Setting the compose key on Xfce

Gabriele Svelto — Wed, 03 Oct 2018 11:21:27 GMT

The compose key is a handy tool to generate characters that aren't available on your keyboard. On Xfce there isn't a readily accessible way to set it, but it can be done rather easily from the Settings Editor:

Launch the Settings Editor from Applications > Settings > Settings Editor or via the terminal by executing the xfce4-settings-editor command
Select the keyboard-layout channel
Look for the Compose property under Default > XkbOptions > Compose
To enable the compose key you have to enter one of the following values in the Compose property:

Compose key

Value

Right Win

compose:rwin

Left Win

compose:lwin

Right Ctrl

compose:rctrl

Left Ctrl

compose:lctrl

Right Alt

compose:ralt

Compose key	Value
Right Win	compose:rwin
Left Win	compose:lwin
Right Ctrl	compose:rctrl
Left Ctrl	compose:lctrl
Right Alt	compose:ralt

The resulting setting should look like this (I'm using the right Windows key in this example):

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Setting the compose key on Xfce