Top 10 Google Chrome tips
Know your keyboard shortcuts
Like any good browser, Google Chrome
has several dozen different keyboard shortcuts that can help improve
your productivity. Below is just a few of our top favorites.
Ctrl + 1-8 = Pressing Ctrl and any number 1 through 8 will move to the corresponding tab in your tab bar.
Ctrl + 9 = Switch to the last tab.
Ctrl + H = Show history
Ctrl + J = Open Downloads window
Ctrl + K = Move the cursor to the Omnibox (address bar)
Ctrl + T = Open a new tab
Ctrl + 9 = Switch to the last tab.
Ctrl + H = Show history
Ctrl + J = Open Downloads window
Ctrl + K = Move the cursor to the Omnibox (address bar)
Ctrl + T = Open a new tab
Full listing of Google Chrome shortcut keys
| Shortcut Keys | Description |
|---|---|
| Alt + Home | Open your home page. |
| Backspace or Alt + Left Arrow | Back a page. |
| Alt + Right Arrow | Forward a page. |
| F5 | Refresh current page, frame, or tab. |
| F11 | Display the current website in full screen mode. Pressing F11 again will exit this mode. |
| Esc | Stop page or download from loading. |
| Ctrl + (- or +) | Zoom in our out of a page '-' will decrease and '+' will increase. Ctrl + 0 will reset back to default. |
| Ctrl + 1-8 | Pressing Ctrl and any number 1 through 8 will move to the corresponding tab in your tab bar. |
| Ctrl + 9 | Switch to last tab. |
| Ctrl + Enter | Quickly complete an address. For example, type computerhope in the address bar and press CTRL + ENTER to get http://www.computerhope.com. |
| Ctrl + Shift + Del | Open the Clear Data window to quickly clear private data. |
| Ctrl + D | Add a bookmark for the page currently opened. |
| Ctrl + Shift + O | Open the Bookmark manager. |
| Ctrl + J | Display the download window. |
| Ctrl + K or Ctrl + E | Move the cursor to the browser address bar. |
| Ctrl + N | Open New browser window. |
| Ctrl + Shift + N | Open a new window in incognito mode. |
| Ctrl + P | Print current page or frame. |
| Ctrl + T | Opens a new tab. |
| Ctrl + F4 or Ctrl + W | Closes the currently selected tab. |
| Ctrl + Shift + T | Undo the close of a window. |
| Ctrl + Tab | Moves through each of the open tabs. |
| Spacebar | Moves down a page at a time. |
| Shift + Spacebar | Moves up a page at a time. |
| Alt + Down arrow | Display all previous text entered in a text box and available options on drop down menu. |
Use the Omnibox to do more than just search
The Google
Omnibox
does more than displaying the URL and allowing you to search. It is
also capable of performing
mathematical calculations (as shown in the picture) and even
answer questions such as "how many cups are in 2 liters?" Try adding any
math calculation now in the Omnibox without pressing enter to have the
results shown.
Sync Chrome with your Google account
Chrome allows you to sync
your settings, passwords, and bookmarks to your Google account. This is
a great
feature for anyone who switches computers (e.g. work computer and
home computer) and needs access to all their bookmarks and account
settings.
You can log into your Google Account and adjust your sync
settings by going into Settings under the "wrench" 
or "Menu" 
icon.
or "Menu" icon.
Pin your frequently used tabs
Pin
your favorite tabs to save space on your tab bar without losing quick
access to your favorite pages. In the above picture, you can see we have
eight pinned tabs, which would have normally consumed our
tab bar.
To Pin a tab right-click on any open tab and click Pin Tab.
Bonus tip: You can also click-and-drag a pinned tab to the position of your choice.
Use the Autofill feature
Use
the Chrome Autofil feature for automatically filling out any online
form with common fields such as your name, e-mail, address, etc. To
enter the
Autofill values follow the below steps.
- Click on the "wrench"
or "Menu" icon in the
top right corner.
- Click Settings
- At the bottom of Settings, click Show advanced settings...
- Click Manage Autofill settings under Passwords and forms.
- In the Autofill settings window, click the Add new street address button.
- Fill out all address settings you wish to be saved and click ok.
- Once complete try out your Autofill using the below form. To enter the values click on any of the below fields and select the name of your Autofill.
Resize text boxes
Chrome gives you the ability to resize any
text field. This can be extremely useful for when you're filling out a
form that doesn't seem big enough for all the information you're
entering. To resize the text field click-and-drag the bottom right
corner of the box. Below is a text field that can be used as an example.
Use the Chrome Task manager
Since each open tab runs it its own
sandbox to help with browser stability, it can be difficult to see the
overall system resources being used. For example, in the Windows Task
Manager you will see multiple instances of Google Chrome running for
each open tab.
Use the Chrome Task manager to show you
how much memory and CPU resources each open tab and extension you have
installed is using. To open the Task manager press Shift + Esc or Click on the "wrench" or "Menu" icon in the
top right corner, click Tools, and then Task manager. If you want to get real geeky click the stats for nerds click at the bottom of the Task manager.
or "Menu" icon in the
top right corner, click Tools, and then Task manager. If you want to get real geeky click the stats for nerds click at the bottom of the Task manager.
Quickly close a tab
Any tab can be closed by clicking on the x
on the tab. However, there are much quicker ways to close a tab. For
example, if you have a mouse with a wheel pushing in on the wheel
anywhere on the tab will close the tab. The shortcut keys Ctrl + W or Ctrl + F4 will also close the current open tab.
Bonus tip: Middle-clicking on any link will also open that link in a new tab.
Use Chrome commands
Use
the chrome:// commands to access many
hidden features of Chrome. There is a few dozen of these commands
available that will allow you to do everything from viewing DNS
information, GPU information, look for conflicts, setting flags, and
much more. A listing of these commands can be accessed by typing chrome://chrome-urls in the Omnibox.
Install Extensions
No Internet browser will have every feature you want, therefore we suggest visiting the Google Chrome Webstore
to install free extensions for your browser. Today, there are thousands
of available extensions, games, and other add-ons that can be installed
into your browser.
