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How can I disable the alt+click combination from moving windows in Ubuntu 11.10 (unity-2d)?

Jorge Castro
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Petike
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1 Answers1

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With Unity-2D, this is controlled using the /apps/metacity/general/mouse_button_modifier GConf key. To disable Alt+Click dragging, run

gconftool-2 --set /apps/metacity/general/mouse_button_modifier --type string disabled

To re-enable it, run

gconftool-2 --set /apps/metacity/general/mouse_button_modifier --type string '<Alt>'

Note that this GConf key controls several mouse shortcuts:

  • Alt+Click: Move windows
  • Alt+Middle Click: Resize windows
  • Alt+Right Click: Open a generic window menu

N.B: Disabling the modifier in this way can lead to the Alt+Drag behavior when no modifier keys are pressed (Every drag behaves like Alt+drag) Setting the modifier to '<SUPER>' makes the Super/Windows key the modifier. Alt+Drag can then be used by applications, and Super+Drag to move the window. 

gconftool-2 --set /apps/metacity/general/mouse_button_modifier --type string '<SUPER>'

for Unity 3D

Community
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Evan Broder
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    Note: If you're like me, you thought this applies to the "Gnome-classic (no effects)" session as well (since it uses metacity too). But no. Even though it uses metacity, you need to disable it in compiz as described [here](http://askubuntu.com/questions/67518/how-to-disable-window-move-with-alt-left-mouse-button). Then it's disabled both in **"Gnome-classic"** (Compiz) and **"Gnome-classic (no effects)** (metacity) sessions. – Stefan Monov Dec 02 '12 at 16:28