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I upgraded my Ubuntu from 12.04 to 14.04 and hotkeys for switching workspaces (Ctrl + Alt + arrow keys) are not working anymore.

I checked in System Settings > Keyboard > Shortcuts to make sure that they're assigned and they are, but why they are not working? How can I fix this problem?

Eliah Kagan
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Muodestis
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    possible duplicate of [How do I turn on workspaces? (Why do I only have one workspace?)](http://askubuntu.com/questions/260510/how-do-i-turn-on-workspaces-why-do-i-only-have-one-workspace) – P.-H. Lin Sep 15 '14 at 14:45
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    nope, workspaces are already enabled, just hotkeys are not working. – Muodestis Sep 15 '14 at 14:50
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    If this was an upgrade the number of workspaces should have remained the same, I believe. – Luís de Sousa Sep 15 '14 at 14:50

3 Answers3

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I found the solution myself. It seems that I needed to enable Desktop Wall plugin in Compiz; just apt-get install compizconfig-settings-manager, run ccsm and search for "wall" to find the option.

kiko
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Muodestis
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    [This answer](http://askubuntu.com/questions/26628/cant-switch-workspaces/26671#26671) provides additional details which eventually helped me resolve this. – klenwell Aug 23 '15 at 23:59
  • how do you do that exactly can you please share details? – Jas Nov 09 '15 at 06:25
  • same happened to me in ubuntu 16.04 and this solution solved it. thanks – psychok7 Jul 01 '17 at 20:29
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This has broken for me a couple times now in Ubuntu; most recently after going from 12.04LTS to 14.04LTS (in place upgrade).

  • System Settings... (gear at top of screen)
  • Appearance
  • Behavior Tab
  • Check box for Enable workspaces

Screen grab of configuration setting for workspaces:

image

Videonauth
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jollyrgr
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Run these two commands: 

sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop
sudo apt-get install unity

Reboot your system

And after than try Ctrl + Alt + arrow keys. You will able to switch between workspaces.

user425382
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  • unfortunately doesn't work for me :( I'm able to switch between 1 and 2 while cannot go to 3 and 4 via 1 and 2. In other words I'm able to switch horizontal between 1 and 2, 3 and 4 while I'm not able to switch between 1 and 3, 2 and 4 :( – Hesam Oct 02 '15 at 23:56