Everyone has their own preferred way of interacting with their computers. Some guys are comfortable with the mouse, while others prefer the Keyboard for a faster navigation. If you are not much of a Mouse user and prefer to use Keyboard for all your computer interaction – this Google Chrome extension might just make you very happy.
“Throw away your mouse and browse the web using your keyboard instead.” – That’s how the developers introduces this addon and he might be right.
The Keyboard Navigation addon for Google Chrome, makes the webpage links come alive for an easy keyboard interaction. You can pretty much perform any function that the mouse can do for you on any webpage, with the keyboard.
Keyboard Navigation In Google Chrome:
Once you install the Keyboard Navigation Chrome Extension, unlike many other addons, you won’t see any button appear on the top right corner. This extension silently works in the background.
How to use it – Lets start with a page with several links – The Techmeme website come to mind – so lets use it with Techmeme.
1) Press the comma key (,) to start. This will show hints for every link, textbox etc
As you can see the page shows keyboard key combination to open a particular link.
2) Type a hint. If you typed correctly, the hint will be highlighted.
As I scroll down – I see a Story I am interested in reading – I just press the combination of letters next to the link and it gets highlighted – which indicates that the link has been selected.
3) Press Enter or Return to “click” on the highlighted element.
Now all you need to do is to press the Enter key and the selected link would open. No need for using a mouse anywhere. With Keyboard Navigation extension – you have access to all the page links, right from your keyboard.
Useful Tips To Use Keyboard Navigation On Chrome:
- The extension is disabled if a textbox is focused. Press ESC to un-focus the textbox.
- Press Ctrl+Return (Ctrl + Enter) to open a highlighted link in a new tab.
- Scroll down with Spacebar and up with Shift+Spacebar or use the Up/Down arrow keys.
- Open new tabs with Ctrl+T and close tabs with Ctrl+W.
- To go a page back or forward use Alt+Left or Alt+Right.
Conclusion:
Keyboard Navigation makes browsing the web with your keyboard on Google Chrome much more convenient and easy. It can be used anytime, with the use of a shortcut key and if you don’t need it – it stays the background, ready to be at service on call.
If you are not en exclusive keyboard user and would like to have some easier navigation options with your mouse – read our post about Mouse Gesture in Google Chrome.
