# Keyboard configuration in Xorg

Related articles

- Keyboard configuration in console
- Extra Keyboard Keys
- Xorg
- X KeyBoard extension

Note: This article covers only basic configuration without modifying layouts, mapping extra keys etc. See Extra Keyboard Keys for these advanced topics.

Xorg uses the X KeyBoard extension (XKB) to manage keyboard layouts. Alternatively, xmodmap can be used to access the internal keymap table directly. Generally it is not recommended to use xmodmap, except perhaps for the simplest tasks.

This article describes low-level configuration using XKB which is effective in most cases, but some desktop environments like GNOME override it with its own settings. You should read the information specific to the desktop environment:

- GNOME#Modify Keyboard with XkbOptions
- KDE#Set keyboard

## Viewing keyboard settings

You can use the following command to see the actual XKB settings:

    $ setxkbmap -print -verbose 10

    Setting verbose level to 10
    locale is C
    Applied rules from evdev:
    model:      evdev
    layout:     us
    options:    terminate:ctrl_alt_bksp
    Trying to build keymap using the following components:
    keycodes:   evdev+aliases(qwerty)
    types:      complete
    compat:     complete
    symbols:    pc+us+inet(evdev)+terminate(ctrl_alt_bksp)
    geometry:   pc(pc104)
    xkb_keymap {
            xkb_keycodes  { include "evdev+aliases(qwerty)" };
            xkb_types     { include "complete"      };
            xkb_compat    { include "complete"      };
            xkb_symbols   { include "pc+us+inet(evdev)+terminate(ctrl_alt_bksp)"    };
            xkb_geometry  { include "pc(pc104)"     };
    };

### Third party utilities

There are some "unofficial" utilities which allow to print specific information about the currently used keyboard layout.

- xkb-switch-git:

    $ xkb-switch

    us

- xkblayout-state:

    $ xkblayout-state print "%s"

    de

## Setting keyboard layout

Keyboard layout in Xorg can be set in multiple ways. Here is an explanation of used options:

- `XkbModel` selects the keyboard model. This has an influence only for some extra keys your keyboard might have. The safe fallback are `pc104` or `pc105`. But for instance laptops usually have some extra keys, and sometimes you can make them work by simply setting a proper model.
- `XkbLayout` selects the keyboard layout. Multiple layouts may be specified in a comma-separated list, e.g. if you want to quickly switch between layouts.
- `XkbVariant` selects a specific layout variant. For instance, the default `sk` variant is `qwertz`, but you can manually specify `qwerty`, etc.

  Note: You must specify as many variants as the number of specified layouts. If you want the default variant, specify an empty string as the variant (the comma must stay). For example, to have the default `us` layout as primary and the `dvorak` variant of `us` layout as secondary, specify `us,us` as `XkbLayout` and `,dvorak` as `XkbVariant`.

- `XkbOptions` contains some extra options. Used for specifying layout switching, notification LED, compose mode etc.

The layout name is usually a 2-letter country code. To see a full list of keyboard models, layouts, variants and options, along with a short description, open `/usr/share/X11/xkb/rules/base.lst`. Alternatively, you may use one of the following commands to see a list without a description:

- `localectl list-x11-keymap-models`
- `localectl list-x11-keymap-layouts`
- `localectl list-x11-keymap-variants [layout]`
- `localectl list-x11-keymap-options`

Examples in the following subsections will have the same effect, they will set `pc104` model, `cz` as primary layout, `us` as secondary layout, `dvorak` variant for `us` layout and the `Alt+Shift` combination for switching between layouts.

### Using setxkbmap

setxkbmap sets the keyboard layout for the current X session only, but can be made persistent in ~/.xinitrc. This overrides system-wide configuration specified by X configuration files.

The usage is as follows (see `man 1 setxkbmap`):

    $ setxkbmap [-model xkb_model] [-layout xkb_layout] [-variant xkb_variant] [-option xkb_options]

To change just the layout (`-layout` is the default flag):

    $ setxkbmap xkb_layout

For multiple customizations:

    $ setxkbmap -model pc104 -layout cz,us -variant ,dvorak -option grp:alt_shift_toggle

### Using X configuration files

The syntax of X configuration files is explained in Xorg#Configuration. This method creates system-wide configuration which is persistent across reboots.

Here is an example:

    /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/10-keyboard.conf

    Section "InputClass"
            Identifier "system-keyboard"
            MatchIsKeyboard "on"
            Option "XkbLayout" "cz,us"
            Option "XkbModel" "pc104"
            Option "XkbVariant" ",dvorak"
            Option "XkbOptions" "grp:alt_shift_toggle"
    EndSection

### Using localectl

For convenience, the tool localectl may be used instead of manually editing X configuration files. It will save the configuration in `/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/00-keyboard.conf`, this file should not be manually edited, because localectl will overwrite the changes on next start.

