings - Keyboard. You still can define a key combination using dconf-editor, or a gsettings command. For example, to set Super+t for toggling a window on top, issue the command

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.keybindings always-on-top "['<Super>t']"

Undo with the command

gsettings reset org.gnome.desktop.wm.keybindings always-on-top

edited Jan 28 '21 at 09:40

answered Sep 10 '18 at 11:24

vanadium

88,010

I temporarily resorted to assigning ctrl+alt+up – asgs Oct 13 '18 at 16:21
This one worked perfectly for me. I had to wrap with quotes for this to work."['t']" – Dan Jay Dec 03 '19 at 16:24
@shan Indeed, quotes are needed. Thanks for remarking this: I will correct asap. – vanadium Dec 03 '19 at 16:54
For resize, also Super+down seems to works. – Cyriac Antony Jan 28 '21 at 06:13
@CyriacAntony thank you, I added it. I also added the "legacy" Alt+F10 (was already defined like this in Windows, I guess) to toggle between maximized and normal. – vanadium Jan 28 '21 at 09:28

Fabby · Answer 3 · 2019-08-10T14:39:46.910

7

The KISS (Keep It Simply Stupid) answer to that is to do a simple:

Alt+space and then ↓↓↓↓↓Enter

not as good as Alt+space and then i, but still better than:

lifting your hand from the keyboard,
looking for the mouse,
pointing,
clicking
moving your hand back to the keyboard...

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

edited Aug 10 '19 at 14:39

answered Aug 24 '18 at 21:08

Fabby

34,259

1

As of today, I can open the window menu with Alt+Space and move up and down the menu with the arrow keys. But I cannot use Enter to actually select any of the menu options. – eksortso Sep 14 '18 at 16:19
One more thing. The flippant "¯_(ツ)_/¯" response is insulting. I recommend editing it out. – eksortso Sep 14 '18 at 16:20
6

It's a shrug @eksortso : it means "It's not a perfect solution, just a workaround" – Fabby Sep 14 '18 at 21:10
1

Whenever I've seen that thing, the context suggested it meant "I don't know and I don't care." A harsh sentiment for a Q&A site, though I now suppose that wasn't your intention. And when I read that along with KISS, which once meant "Keep It Simple, Stupid" as an ironic maxim to developers, I interpreted your comment as frustration with the user, and reacted with hostility. Although I did try to remain civil, I'm not sure if actually I went too far. – eksortso Sep 16 '18 at 03:11
3

Kiss shouldn't be thought of as an "ironic maxim to developers" it should be thought of as words to live by under most, to all circumstances. – tatsu Jun 17 '19 at 13:31
@tatsu +1 Thanks! :-) – Fabby Jun 17 '19 at 20:57
1

This is a pretty bad solution. Let's hope there were a real mnemonics support. – WestCoastProjects Oct 19 '19 at 03:16
like @eksortso said, ENTER (or Space or whatever I tried) does not select the highlighted menu option – törzsmókus Aug 17 '20 at 13:54

chi chow · Answer 4 · 2020-02-06T08:11:08.983

Actually, there are several shortcuts to do so.
I don't know what they are in earlier ubuntu.
They are my windows behaviours.
Windows / action / ubuntu
Alt+Space & n minimize Super+h
Alt+Space & x maximize Super+↑
Alt+Space & r unmaximizeSuper+↓
Alt+Space & c close Alt+F4
Alt+Space & m move Alt+F7
Alt+Space & s resize Alt+F8
There are more in

setting  >  device  >  keyboard

You can define or redefine all these shortcuts there.
But I thought pressing three keys......It's your choice.

score 1 · Answer 5 · edited Oct 13 '19 at 22:50

1

The GNOME Shell extension Menu Keyboard Shortcut by Edward Jiang fixes my most used maximize/minimze mnemonic.

edited Oct 13 '19 at 22:50

Eliah Kagan

117,780

answered Oct 13 '19 at 16:09

davidDavidson

966
6
6

I'm back on ubuntu/unity but if ever have to deal with gnome again will use this. – WestCoastProjects Oct 19 '19 at 03:16

score -1 · Answer 6 · answered Jul 25 '21 at 18:31

-1

There is key two key combination exist in gnome to maximize, minimize and move (right or left).

Hold the Windows Key and play with Up/Down/Right and Left arrow keys

https://help.ubuntu.com/stable/ubuntu-help/shell-windows-maximize.html.en

answered Jul 25 '21 at 18:31

Prashant Adlinge

625

How to use window menu accelerators/mnemonics in Ubuntu 18.04 LTS?

6 Answers6

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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