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I pressed Ctrl+Alt+F3 by a mistake and then my computer showed a fullscreen terminal asking for my password and username, How do I get out of that?

αғsнιη
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userino
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1 Answers1

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Linux systems come with a bunch of virtual terminals, or VTs. Your graphical user interface on Ubuntu runs on VT7, and VT1 to VT6 allow you to login via command line.

You switched to VT3. Press Ctrl+Alt+F7 to get back.

From 17.10 onwards VT1 is used for the display manager ("login screen"), the standard X session uses VT2. Hence we have VT3 as the first usable VT.

Also see Why is my GDM at a different TTY than my desktop environment? for more about the origin of this change.

Pablo Bianchi
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Mahesh
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  • Yes, sorry, I mean Alt. In fact, s/Ctrl/Alt/ in my previous comment. Alt is always needed, it's Ctrl that isn't and it's Alt+right arrow that cycles. I deleted my previous comment since it was misleading. – terdon Nov 08 '14 at 19:22
  • Fair enough, apparently I forget it all the time too :) – terdon Nov 08 '14 at 19:32
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    Not always on VT7. One of my machines always gets Xorg to VT8 for some reason. So if Ctrl+Alt+F7 doesn't work (gives black screen or some text instead of GUI), try Ctrl+Alt+F8. – Ruslan Nov 08 '14 at 19:40
  • I always end up force shutting down my computer. Now i know what to do. Thank you! – userino Nov 08 '14 at 21:15
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    Footnote: I know this is an Ubuntu forum, but for any Fedora users who end up here -- you wanna switch to VT2, not VT7: Ctrl+Alt+F2 – Hayden Schiff Oct 19 '15 at 13:18
  • It also seems to be Ctrl+Alt+F2 for Ubuntu 18.04 – avermaet Aug 08 '19 at 14:50
  • I'm investigating keyboard lag (which is plaguing all latter day OSs to varying degrees and is seriously impeding my typing abilities). And I'm comparing editing on the ctrl-alt-F3 terminal vs. editing through gnome2+MATE, and the difference is stark. QUESTION: Is VT1 using X11 in a sort of hidden way, or is it lower level video card text, like GRUB is? – tgm1024--Monica was mistreated Dec 03 '20 at 14:09
  • And in Kubuntu 23.04, it seems to be Ctrl+Alt+F1 (I tried +F3, F7, and F8 -- none worked). Also for my fellow non-Linux-wizards: I find that on my Logitech MX Keys keyboard (a regular full-size keyboard), I have to actually hold down the Fn key to make these combinations work; for example, to type "Ctrl+Alt+F1" I actually hold down Ctrl+Alt+Fn+F1. – John Oct 17 '23 at 05:14