Posted: 16 Mar 2005

Many windows users who have have used Firefox and are trying to switch to Linux / KDE find it difficult because the shortcut keys for switching tabs has changed.

Fear not! As always, there's an easy way to remedy the problem.

To begin, simply navigate to N -> Control Center



When clicked, the KDE control center will open.

Click on Regional & Accessibility



Then click on Keyboard Shortcuts



Upon clicking, you'll see the right-hand content panel show a bunch of keyboard shortcuts. Scroll down until you find the "Walk Through Desktop List" option.

When you find it, single click on it, and then click on the icon that looks like this:



When you've clicked on it, a new window will open that looks like this:



With that window open and in the foreground, we're now going to assign a new key to the "Walk Through Desktop List" option.

The key-combination I prefer is "ctrl-alt-right" so that's what I'll use in this article. You can use whatever you wish - just be careful not to over-ride some other critical shortcut.

At this point, press and hold CTRL and ALT and then tap the right arrow key on your arrow keys.

Upon pressing the right arrow key, the window will disappear, and your new shortcut combination will be recorded.

Now, you'll want to assign the "ctrl-alt-left" key to the "Walk Through Desktop List(Reverse)" option. To do this, simply follow the same instructions and click on the Walk Through Desktop List(Reverse) instead.

When you've done this, make sure to click the Apply button and your new shortcuts will become active.

When all is said and done, your shortcut screen should look something like the image below:



At this point, you will be able open Firefox and use the CTRL-TAB shortcut to switch between your tabs, and to switch between your desktops, you press ctrl-alt-right and ctrl-alt-left.

Easier than changing desktops in Windows, that's for sure.... Oh wait.. That's right... Windows only has one desktop.