How can I bind Ctrl-Tab and Ctrl-Shift-Tab?

[iflowerml]

Why is Ctrl-Tab or Ctrl-Shift-Tab not working in my terminal? How do I enable Ctrl-Tab and Ctrl-Shift-Tab in Blink? Does Ctrl-Tab and Ctrl-Shift-Tab work on Tmux or GNU Screen to switch windows? Does Ctrl-Tab and Ctrl-Shift-Tab work on Emacs or Vim?

[iflowerml]

Terminals do not recognize Ctrl-Tab as a keyboard sequence. In fact, they do not differentiate Tab from Ctrl-Tab (by default, they only send Tab). Hence, an extended keyboard sequence was introduced and implemented in many Terminals and CLI applications.

Here is how to do that in Blink, but these instructions are easy to extrapolate to other terminals as well:

1. Go to Settings>Keyboard.
2. Click on "Custom Presses" at the bottom > Click on "Add shortcut".
3. Click Ctrl-Tab simultaneously.
4. In “Action” select “Custom String”.
5. Return to the previous page and now underneath “Send Input”, in “Custom String” enter the sequence: \x1b[27;5;9~.
6. For Ctrl-Shift-Tab, start a new custom and use the sequence: \x1b[27;6;9~.

These sequences will now be sent by the terminal and ready to be interpreted by the corresponding applications.

For Tmux,

1. Open your conf file: vim your-file.conf and add:

bind-key -n C-Tab next-window
bind-key -n C-S-Tab previous-window

2. Save and exit the file. Back in terminal enter: tmux source your-file.conf

Tmux Reference

In Emacs, the sequence is recognized as <C-tab>.
In your .emacs add:

(global-set-key (kbd "<C-tab>") 'next-buffer)

Emacs Reference

In Vim, In your ~/.gvimrc file add:

" Add keyboard shortcuts 
map <C-Tab> gt 
map <C-S-Tab> gT		

Vim Reference

In Screen, in your ~/.screenrc file add:

bindkey "^[[27;5;9~" next 
bindkey "^[[27;6;9~" prev	

Screen Reference

You should now be able to use Ctrl-tab and Ctrl-Shift-Tab for actions like switching windows!