17 Browser Shortcuts Everyone Should Know
The best keyboard shortcuts will help you cope with many computing tasks. When muscle memory takes over, you can open files, format documents, switch between programs, and more without lifting your fingers from the keyboard or navigating through menus and dialog boxes.
A lot of your computer time is likely spent surfing the Internet, and the benefits of keyboard shortcuts extend to web browsers. The most popular browsers use the same keyboard shortcuts as your computer’s OS, with the usual caveat: the Cmd (Command) key in macOS usually replaces the Ctrl (Control) key in Windows.
Below I have listed some of the most useful keyboard shortcuts for browsing the Internet. If there are any you haven’t come across before, they should help you use more internet in a shorter period of time. (In addition, you’ll often find that individual sites like YouTube and Slack support their own keyboard shortcuts as well.)
These shortcuts should work in Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari, as well as a number of other browsers.
Best Keyboard Shortcuts to Manage Tabs
Close the current tab. If you need to close a browser tab you’re viewing, Ctrl/Cmd+W will do the job – just make sure you’re in the right tab, especially if you’re closing a tab. there are a lot of them at once.
Reopen the last tab you closed. To bring back a tab you just closed, use Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+T .
Go to a specific tab. Open tabs can also be bypassed using keyboard shortcuts. Hold down the Ctrl/Cmd key, then tap the number of the tab you want to go to , starting with 1 being the far left, 2 being the far right, and so on until the ninth tab.
Cycle between open tabs. If you want to navigate through all the tabs one by one, use Ctrl+Tab on both Windows and macOS (also hold down the Shift key to move in the opposite direction).
Open a new tab. To open a new tab and jump directly to it, press Ctrl/Cmd+T .
Open New Window: If you want new windows as well as new tabs, Ctrl/Cmd+N will open a new window.
Open a new window in incognito mode. If you hold down the Shift key at the same time as Ctrl/Cmd+N , you will get an incognito window or a private window instead. The exception here is Firefox: use Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+P to create a new private window.
The best keyboard shortcuts for navigating web pages
You also have some handy keyboard shortcuts for navigating web pages.
Scroll down or up. Press Spacebar to see the current page scroll down and continue reading. Use Shift+Space to go back up.
Move between links on a page. Use Tab and Shift+Tab to move between links on a web page, although in Safari you may have to hold down the Option key at the same time, depending on your system settings (try both methods to see which one works). ).
Open a link in a background or active tab. If you want to open a link in a background tab but stay in the current tab, hold down the Ctrl/Cmd key while clicking on it; If you want to open a link in a new tab and go straight to it, hold Ctrl/Cmd+Shift while clicking on it.
Use the keyboard to move forward and backward. Instead of using the back and forward buttons in your browser, you can use keyboard shortcuts. If you’re using Windows, hold down the Alt key and then press the left or right arrow key. on macOS, use the Cmd key instead of Alt.
More Best Keyboard Shortcuts for Your Browser
Find something on the page. If you are searching for something on a web page, press Ctrl/Cmd+F to open the search box.
Bookmark this page. You can also press Ctrl/Cmd+D to bookmark the webpage you’re currently viewing (some additional bookmark organizing tools should also appear on the screen).
Zoom in or out on a page: Hold down the Ctrl/Cmd key and then click the + (plus) button to zoom in on the page. While holding down the Ctrl/Cmd key, you can press – (minus) to zoom out or 0 (zero) to return to the default zoom level.
Fast page refresh. Sometimes you need to refresh the page to see if something has been updated, and to do this you will need the keyboard shortcut Ctrl/Cmd+R .
Force page refresh: Hold down the Shift key while pressing Ctrl/Cmd+R and the page will be completely refreshed, including all cached content.
Go straight to the address bar: When it’s time to go somewhere on the Internet, the Ctrl/Cmd+L keyboard shortcut will place the cursor in the address bar at the top of the browser interface. From here, you can run an Internet search or enter the URL of the page you want to visit next.