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.

Solution 1

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

Solution 2

This may work for you.

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

Solution 3

Swap:

setxkbmap -option "ctrl:swapcaps"

Reverse the swap:

setxkbmap -option

Reference: please click here

Comments

[Mikko Rantalainen]

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".

[Admin]

Regarding "other tools" see also linux - Remap keys without xmodmap or any X tools - Super User. I think it's more reliable because it works with some "lower-level" applications while using X does not work with e.g. anydesk

[Maruti]

Uhm, that's my first attempt in my post.

[harrymc]

Oups, missed that. Then why did it work this time?

[Maruti]

I'm not sure. I think I forgot to reset the keymap after meddling with keycodes.

[SLN]

How can I swap it back by setxbmap