When I use a browser, I typically focus on using keyboard shortcuts, rather than the user interface. Since I’ve been using Google Chrome so often, I thought I would reveal the shortcuts that I’ve been using. Most of these shortcuts should work in other browsers as well, whether natively, or through the use of extensions.
CTRL + T
Opens a new tab in the current window.
CTRL + SHIFT + T
Opens the most recently closed tab. Chrome will actually remember the last ten tabs you closed, and work its way back in time with repeated keypresses.
CTRL + W or CTRL + F4
Closes a tab in the current window. If you close the last remaining tab, the window will close as well.
CTRL + 1, CTRL + 2, CTRL + 3, etc
Allows you to switch to a specific tab within a given window. To better illustrate this, see the following image:
Pressing CTRL+1 will do nothing, because in the image I’m already on tab 1. Pressing CTRL+2 will switch to Wikipedia, and CTRL+3 will switch to Microsoft.
CTRL+9 is a special shortcut that will actually move you to the last tab, regardless of the number of tabs. In the example above, pressing CTRL+9 would bring me to tab 3.
CTRL + TAB
Switches to the next tab.
CTRL + SHIFT + TAB
Switches to the previous tab.
CTRL + N
Opens a new window.
CTRL + SHIFT + N
Opens a new incognito window. I use this shortcut whenever I access my e-mail from a shared computer, to help protect my account.
ALT + F4
Close the current window, regardless of how many tabs are open.
ALT + HOME
Loads your homepage in the current tab.
For a full list of shortcuts in Windows, see the Google Chrome Keyboard and mouse shortcuts page.