Or any other tool, but I prefer xmodmap. I tried this: remove Lock = Caps_Lock remove Control = Control_L keysym Control_L = Caps_Lock keysym Caps_Lock = Control_L add Lock = Caps_Lock add Control = Control_L I also tried this: xmodmap -e "keycode 66 = Control_L" But neither seem to fully work. Here's the event log for pressing caps lock: KeyPress event, serial 28, synthetic NO, window 0x1a00001, root 0x12d, subw 0x0, time 914826, (679,342), root:(680,362), state 0x12, keycode 66 (keysym 0xffe3, Control_L), same_screen YES, XKeysymToKeycode returns keycode: 37 // 37 is the control key code XLookupString gives 0 bytes: XmbLookupString gives 0 bytes: XFilterEvent returns: False I'm running Ubuntu 10.10 with awesome window manager.