Keyboard Shortcuts That Work in All Web Browsers

Shortcuts in Mac

When using the keyboard shortcuts given below in Mac, substitute the Ctrl key with the Command key.

Web browsers can be operated quite fluidly with several keyboard shortcuts. Be it Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, or Opera; most shortcuts are compatible across every web browser out there.

This allows users to easily switch to different browsers without the need to learn anything new. However, there are certain browser-specific keyboard shortcuts as well, which if known are certainly beneficial, but not knowing them doesn't affect usability.

Below, we've tried to cover the most common and useful keyboard shortcuts that are compatible with almost all web browsers. Take a look!

Keyboard Shortcuts That Work in All Web Browsers

Switching Tabs

Ctrl + 1-8 ― Switches to a specific tab in numerical order (from the left)

Ctrl + 9 ― Switches to the last tab

Ctrl + Tab ― Switches to the next tab

Ctrl + Shift + Tab ― Switches to the previous tab

Opening or Closing a Tab or Window

Ctrl + T ― Opens a new tab

Ctrl + W or Ctrl + F4 ― Closes the current tab

Ctrl + Shift + T ― Reopens the last closed tab

Ctrl + N ― Opens a new browser window

Alt + F4 ― Closes the current browser window

Tab Commands Using Mouse and Keyboard

Middle Clicking a Tab ― Closes the tab

Middle Clicking a Link ― Opens it in a new background tab

Shift + Left Clicking a Link ― Opens it in a new window

Ctrl + Shift + Left Clicking a Link ― Opens it in a new foreground tab

Ctrl + Mouse Wheel Up ― Zooms into a page

Ctrl + Mouse Wheel Down ― Zooms out of a page

Navigation

Alt + Left Arrow, Backspace ― Loads the previous page

F5 ― Reloads the page ( to the state when opened last )

F5 ― Reloads the page

Ctrl + F5 ― Clears the cached copy of the page and reloads it completely to show server changes if any.

Esc ― Stops loading a page

Esc ― Stops loading a page

Alt + Home ― Opens the default homepage

Ctrl + Plus Sign ― Zooms into a page

Ctrl + Minus Sign ― Zooms out of a page

Ctrl + 0 ― Restores the default zoom level

F11 ― Switches to full-screen mode

Space, Page Down ― Scrolls the page down

Shift + Space, Page Up ― Scrolls the page up

Home ― Navigates to the top of page

Home ― Navigates to the top of page

End ― Navigates to the end of the page

Home ― Navigates to the top of page

Search and Address Bar

Ctrl + E ― Highlights the browser's default search box

Alt + Enter ― Searches the typed keyword in a new tab

Ctrl + F ― Opens a search box to find words or phrases on the current page

Ctrl + G ― Finds the next matching word with the one searched for on a page

Ctrl + Shift + G ― Finds the previous matching word with the one searched for on a page

Ctrl + L, F6 ― Highlights the address bar.

Ctrl + Enter ― Adds prefix (www.) and suffix (.com) to the text in the address bar and loads the website.

Alt + Enter ― Opens the website typed in the address bar in a new tab

History and Bookmarks

Ctrl + H ― Opens the browsing history

Ctrl + J ― Opens the download history

Ctrl + D ― Bookmarks the current website

Ctrl + Shift + Delete ― Opens the 'Clear Browsing History' window

Other Useful Shortcuts

Ctrl + P ― Opens the 'Print' prompt in order to print the current page

Ctrl + S ― Opens the 'Save As' prompt in order to save the current page

Ctrl + O ― Opens a file from the computer (only compatible ones)

F12 ― Opens developer tools

Ctrl + U ― Opens the current page's source code (exception in Internet Explorer)

Now that you know a lot of keyboard shortcuts, try to use of most of them to make your browsing experience even better.