Configuring XTerm to Default to Meta Sends Escape

Summary

For emacs and command-line work, it is important for the escape key to work properly. In many installations of xterm, unfortunately, the Alt/Meta key sends some strange character instead of escape. To fix, you need to add the xterm*metaSendsEscape: true line into your ~/.Xdefaults file. Reloading the X Defaults with xrdb -l ~/.Xdefaults will cause the change to be visible the next time you launch xterm.

Details

Add this line anywhere in your personal .Xdefaults file (~/.Xdefaults):

xterm*metaSendsEscape: true

Then reload the config with xrdb. Without this step the changes in .Xdefaults won't take effect until the next X restart:

xrdb -l ~/.Xdefaults

Launch a new xterm and enjoy the new, working Alt/Meta key!

Last modified on 16 Aug 2010 by AO