How to swap ctrl and caps lock using xmodmap

Question

Or any other tool, but I prefer xmodmap. I tried this:

remove Lock = Caps_Lock
remove Control = Control_L
keysym Control_L = Caps_Lock
keysym Caps_Lock = Control_L
add Lock = Caps_Lock
add Control = Control_L

I also tried this:

xmodmap -e "keycode 66 = Control_L"

But neither seem to fully work. Here's the event log for pressing caps lock:

KeyPress event, serial 28, synthetic NO, window 0x1a00001,
root 0x12d, subw 0x0, time 914826, (679,342), root:(680,362),
state 0x12, keycode 66 (keysym 0xffe3, Control_L), same_screen YES,
XKeysymToKeycode returns keycode: 37 // 37 is the control key code
XLookupString gives 0 bytes: 
XmbLookupString gives 0 bytes: 
XFilterEvent returns: False

I'm running Ubuntu 10.10 with awesome window manager.

I'd try to directly map keycodes to intended behavior. For example, I like to bind my caps lock key as additional shift and hide the normal caps lock behavior behind shift (so to enable/disable caps lock on my keyboard shift+caps lock is required): `xmodmap -e "keycode 66 = Shift_L Caps_Lock"`. — Mikko Rantalainen, Jun 04 '21 at 07:51
Regarding "other tools" see also [linux - Remap keys without xmodmap or any X tools - Super User](https://superuser.com/questions/729585/remap-keys-without-xmodmap-or-any-x-tools). I think it's more reliable because it works with some "lower-level" applications while using X does not work with e.g. anydesk — user202729, May 15 '22 at 06:23

score 15 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 12 '12 at 16:09

15

This may work for you.

/usr/bin/setxkbmap -option "ctrl:swapcaps"

answered Jun 12 '12 at 16:09

Evan Carroll

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How can I swap it back by setxbmap – SLN Feb 14 '19 at 10:31

score 9 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 08 '11 at 12:20

9

From Remap Caps Lock :

man xmodmap shows how to swap the left control key and the CapsLock key:

!
! Swap Caps_Lock and Control_L
!
remove Lock = Caps_Lock
remove Control = Control_L
keysym Control_L = Caps_Lock
keysym Caps_Lock = Control_L
add Lock = Caps_Lock
add Control = Control_L

answered Apr 08 '11 at 12:20

harrymc

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Uhm, that's my first attempt in my post. – Maruti Apr 08 '11 at 17:45
Oups, missed that. Then why did it work this time? – harrymc Apr 08 '11 at 19:24
I'm not sure. I think I forgot to reset the keymap after meddling with keycodes. – Maruti Apr 08 '11 at 21:14

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Sep 17 '19 at 16:58

1

Swap:

setxkbmap -option "ctrl:swapcaps"

Reverse the swap:

setxkbmap -option

Reference: please click here

answered Sep 17 '19 at 16:58

SLN

121
6

How to swap ctrl and caps lock using xmodmap

3 Answers3