Best way to create and change shortcuts in Linux Mint

One of the most popular approaches of opening programs and files on a computer system is through keyboard shortcuts. No matter what operating system you use, shortcuts are the most productive way that anyone can find to use system.

And Linux mint is no exception. You can change the default keyboard shortcuts and add some new ones to open files and applications on your system with ease.

And this guide will help you to do that. So you can change the default shortcuts key, or create your own custom shortcuts in Linux system in number of steps.

How to change default shortcuts in Linux Mint

Here default shortcuts mean basic functions in OS that come up with default keyboard shortcuts. And to change the key combinations of them. Follow the below steps. 

1. Click the super key on your taskbar. And search for keyboard. 

2. In keyboard, go to shortcuts option. 

3. There you get a whole list of all the functions in your system. In which the keyboard shortcuts are set automatically, for example in windows you see the functions like Maximize window, Minimize window etc. 

 You can change the shortcut key according to your need.  

In my case I want to change the Minimize window key shortcut. So, I am going to click on it, and as soon as I click on it, the keyboard binding section shows the options to change those shortcuts. In which I have to press the keyboard buttons that I want to set as a shortcut. 

How to open a folder with Keyboard shortcuts

Setting a shortcut key for a particular folder can also be done in Linux Mint. But for that, you need to set up a custom keyboard shortcut. For that, follow the steps below. 

1. Open keyboard setting, and navigate to the shortcut option. 
2. In shortcuts, click the custom shortcut property. 
3. Click the add shortcut button and a pop-up window will appear in front of you. 
4. Now in the pop-up window, give shortcut a name, and in the command section give the location of a folder you want to open, with the command name nemo in front of it. For example, nemo /home/Shivam/Downloads. 
5. And finally assign a shortcut to it.

If you are unable to locate your folder. Then go to the search bar and search for a file, which is a file manager. From there locate the folder that you want to use. And when you reach that folder, from the top bar copy the path of that folder. 

And paste in your command box, with the nemo command in front of it. 

How to open a application with Keyboard shortcuts

Just like folders you can also open programs. But you must give the location of the application, where it was installed. So, let’s see how it is done. 

1. Just like previously. Open the keyboard settings and navigate to shortcuts, then select the custom shortcut property. Where you add the shortcut. 
2. Again, click the add shortcut, give the name of the shortcut and in the command section click the none button and it will bring up a file manager. 
3. Now in file manager your home directory will appear. But you have to navigate to your root directory, click the arrow button in top, and then press the disk button. Which takes you to the root directory. 
4. As soon as your root directory opens, find the usr directory then bin directory. In which all your applications are installed. 

For example, I want to create a shortcut key to open Firefox. In usr/bin directory I will find the Firefox application and open it with an open button. 

And by doing this, a path for the Firefox application is set in the command box, and all you now have to do is click the Add button. Then assign a keyboard shortcut to it.