ulauncher not gaining focus

Question

I'm trying to install and use ulauncher, and I had set Super + Space as the shortcut. But when I press the shortcut, ulauncher doesn't gain focus as in I'm not able to enter anything into the input box unless and until I click on it.

And when I set gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.preferences focus-mode 'sloppy', it still requires me to hover on the input box to start searching for applications.

It would be of great help if someone can help me with this. I basically want to search for apps as soon as I press Super + Space after it opens up ulauncher.

Answer 1

Answers from here: https://github.com/Ulauncher/Ulauncher/issues/222

molguin92 commented on Jul 5, 2018 •

Hi! Sorry for necroing this thread, but I found a workaround to this issue.

The problem lies with the /org/gnome/mutter/overlay-key dconf key, which determines the key bound to launch the overview in Gnome Shell and is set to Super_L by default. This is in addition to the default binding of Super+S set in the Keyboard Shortcut settings. Changing this key to something else (I set it to the right Super key, Super_R) allows the use of the left Super key for launching ULauncher. I've done this for some time now without any adverse effects, and I can still access Gnome Shell's overview through the use of Super + S.

@gabrieldrs gabrieldrs commented on Oct 3, 2019

Hey, sorry again for bringing this up, but this is one of the first results on google about this issue and @molguin92 solution is not applicable to Ubuntu 19.04.

In order to change the shortcut now you have to install gnome-tweak-tool. Inside it, go to Keyboard & Mouse and there's an option to change the Overview Shortcut to the Right Super.

This indeed fixes the Super + space shortcut problem with ulauncher in gnome.