The usage is as follows:

    $ localectl set-x11-keymap layout [model] [variant] [options]

To create a `/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/00-keyboard.conf` like the above:

    $ localectl set-x11-keymap cz,us pc104 ,dvorak grp:alt_shift_toggle

## Frequently used XKB options

### Switching between keyboard layouts

To be able to easily switch keyboard layouts, first specify multiple layouts between which you want to switch (the first one is the default). Then specify a key (or key combination), which will be used for switching. For example, to switch between a US and a Swedish layout using the `CapsLock` key, use `us,se` as an argument of `XkbLayout` and `grp:caps_toggle` as an argument of `XkbOptions`.

You can use other key combinations than `CapsLock`, they are listed in `/usr/share/X11/xkb/rules/base.lst`, start with `grp:` and end with `toggle`. To get the full list of available options, run the following command:

    $ grep "grp:.*toggle" /usr/share/X11/xkb/rules/base.lst

### Terminating Xorg with Ctrl+Alt+Backspace

By default, the key combination `Ctrl+Alt+Backspace` is disabled. You can enable it by passing `terminate:ctrl_alt_bksp` to `XkbOptions`.

### Swapping Caps Lock with Left Control

To swap Caps Lock with Left Control key, add `ctrl:swapcaps` to `XkbOptions`. Run the following command to see similar options along with their descriptions:

    $ grep -E "(ctrl|caps):" /usr/share/X11/xkb/rules/base.lst

### Enabling mouse keys

Mouse keys is now disabled by default and has to be manually enabled by passing `keypad:pointerkeys` to `XkbOptions`. This will make the `Shift+NumLock` shortcut toggle mouse keys.

### Configuring compose key

The compose key, when pressed in sequence with other keys, produces a unicode character. For example, in most configurations pressing `compose_key ' e` produces `é`. This is especially useful if you need to type in a different language then the one for which the keyboard layout was designed (such as typing in French, Italian and German on an American keyboard).

For example, to make the right `Alt` key a compose key, pass `compose:ralt` to `XkbOptions`.

You can use other keys as compose keys, they are listed in `/usr/share/X11/xkb/rules/base.lst` and start with `compose:`. To get the full list of available options, run the following command:

    $ grep "compose:" /usr/share/X11/xkb/rules/base.lst

#### Key combinations

The default combinations for the compose keys depend on the locale and are stored in `/usr/share/X11/locale/used_locale/Compose`, where `used_locale` is for example `en_US.UTF-8`.

You can define your own compose key combinations by copying the default file to `~/.XCompose` and editing it. The compose key works with any of the thousands of valid Unicode characters, including those outside the Basic Multilingual Plane.

However, GTK does not use XIM by default and therefore does not follow `~/.XCompose` keys. This can be fixed by forcing GTK to use XIM by adding `export GTK_IM_MODULE=xim` and/or `export XMODIFIERS="@im=none"` to `~/.xprofile`.

Tip: XIM is very old, you might have better luck with other input methods: SCIM, uim, IBus etc. See Internationalization#Input methods in Xorg for details.

### Currency sign on other key

Most European keyboards have a Euro sign (€) printed on on the `5` key. For example, to access it with `Alt+5`, use the `lv3:lalt_switch` and `eurosign:5` options.

The Rupee sign (₹) can be used the same way with `rupeesign:4`.

## Other settings

### Adjusting typematic delay and rate

The typematic delay indicates the amount of time (typically in miliseconds) a key needs to be pressed in order for the repeating process to begin. After the repeating process has been triggered, the character will be repeated with a certain frequency (usually given in Hz) specified by the typematic rate.

#### Using xset

The tool xset can be used to set the typematic delay and rate for an active X server, certain actions during runtime tho may cause the XServer to reset these changes and revert instead to its seat defaults.

Usage:

    $ xset r rate delay [rate]

For example to set a typematic delay to 200ms and a typematic rate to 30Hz, use the following command (use xinitrc to make it permanent):

    $ xset r rate 200 30

Issuing the command without specifying the delay and rate will reset the typematic values to their respective defaults; a delay of 660ms and a rate of 25Hz:

    $ xset r rate

#### Using XServer startup options

A more resistant way to set the typematic delay and rate is to make them the seat defaults by passing the desired settings to the X server on its startup using the following options:

- `-ardelay miliseconds` - sets the autorepeat delay (length of time in milliseconds that a key must be depressed before autorepeat starts).
- `-arinterval miliseconds` - sets the autorepeat interval (length of time in milliseconds that should elapse between autorepeat-generated keystrokes).

See `man xserver` for a full list of X server options and refer to your display manager for information about how to pass these options.

Categories:

- Keyboards
- X Server