Linux Mint: How To Configure Key Repeat Delay And Speed
When typing on your computer, sometimes you want to press and hold a key before pressing it multiple times. This is often most useful for the arrow keys, delete and backspace, as you rarely need to type the same letter more than once in a row.
If you press and hold a key, you may notice that there is a delay between the first response and all the others. Linux Mint gives you the ability to control this delay as well as how quickly the key repeats after the initial delay.
To configure the key repeat delay and speed, you need to go to the keyboard options. To do this, press the Super key, type “Keyboard” and press Enter.
Tip: The “Super” key is the name many Linux distributions use to refer to the Windows key or the Apple “Command” key, avoiding any risk of trademark issues.
Press the Super key, type “Keyboard” and press Enter.
On the default “Typing” tab of the keyboard options, you’ll find repeat options under “Key repeats”. To disable keystrokes completely, click the “Enable keystrokes” slider to the “Off” position.
You can configure the delay between holding down a key and entering the second registered key by adjusting the “Retry Delay” slider. You can also use the “Repeat Speed” slider to configure how fast the key will repeat after the initial delay.
Reducing the delay too low could cause you to accidentally repeat keystrokes during normal typing. The primary focus of the repetition rate should be to be fast enough so that you can reliably release the key exactly when you want to. It is recommended to open a window that you can type in and test the settings until you are happy with them.
You can configure the delay between holding down a key and the second keypress being registered, and how quickly subsequent keypresses are registered.