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I have 8 workspaces in use throughout the day arranged as 2 rows x 4 columns.

Workspaces are numbered logically from 1-4 for the top row left-right, then 5-8 for the next row.

I would like to be able to switch to a workspace using the keyboard combination Ctrl-num where [num] corresponds to number [1-8] on my numeric keypad.

Gnome/Compiz already allows me to switch workspaces via Ctrl-Alt-up/down/left/right or at least that is how I have configured it.

Finding a way to make the mapping and behavior described above however is still confounding me.

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Under Preferences -> Keyboard Shortcuts you can map up to 12 workspaces. You can find needed entries under Window Management -> Switch to workspace #.

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So simple, thanks! I was looking in the wrong place i.e. Compiz settings. Thank you. –  codeitagile Oct 26 '10 at 11:50
You should mark as correct the answer. :) –  skalka Oct 26 '10 at 11:57
When I try this with, say, Ctrl-Alt-Num7, it reports Ctrl-Alt-7 as the hotkey, but instead of taking me to the corresponding workspace, it does something else (eg widens the window with focus). Moreover, hitting Ctrl-Alt-7 does nothing. It works perfectly fine if I set the hotkey as Ctrl-Alt-7 (ie not using the keypad 7 key). –  Noel Yap Jun 4 at 3:52
The problem was that Unity Tweak Tool had Window Snapping turned on. Once I turned it off, the redefinitions for some of the Num keys (Shift-Crtl-Alt-Num? still didn't work) started working. –  Noel Yap Jun 4 at 16:31

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