There are lots of web browsers and people use a browser of their choice. Some people prefer web browsing on Chrome while there are a lot of people who love using Firefox. Now a lot of people also prefer Edge which comes pre-installed on Windows. Although we have several browsers, these browsers have common keyboard shortcuts. These keyboard shortcuts let you perform several tasks quickly while browsing the web. If you learn these keyboard shortcuts for a browser, you can use them while using any other web browser. In this article, I am listing some of the keyboard shortcuts that you can use on Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Opera, and Safari.
All these Browser keyboard shortcuts are for Windows. If you are using macOS, replace Ctrl with CMD in the keyboard shortcuts. For example, ctrl+F5 is used to refresh the browser on Windows, and Cmd+F5 is used for the same thing on macOS.
Basic Navigation Keyboard Shortcuts
Keyboard Shortcut | Action |
F5 | Refresh |
Ctrl + F5 | Refresh and reset the browser cache for the current page. |
Alt + Left Arrow | Back |
Alt + Right Arrow | Forward |
Alt + Home | Return to Homepage |
Escape | Stop |
F6 | Select the address bar (Alt+D and Ctrl+L also works here) |
F11 | Fullscreen mode, exit fullscreen mode |
Home | Scroll to the top of the page |
End | Scroll to the bottom of the page |
Spacebar | Scroll down |
Shift+ Spacebar | Scroll up |
Page Down / Up | Scroll down / up |
Ctrl + C | Copy selected text |
Ctrl + X | Cut (copy and delete original) text |
Ctrl + V | Paste copied text |
Advanced Navigation Shortcut Keys
Keyboard Shortcut | Action |
Ctrl + D | Bookmark current page |
F1 | Open a mostly useless help page |
F3 | Perform a text search on the current page, find the next text result |
Shift + F3 | Find previous text search results |
Ctrl + F | Perform a text search on the current page |
Ctrl + G | Find the next text result |
Ctrl + Shift + G | Find previous text result |
Ctrl + H | Open browsing history |
Ctrl + J | Open the downloads folder and/or history |
Ctrl + O | Open a local file in the browser |
Ctrl + S | Download and save the current page |
Ctrl + P | Print current page |
Ctrl + E | Select the search box or omnibar. (Ctrl + K also works) |
Ctrl + Shift + Del | Opens up the clear browser history dialog or settings |
Alt + Enter | Open search in a new tab |
Ctrl + Enter | Open search term as a website |
F12 | Open developer tools or Firebug |
Ctrl + U | View source |
Alt + F | Makes the menu bar appear (if hidden) |
All About Tabs
Keyboard Shortcut | Action |
Ctrl + N | Opens a new window (this works in Windows too) |
Ctrl + Tab | Cycle forward to the next tab |
Ctrl + Shift + Tab | Cycle backward to the previous tab |
Ctrl + F4 | Closes the current tab. |
Ctrl + T | Opens a new tab. |
Ctrl + Shift + T | Opens a recently closed tab. |
Alt + F4 | Close the entire window (truly universal for every app) |
Ctrl + # key (1 to 8) | Changes view to the tab number chosen |
Ctrl + 9 | Changes view to the last tab |
Mouse and Keyboard Combos
Keyboard Shortcut | Action |
Ctrl + Mousewheel | Zoom in our out |
Ctrl + 0 | Reset to 100% (default) zoom |
Mousewheel Press | Closes tabs if clicked on a tab, opens links in a new tab, scroll |
Ctrl + Left Click | Open link in a new tab |
Shift + Left click | Open link in a new window |
Shift + Ctrl + Left click | Open link in a new background tab |