DEV Community

Cover image for Enable Mac Like 3 Finger / 4 Finger Touchpad Gesture on Linux Mint
Shawon Saha
Shawon Saha

Posted on

Enable Mac Like 3 Finger / 4 Finger Touchpad Gesture on Linux Mint

If you're a Linux Mint user and you've always envied the smooth touchpad gestures available on Mac, you're in luck. With the help of a few simple commands, you can enable Mac-like touchpad gestures on your Linux Mint system. In this step-by-step guide, I'll walk you through the process. Let's get started:

Step 1: Grant Input Permission

sudo gpasswd -a $USER input 
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Step 2: Install Required Packages

sudo apt install python3 python3-setuptools xdotool python3-gi libinput-tools python-gobject 
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Step 3: Install libinput-tools

sudo apt-get install libinput-tools 
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Step 4: Restart Your Computer
It's essential to restart your computer after installing the packages to ensure everything takes effect.

⚠️ You have to restart your computer ⚠️

Step 5: Clone libinput-gestures Repository

git clone https://github.com/bulletmark/libinput-gestures.git 
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Step 6: Navigate to the Cloned Repository

cd libinput-gestures 
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Step 7: Run the Installation Script

sudo ./libinput-gestures-setup install 
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Step 8: Autostart libinput-gestures

libinput-gestures-setup autostart start 
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Step 9: Return to the Parent Directory

cd .. 
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Step 10: Clone the gestures Repository

git clone https://gitlab.com/cunidev/gestures.git 
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Step 11: Navigate to the Cloned gestures Repository

cd gestures 
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Step 12: Check Out a Specific Commit (e46c743a)

git checkout e46c743a 
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Step 13: Install gestures

sudo python3 setup.py install 
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Step 14: Return to the Parent Directory

cd .. 
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Step 15: Create a Configuration File

cd .config 
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode
touch libinput-gestures.conf 
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode
nano libinput-gestures.conf 
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Step 16: Paste the following code into Configuration File

# Generated by Gestures 0.2.2 --> https://gitlab.com/cunidev/gestures # Manual editing might result in data loss! # Invalid lines # Unsupported lines # Swipe threshold (0-100) swipe_threshold 0 # Gestures gesture swipe up 3 xdotool key 0xffe3+0xFFEA+0xFF54 gesture swipe down 3 xdotool key super+d gesture swipe left 3 xdotool keyup 0xffea gesture swipe right 3 xdotool keydown 0xffea + key 0xff09 gesture swipe up 4 xdotool key 0xffea+m gesture swipe down 4 xdotool key 0xffe9+0xffc1 gesture swipe left 4 xdotool key super+0xff51 gesture swipe right 4 xdotool key super+0xff53 gesture pinch out 2 xdotool key 0xffe3+0x002b gesture pinch in 2 xdotool key 0xffe3+0x002d 
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Step 17: Save and Exit from nano
Ctrl + o -> Enter Key -> Ctrl + x

Final Step: Open Gestures

Image description

For a list of xdotool key codes for more customized experience, you can refer to this link: https://gitlab.com/cunidev/gestures/-/wikis/xdotool-list-of-key-codes

Top comments (0)