[EN] macOS keyboard shortcuts in Ubuntu (Gnome) Linux

Martin Kaše
2 min readApr 9, 2020

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This guide only applies to Gnome DE.

We need to install Gnome Tweaks for this guide. Gnome Tweaks is all in one tool for customizing Gnome DE, and it’s in Ubuntu official packages.

You can install it by the search for it in the “Ubuntu Software” application or by this command: sudo apt install gnome-tweaks

In Gnome Tweak, navigate to “Keyboard & Mouse” and open “Additional Layout Options.”

Here look for “Ctrl position” and check “Swap Left Alt with Left Ctrl.” This allows us to have necessary actions like Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V, and CTRL+W on the Alt button as in macOS with a non-Apple keyboard.

You can alternatively use “Swap Left Win with Left Ctrl” if you want to use the Win key.

Most shortcuts now work. The same is in macOS. We need to add a few of them by our self in Ubuntu Settings.

Go to Ubuntu Settings and open “Devices” -> “Keyboard Shortcuts”. Here we need to setup few shortcuts (don’t forget that keys are now switched, use you macOS style shortcuts):

  • Ctrl+Tab -> “Switch applications”
  • Ctrl+Space -> “Search”
  • Ctrl+Q -> “Close Window”

Swap Win button for Ctrl if you selected “Swap Left Win with Left Ctrl.”

And that’s all, you can add your shortcuts if you miss any same way as we did. I hope it helps.

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Martin Kaše

Software Engineer at Price f(x) 👨🏻‍💻 — Remote Worker. JavaScript, React, Linux, PCMR, 3D Print, Low-cost Travel