Enable Onscreen Keyboard in LightDM-Gtk-Greeter in Ubuntu 14.04

Last updated: June 26, 2014

lightdm-gtk-greeter onscreen keyboard

 

If you’re using Lightdm-Gtk-Greeter instead of the default Unity Greeter in Ubuntu 14.04, this quick tutorial will show you how to enable onscreen virtual keyboard in your login screen.

Lightdm-gtk-greeter provides a light-weight, GTK+2 or GTK+3 login screen for Linux desktops. It is available in the Software Center of Ubuntu 14.04.

Onscreen keyboard is not enabled by default in this greeter. If you want this feature, just do a little tweak on the config file and then you are able to launch the virtual keyboard via indicator menu or shortcut key F3.

First edit the config file, /etc/lightdm/lightdm-gtk-greeter.conf, with your favorite text editor. Here I use gedit.

Press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open the terminal. When it opens, run:

sudo gedit /etc/lightdm/lightdm-gtk-greeter.conf

When the file opens, do:

  • add new line keyboard=onboard
  • add ~a11y; as a value of indicators

So the file will look like this:

Finally save the file and reboot. Enjoy!

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I'm a freelance blogger who started using Ubuntu in 2007 and wishes to share my experiences and some useful tips with Ubuntu beginners and lovers. Please comment to let me know if the tutorial is outdated! And, notify me if you find any typo/grammar/language mistakes. English is not my native language. Contact me via ubuntuhandbook1@gmail.com Buy me a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/ubuntuhandbook1

4 responses to Enable Onscreen Keyboard in LightDM-Gtk-Greeter in Ubuntu 14.04

  1. Hi,

    I am a very begginer of linux
    I use Linux Mint Xfce, when I write the command it appears like that, tell me please what I have to do?

    xpd@Multix ~ $ sudo gedit /etc/lightdm/lightdm-gtk-greeter.conf
    [sudo] password for xpd:
    sudo: gedit: command not found
    xpd@Multix ~ $

    Thank you.

    • “sudo: gedit: command not found” tells that gedit (text editor) is not installed. You can install it via your package manager, or by running below command:

      sudo apt-get install gedit

      After installing gedit, run previous command again to edit the config file via the text editor.

  2. salam jim;
    there is any methode to appear onboard in login page by keyboard because i can’t access to my account without it , some touch in my keyboard not work and i couldn’ change my passwd by recovery mode.
    sorry for my english

    • Why not clicking the first applet in the top-right corner and launching Onscreen Keyboard via the drop-down menu?

      For a keyboard shortcut, you have to login first, then go to System Settings -> Keyboard -> Shortcut -> Universal Access -> click the link “Turn on-screen keyboard on or off” and set a shortcut key.