How to Enable/Disable Bounce Keys in Ubuntu

Bounce Keys in Ubuntu stops the system from registering accidental double presses when you hit the same key twice in quick succession. Hand tremors or fast typing often cause these extra characters. This accessibility feature filters them out by ignoring a repeated press of the same key that comes too soon after the first.

You turn on Bounce Keys, then adjust the Acceptance delay slider to set how long Ubuntu waits before it counts a repeated press. The setting is built into Ubuntu’s GNOME desktop, so you don’t need to install anything. It is worth trying whenever doubled letters start showing up in your typing.

How to enable or disable bounce keys in Ubuntu Linux

Bounce Keys lets you ignore fast repeat keystrokes, so you don’t get double letters when your finger bounces on a key. You can turn it on or off in a few clicks from the main system settings. It helps if your hands shake or you often hit keys by mistake.

The change takes effect immediately. You don’t need to restart or log out, and you can undo it at any time by switching the same toggle off.

Here is how to turn it on or off. The whole process takes four short steps: open Settings, open the Accessibility panel, open Typing Assist, and flip the toggle.

1. Click the system menu in the top-right corner of the screen, where the network, volume and power icons sit.
2. Choose Settings. The Settings⚙️ window opens.
3. Click Accessibility in the sidebar. The accessibility options appear on the right.

If the sidebar is hidden because the window is narrow, make the window wider or use the back arrow to return to the list.

1. Click the system menu in the top-right corner of the screen.
2. Choose Settings.
3. Click Accessibility in the sidebar.

You can also open Activities, type “Settings” in the search box and press Enter. The result is the same window.

1. From the system menu, select Settings.
2. Look at the sidebar on the left of the Settings⚙️ window. This is where the Accessibility panel is.

1. Click the system menu in the top-right corner of the screen.
2. Choose Settings.
3. Select Accessibility from the sidebar.

You should now see the Accessibility panel, split into sections such as Seeing, Hearing, Typing and Pointing & Clicking.

1. In Settings › Accessibility, scroll down to the Typing section.
2. Select Typing Assist (AccessX), as highlighted below.

A Typing Assist window opens with the keyboard assistance options, including Bounce Keys. If you can’t find the entry, check that you are in the Accessibility panel and not in the Keyboard panel. The labels on older Ubuntu releases can differ slightly from those on current ones.

1. In the Typing Assist window, find the Bounce Keys row.
2. Switch the Bounce Keys toggle to the On position.

The toggle changes colour to show it is active. From this point Ubuntu ignores a repeated press of the same key that arrives too quickly, which is what prevents accidental key presses.

To disable it, open the same window and switch the Bounce Keys toggle to the Off position. Your delay and beep settings are normally kept, so they are still there if you turn the feature on again later.

Use the Acceptance delay slider to adjust how long Ubuntu waits after you press a key before it recognizes a second press of the same key.

• A shorter delay ignores only very fast repeats. Choose this if you type quickly and real double letters, such as the “ll” in “hello”, are being dropped.
• A longer delay filters more aggressively. Choose this if extra characters still slip through.

Try a setting by typing a few words in any text field, then adjust the slider until doubled letters stop appearing but you can still type intended double letters.

Select Beep when a key is rejected if you want an audible alert when your computer ignores a key press that happened too soon after the previous one. This is useful while you tune the delay, because you hear exactly when a keystroke is being discarded. Leave it off if the beeps become distracting.

That should do it! Changes are saved as you make them, so you can now close the Settings app.

Conclusion:

• Enabling or disabling Bounce Keys in Ubuntu Linux can significantly improve the typing experience for people with motor impairments.
• The Acceptance delay slider lets you adjust the timing between key presses to suit the way you type.
• The beep option gives audible feedback when a keystroke is ignored because it came too soon after the previous one.
• Open Settings › Accessibility, then select Typing Assist (AccessX) to switch the Bounce Keys feature on or off in Ubuntu Linux.