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I've recently started using a Mac (running Lion), and there is one inconsistency that's getting to me.

In Chrome and MVim, I can switch tabs with Ctrl+PageUp/PageDown. But, in the Terminal, I have to use Cmd+Shift+Left/Right.

I'd like to change the latter to Ctrl+PageUp/PageDown, but I can't seem to do this.

When I go into System Preferences → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts → Application Shortcuts, and add a shortcut to Terminal's "Select Next Tab", I can set it to be pretty much anything as long as it does not include a PageUp/PageDown key.

Why is there such a limitation, and can I get around it?

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migrated from serverfault.com Sep 10 '11 at 5:38


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3 Answers

up vote 4 down vote accepted

defaults write -g NSUserKeyEquivalents -dict-add "Select Previous Tab" "^\UF72C" "Previous Tab" "^\UF72C" "Previous Workspace" "^\UF72C" "Select Next Tab" "^\UF72D" "Next Tab" "^\UF72D" "Next Workspace" "^\UF72D"

-g modifies ~/Library/Preferences/.GlobalPreferences.plist. You need to reopen apps to apply changes, and the manually added shortcuts aren't displayed in Application Shortcuts.

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Before I try it, how would I undo this? Is there something like -dict-remove? (Also, I'd love to know how you found this solution.) –  foxcub Sep 13 '11 at 4:07
defaults delete -g NSUserKeyEquivalents. You can also edit the file manually with: f=~/Library/Preferences/.GlobalPreferences.plist; plutil -convert xml1 $f; open $f. I didn't find out about it from anywhere in particular. –  Lri Sep 13 '11 at 5:39
I think the key codes are wrong. It tries to set everything to be Ctrl+PageUp. Where can I lookup these codes? –  foxcub Sep 13 '11 at 16:43
Sorry, fixed it. lri.me/chars –  Lri Sep 14 '11 at 0:37
Accepting this answer, since it's a more direct approach to my question. (Sorry that I can't upvote it -- not enough reputation.) –  foxcub Sep 14 '11 at 1:15
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You could use iTerm, since that has a much more flexible shortcuts system, but you will inevitably come across another application that does not work the way you want.

I think you will find that Command+shift+[ and Command+shift+] are the only consistent shortcuts for switching between tabs and it is better to simply change your habits.

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Is there a way to change Chrome shortcut for switching tabs to the same? (I think I know how to do it for MVim.) I'm Ok with changing my habits, but I need consistency. –  foxcub Sep 10 '11 at 16:08
Chrome already uses those shortcuts, as does MacVim and every other application I have used, except for Adium. –  Jared O'Connor Sep 11 '11 at 0:46
Ah, brilliant! I didn't realize this. Accepting your answer. –  foxcub Sep 11 '11 at 15:36
Shift-Command-Left/Right Arrow also switch tabs in Terminal. Also, as of Mac OS X Lion 10.7, the "three-finger swipe" gesture switches tabs (as long as you don't have the system preference set to use three-finger swipe for something else). –  Chris Page Sep 13 '11 at 20:16
Note that for people with (many) non-English keyboard layouts, any shortcuts involving keys like [ ] { } are hard to type. That's why I personally much prefer shortcuts that use keys that aren't dependent on keyboard layout. Like PageUp and PageDown. –  tml Dec 27 '12 at 10:33
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Lri's answer works (and FWIW, I upvoted it), but takes a bit of a shotgun approach: it creates global settings (instead of Terminal-specific settings), and some of the things it sets actually have no effect on Terminal at all -- I actually don't know what they're for.

If, like me, you're a bit paranoid and would prefer a more "surgical" approach, here's a modified version of Lri's answer:

defaults write com.apple.Terminal NSUserKeyEquivalents -dict-add "Select Previous Tab"    "^\UF72C"
defaults write com.apple.Terminal NSUserKeyEquivalents -dict-add "Select Next Tab"        "^\UF72D"

This adds only two keybindings, ^PageUp and ^PageDown, and adds them only to Terminal.

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Thanks. That's good to know. –  foxcub Mar 9 '12 at 22:09
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