Avoiding Fn-R Intercepted Interrupt Windows Terminal using WSL

In some cases, unintentionally pressing the Fn-R key on a laptop may cause the current process to exit, instead of the expected Ctrl-R command. This article will guide you on how to avoid this issue when using Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL).

Understanding the Problem

The Fn-R key on laptops is often used for various functions, such as screen brightness adjustment or sleep mode. However, when using WSL, this key may interfere with the terminal's normal operation, causing unexpected process termination.

Solution

To resolve this issue, we can modify the terminal's configuration to ignore the Fn-R key. Here's how to do it:

1. Open the Windows Terminal application.
2. Click on the More (three dots) icon at the top-right corner.
3. Select Settings from the dropdown menu.
4. In the settings pane, navigate to the profiles section.
5. Find the profile you are using (e.g., Ubuntu) and click on the ... icon next to it.
6. Select Copy to create a new profile with the same settings.
7. Rename the new profile to something like Ubuntu (Fn-R Workaround).
8. Go back to the profiles section and click on the new profile you just created.
9. In the settings pane, scroll down to the keybindings section.
10. Find the keybinding for Ctrl+R (it should be { "command": "history", "keys": ["ctrl+r"] }).
11. Copy this keybinding and paste it under the existing keybindings.
12. Modify the keys array to ignore the Fn key. The new keybinding should look like this:

{
  "command": "history",
  "keys": ["ctrl+r", "!Fn"]
}

13. Save the settings.

Now, when you start the Ubuntu (Fn-R Workaround) profile, the Fn-R key will be ignored, and the Ctrl-R command should work as expected.

References

• Windows Terminal - Settings
• Windows Terminal - Keybindings
• How to ignore Fn key in Windows Terminal
• How to remap Fn keys in Windows