Linux: Set Key Repeat Rate

By Xah Lee. Date: . Last updated: .

How to set a key repeat rate by command?

Type the following in terminal.

# set key repeat rate. delay 280 milisecond, 40 per sec
xset r rate 280 40
# set key repeat rate to default. 25 per sec, 660 milisecond delay
xset r rate

Copy and paste the above in ~/.xprofile

Create the file if it doesn't exist.

X11 will road it when start up.

LXDE Key Repeat Rate Config File

You can also set lxde specific config file.

〔see Linux: LXDE Set Key Repeat Rate〕

〔see Linux: How to Switch to LXDE, Xfce〕

Xfce Key Repeat Rate Config File

If you are using Xfce desktop, you can also set key repeat rate in a config file at

~/.config/xfce4/xfconf/xfce-perchannel-xml/keyboards.xml

Here's sample xfce key repeat rate config file.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<channel name="keyboards" version="1.0">
  <property name="Default" type="empty">
    <property name="Numlock" type="bool" value="false"/>
    <property name="KeyRepeat" type="empty">
      <property name="Delay" type="int" value="280"/>
      <property name="Rate" type="int" value="40"/>
    </property>
  </property>
</channel>