Key Names

Reference for key names used in keybindings.

Modifier Keys

Modifier	Common Name	Description
"Mod4"	Super/Windows	The key with the Windows logo
"Mod1"	Alt	Left or Right Alt
"Shift"	Shift	Either Shift key
"Control"	Ctrl	Either Control key

Combining Modifiers

Combine modifiers in a table:

{ modkey }                -- Mod4 only
{ modkey, "Shift" }       -- Mod4 + Shift
{ modkey, "Control" }     -- Mod4 + Ctrl
{ "Mod1", "Shift" }       -- Alt + Shift
{ modkey, "Mod1" }        -- Mod4 + Alt
{ modkey, "Control", "Shift" }  -- Mod4 + Ctrl + Shift

Common Key Names

Key	Lua Name
Enter	"Return"
Space	"space"
Tab	"Tab"
Escape	"Escape"
Backspace	"BackSpace"
Delete	"Delete"
Insert	"Insert"
Home	"Home"
End	"End"
Page Up	"Prior"
Page Down	"Next"

Arrow Keys

Key	Lua Name
Left Arrow	"Left"
Right Arrow	"Right"
Up Arrow	"Up"
Down Arrow	"Down"

Function Keys

Key	Lua Name
F1 - F12	"F1" through "F12"

Letters and Numbers

Key	Lua Name
Letters	"a" through "z" (lowercase)
Numbers	"1" through "0"

Media Keys

Key	Lua Name
Volume Up	"XF86AudioRaiseVolume"
Volume Down	"XF86AudioLowerVolume"
Mute	"XF86AudioMute"
Play/Pause	"XF86AudioPlay"
Stop	"XF86AudioStop"
Previous	"XF86AudioPrev"
Next	"XF86AudioNext"
Brightness Up	"XF86MonBrightnessUp"
Brightness Down	"XF86MonBrightnessDown"

Mouse Buttons

Button	Number
Left click	1
Middle click	2
Right click	3
Scroll up	4
Scroll down	5
Scroll left	6
Scroll right	7
Back	8
Forward	9

Examples

-- Global keybinding
awful.key({ modkey }, "Return", function()
    awful.spawn(terminal)
end, { description = "open terminal", group = "launcher" })

-- Keybinding with multiple modifiers
awful.key({ modkey, "Shift" }, "c", function(c)
    c:kill()
end, { description = "close", group = "client" })

-- Media key (no modifier)
awful.key({}, "XF86AudioRaiseVolume", function()
    awful.spawn("wpctl set-volume @DEFAULT_AUDIO_SINK@ 5%+")
end, { description = "raise volume", group = "media" })

-- Mouse binding
awful.button({ modkey }, 1, function(c)
    c:activate({ context = "mouse_click", action = "mouse_move" })
end)

See Also

• Keybindings Tutorial - Learn how to create keybindings
• Default Keybindings - Built-in shortcuts
• awful.key (AwesomeWM docs) - Complete API reference