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Until yesterday, doing CtrlAlt→ (or any other direction) would switch workspaces.

Today, even if workspaces are enabled (Settings>Appearance>Behavior hasn't changed, and also SuperS displays the workspaces wall), it doesn't work anymore. CtrlShiftAlt→ (or any other direction) doesn't work either. Clicking on the launcher icon of a program already open on a different workspace doesn't take me to that workspace (it doesn't do anything really).

Just to rule out problems with each of the keys, CtrlAltT (for summoning a Terminal) works, and the arrows work.

At the same time, these key combinations started having other effects depending on the program I'm using. In Gnome Terminal, they will print D, B, C, A (using CtrlAlt + ←, ↓, →, ↑ respectively). In Eclipse, the CtrlAlt+ either ↓ or ↑ will duplicate the current line.

I'm using Unity on Ubuntu 16.04 and I don't use any customization tool like gnome tweaks or ccsm: they were never even installed. My keyboard layout is English (UK) and always has been.

I'd like to know how to restore the expected behaviour, and possibly also what could have caused this, since I don't remember changing any setting from yesterday to today.

Edit: I've just tried to use workspaces on a guest session, and they work as expected (I can switch workspace using hotkeys). So the problem must be in my user's settings, even if I still can't think of anything I've done to trigger this.

What would be the smallest amount of configuration files I should backup and remove to see if normal behaviour is restored?

[[ Edit3: apparently neither removing.config nor .local fixes the issue! ]]

Edit2: the key shortcuts are still listed in Settings>Keyboard>Shortcuts but don't work. I've also tried the SuperHome alternative, but it doesn't work either.

enter image description here

It doesn't even work if using the on-screen keyboard!

Nicola Sap
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    Open your keyboard settings pane and check the keyboard shortcuts. It sounds like the control-alt-arrow have been deleted or changed. You can prove this if you can do control-alt-1 and switch to workspace 1... -2 for workspace 2, etc. – heynnema Oct 03 '17 at 23:02
  • Thank you for looking into this. However the settings appear to still be there, and the alternatives won't work. I've updated my question. – Nicola Sap Oct 04 '17 at 06:56
  • Check that your keyboard input method is ibus and that the proper language/type is set for your keyboard. You can try, one at a time, renaming .local to .local.HOLD, and .config to .config.HOLD, log out/in, and see if it starts working. – heynnema Oct 04 '17 at 13:20
  • It shouldn't be a problem of keyboard because even the mouse input (clicking on the launcher icon for a program that is open on another workspace) doesn't work as expected. I'll try with fresh .local and .config folders as soon as I can safely log out. – Nicola Sap Oct 04 '17 at 13:47
  • @heynnema that's very odd but neither a fresh .local nor a fresh .config fixed the issue! – Nicola Sap Oct 04 '17 at 22:19
  • Move the new .local and .config folders out to the desktop. Rename the original folders back from .HOLD. Immediately log out/in. Then you can trash the two folders on the desktop. – heynnema Oct 05 '17 at 00:23
  • @heynnema thanks for clarifying, don't worry: I had already reverted to my old ones – Nicola Sap Oct 05 '17 at 06:28
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    The only thing to do then is to move other stuff out to the desktop, log out/in, retest, until you find the problem file/folder. Reinstalling the OS won't solve your problem, as the Guest account works. It's an account-specific problem. – heynnema Oct 05 '17 at 12:41
  • Reinstalling the OS will solve my problem, although I understand that it's a bit of an overkill. But troubleshooting a problem as trivial as this one for three days is starting to seem exaggerate. Instead of completely deconstructing my userspace, I'd hope someone would recognise this behaviour and suggest a more targeted action. However, we shouldn't be chatting – Nicola Sap Oct 05 '17 at 12:55
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    Reinstalling the OS won't solve your problem, as the Guest account works, as per your own testing. It's an account-specific problem. – heynnema Oct 05 '17 at 13:07
  • I'm implying that I'd reinstall the OS including a fresh /home partition. I know what account-specific means. Otherwise I wouldn't have tested on a guest account, would I? – Nicola Sap Oct 05 '17 at 13:20
  • Did you install or run any new software that might be causing this effect? I wonder if you have something new running in the background that is intercepting keystrokes, rather than this being a setting in the existing desktop environment. – Robie Basak Oct 06 '17 at 13:19
  • Also, has a file called .xmodmaprc or similar appeared in your home directory? – Robie Basak Oct 06 '17 at 13:20
  • @RobieBasak only file matching .x*rc is .xinputrc containing run_im ibus. I can't think of new applications that I've just started to use – Nicola Sap Oct 06 '17 at 13:26
  • That's suspicious. For a straightforward English (UK) setup, you shouldn't need .xinputrc at all. Can you try renaming that file to something else and logging in again? – Robie Basak Oct 06 '17 at 13:59
  • @RobieBasak: I've removed the file and it wasn't recreated after login. the key combination still doesn't work. (However, the previous file had the following comment: #im-config(8) generated on Wed, 04 Oct 2017 23:18:39 +0100 and a hex signature) – Nicola Sap Oct 06 '17 at 14:09
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    Thank you for checking. I still suspect im-config, but I don't know much about it (as we don't need it in our locale). It has a manpage. Maybe see if you can disable it completely for your user? To be clear, I'm out of my depth now and this is just speculation. – Robie Basak Oct 06 '17 at 14:25
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    If you want a hatchet approach, open ~.config/dconf & rename user to user.bak Then immediately go ctrl+alt+F3, login, run reboot command. Then see if fixed, if so set up your preferences again. If not then you can go back to that folder, delete user, rename user.bak to user & do the tty3 thing again to go back – doug Oct 07 '17 at 12:14
  • @doug, I was going to answer "no need to try this as I've already removed .config and .local entirely" but actually it worked! Maybe last time I left it enough time to recreate the user file? Or just logging off and on kind of "remembered" the settings, as opposed to rebooting altogether? It's still a mystery what could have got me in that situation, but your hatchet method at least gave me a working fallback solution. If you'd answer the question, I'll take it unless I receive a more in-depth one before the bounty expires. – Nicola Sap Oct 09 '17 at 08:43
  • I had the same issue. Fixed it using this answer. – Sieva K Apr 23 '18 at 11:33

2 Answers2

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You can resolve this issue by using dconf-editor. It's available by first enabling the universe repository and then issuing the command sudo apt install dconf-editor After which you can launch it from the applications menu. See below for the relevant section:

enter image description here

Navigate in the left hand column down to wm, click the arrow that points to the right to expose and then select keybindings. Scroll down the right window to expose "move-to-workspace-down", select it and click the Set to Default button. This should set this binding to ['<Shift><Control><Alt>Down'] Repeat this process for the next 3 entries which correspond to left, right, and up. The changes should take effect immediately. If not, reboot.

kudos to @doug for this comment which pointed out the right place to look.

Elder Geek
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This solution restored the functionality, although it threw the baby out with the bathwater and didn't help to identify the cause:

If you want a hatchet approach, open ~.config/dconf and rename user to user.bak

Then immediately go CtrlAltF3, login, run the reboot command.

— doug

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Nicola Sap
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