Ubuntu 18.04 Keystroke Alt + Shift + (Ctrl) + Down does not work

Question

After upgrade from Ubuntu 16.04 LTS to 18.04 LTS (with unity) the keystrokes Shift + Alt + Down and Alt + Shift + Ctrl + Down stopped working (btw Alt + Shift + (Ctrl) + [Up, Left, Right] works).
I used these keybindings in PHPStorm/Webstorm. In these programs you can search what a key binding does by simply pressing those keys and when I do, Webstorm does not display/catch these keystrokes, like if they were not pressed.
I searched in CompizConfig Settings Manager advanced search in settings value, in the Settings/Keyboard/Shortcuts and with gsettings list-recursively | grep Down and I didn't find anything.
If I press this combo outside of Webstorm Ubuntu does nothing.
Have you any idea where this keybinding could be saved?

PS: I tried this tool (screenkey) to display pressed keys. But it didn't display Alt + Shift + Down or Alt + Shift + Ctrl + Down

Thank you for your help

Answer 1

Gnome Tweaks helps me to fix it!

1. Go to Keyboard & Mouse > Additional Layout Options.

2. Turn off all options for "Switching to another layout".

   

Answer 2

I had a similar issue recently, while trying to use this keys combination inside vscodium, in Ubuntu 20.04

ctrl + shift + alt + up or down not working as I entend, since it changes the working space instead of the expected function inside a code editor

First approach

Trying to fix it through:

1. Activities > Setting > Keyboard Shortcuts

2. Navigation > Move to workspace above/bellow

didn't work either, because this keys combinition: ctrl + shift + alt + up/down, doesn't show there

Solution

1. install dconf-editior

   sudo add-apt-repository universe # active by default, but just in case
   sudo apt update
   sudo apt install dconf-cli dconf-editor
   

2. go to:

   /org/gnome/desktop/wm/keybindings/move-to-workspace-down
   

3. disable Use default value

4. edit Custom value: by removing

   <Ctrl><Shift><Alt>Down
   

5. Apply

6. follow the same steps for Up (instead of Down)

   /org/gnome/desktop/wm/keybindings/move-to-workspace-up
   

7. log out/in

Result

• you are able to use/bind the keys combinition to whatever you need, (if the editor support it ...)
• you don't lose the workspace navigation feature, since it's still keybond by default to <Supper><PageUp> and <Supper><PageDown> for workspace up and down. and you can actually change this shortcuts, from the keyboard shortcut settings

---

• https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Keybindings
• https://askubuntu.com/a/575482
• https://askubuntu.com/a/1131849

Answer 3

In my case it luckily was just about re-mapping the keys in Settings->Keyboard->Shortcuts.

Here, moving the active window up/down was defined as Shift+Super+Page Up/Down, same without Shift was applied for moving one workspace up/down.

Re-mapping to what I was used to ([Shift+]Ctrl+Alt+Up/Down) did the trick :-)

Answer 4

For Gnome Shell, the workspaces stand in the way. Even the keyboard shortcuts differ a bit to Phpstorm (in my case there was the shift modifier which was not part of the Gnome shell shortcut binding), the workspace up/down block the keybindings in Phpstorm.

So for Gnome Shell, disable dynamic workspaces:

$ dconf write /org/gnome/mutter/dynamic-workspaces false

Set the number of (now static) workspaces to one:

$ dconf write /org/gnome/desktop/wm/preferences/num-workspaces 1

Disable the up/down keyboard shortcuts which are blocking Phpstorm:

$ dconf write /org/gnome/desktop/wm/keybindings/switch-to-workspace-up "['disabled']"
$ dconf write /org/gnome/desktop/wm/keybindings/switch-to-workspace-down "['disabled']"

These fixes are keyboard independent and I can confirm not doing so will have the hotkeys Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Up, Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Down, Ctrl+Alt+Up and Ctrl+Alt+Down not working in Phpstorm as the Gnome Shell blocks them.

I just stumbled over the issue and also kept note in my blog (Gnome Shell Quickfix Cheatsheet).

Answer 5

After deeper investigation I found out, that this issue is a hardware keyboard problem. I tried this keystroke on windows and it also was not recognized.
I have Roccat Isku keyboard. At work I tried the same upgrade from 16.04 to 18 and replacing gnome with unity and this keystroke worked (I have different keyboard at work)

Answer 6

I had the same problem on Zorin OS. Neither of these helped. I have the G613 Keyboard and I've tested the keys. Even though some of them are not recognized, Alt and Shift are.

What helped me was to check the Switching to another layout Alt+Shift checkbox in the Gnome Tweaks tool under the Additional Layout Options submenu of the Keyboard & Mouse menu.