Disable keyboard layout switching for certain application

Support
1

I use some key (e.g. CapsLock) to switch keyboard layouts in KDE Plasma. But for some applications from the list (e.g., remote desktop or virtual machines) I want this key just pass the keypress event to the application (without switching layout in KDE). Is it possible?

2

You can press Shift + Caps Lock for Caps Lock.

There’s also an option for “Caps lock (while pressed), Alt + Caps Lock for original Caps Lock action”. I assume you already know where it is, but just in case:

System Settings → Input devices → Keyboard → Advanced → Switching to another layout

3

Thanks, but that is not what I need.
I need to disable layout switching with key combination for some applications only.

4

It can’t be turned off for only some applications, it’s either all or none.

This script will toggle the option, save it as ~/.local/bin/grp_toggle (or whatever you want) and create a shortcut.

#!/usr/bin/bash

# DESC: Enable/disable grp:caps_toggle

# set your options here
# you can find a list of what's configured using

#  setxkbmap -verbose 10

# copy them and put them in the options variable, like so:
# eg. options="terminate:ctrl_alt_bksp,lv3:ralt_switch"

# don't include grp:caps_toggle
options=""

if [[ -n $(setxkbmap  -verbose 10 | grep "group(caps_toggle)") ]]; then
    setxkbmap -option -option $options
else
    setxkbmap -option grp:caps_toggle
fi

Just in case:

System Settings → Shortcuts → Custom Shortcuts → Edit → New → Global Shortcut → Command/URL

  1. Set a name.
  2. In the Trigger tab set your combo.
  3. In the Action tab type ~/.local/bin/grp_toggle into the “Command/URL” entry box.
  4. Click apply.

EDIT:

Pretty sure this thread had an X11 tag, but now it definitely doesn’t…so this will only work in X11. Not sure how to do this in wayland…presumably through a command that changes the GUI keyboard settings, should one exist (maybe localectl).