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Keyboard Shortcuts in Virtual Machine

Both Windows and Linux primary OSes have special hotkeys which they intercept even when the hotkeys are pressed inside guest OSes. Techniques of bypassing this problem are stated below.

Windows Primary OS

If your computer is running Windows primary OS, it will intercept Ctrl+Alt+Del key combination pressed in guest OS. To send Ctrl+Alt+Del to guest OS:

Using Standard Hotkeys in Linux Guest OS When Primary OS is Also Linux

When both primary and guest operating systems are Linux-based the problem arises how to send standard hotkey combinations to the guest Linux OS since primary Linux OS intercepts them. To bypass this trouble

To send to the guest Linux OS, for example, Ctrl+Alt+Backspace press Ctrl+Shift+Backspace. Primary Linux OS will not intercept this combination while guest Linux OS will interpret it as Ctrl+Alt+Backspace.

The table below shows what combinations you should press instead of standard ones.

Desired Hotkey

Combination to Press

Ctrl+Alt+Backspace

Ctrl+Shift+Backspace

combination from range Ctrl+Alt+F1 - Ctrl+Alt+F12

Ctrl+Shift+F1 - Ctrl+Shift+F12

Ctrl+Alt+plus sign or Ctrl+Alt+minus sign

Ctrl+Shift+plus sign or Ctrl+Shift+minus sign