Google Chrome Keyboard Shortcuts
Here is a (growing) list of obvious and not-so-obvious keyboard shortcuts and special/hidden pages you can use with Google Chrome.
| Shortcut | Description |
|---|---|
| Ctrl+Shift+T | Reopen the last tab you’ve closed. Google Chrome remembers the last 10 tabs you’ve closed. |
| Drag link to tab | Open link in specified tab |
| Drag link to space between tabs | Open link in a new tab in the specified position on the tab strip |
| Alt+Home | Open your homepage |
| Type the part of the web address that’s between ‘www.’ and ‘.com’, then press Ctrl+Enter | Add www.and .com to your input in the address bar and open the web address |
| Type a search engine keyword or URL, press Tab, then type a search term | Perform a search using the search engine associated with the keyword or the URL. Google Chrome prompts you to press Tab if it recognizes the search engine you’re trying to use. |
| Type a web address, then press Alt+Enter | Open your web address in a new tab |
| Ctrl+B | Show/Hide bookmarks bar |
| Ctrl+J | View the Downloads page |
| Shift+Escape | View the Task manager |
| Ctrl+K or Ctrl+E | Places a ‘?’ in the address bar. Type a search term after the ‘?’ to perform a search using your default search engine. |
Special Hidden Pages in Google Chrome
Internets: Don't Clog The Tubes!
Below are some of the hidden and debugging pages found that work in Google Chrome. To try any of these out, just copy/paste or type the commands into the address bar.
| Enter in the address bar | Description |
|---|---|
| about:internets | A funny depiction of “the internets” |
| about:crash | Causes the current tab to “crash” |
| about:blank | A blank tab |
| about:cache | Information about your browser cache |
| about:dns | DNS prefetch information |
| about:histograms | Browser statistics with text histograms |
| about:objects | |
| about:memory | “Stats for nerds” |
| about:plugins | Standard data on installed plugins |
| about:stats | “secret” stats page |
| about:version | Basic Google Chrome version info |
| about:network | Interesting realtime display of what your browser is loading when browsing a website |
| about:ipc |
Top 5 Features of Google Chrome
After waiting rather impatiently for a first look at the new Google Chrome browser, here is a quick review of some of the best features of what is turning out to be a great first attempt at a new browser alternative.
#5: Tabs, Tabs, Tabs!
Let’s face it, tabs are just awesome. Google isn’t the first to use tabs (obviously), and while their decision to put tabs at the very top of the browser also wasn’t a first it does work very well. You can do a lot with the tabs in Google Chrome. Visually and from a user interface perspective, tabs at the top offer a more natural browsing experience and really play off of the full affordance value that the tabbed concept is all about. They also feel good. Moving them around, snapping them in and out of the browser window is natural and it is clear this was not a second-thought, last minute add in. They spent some time getting this basic, but important feature right.
#4: Incognito
This feature lets you pop open a new browser window that doesn’t leave a trace of your browsing activity on the computer. No page history, no cookies, nothing except what you specifically choose to download or bookmark will remain. Less advanced users may be confused into thinking this feature hides everything about them from their service provider or the websites they are visiting. This is not the case and, in fact, an area where I see a lot of future development possibility. There are several methods of hiding and anonymizing your online activities, but they are largely disjointed and not always easy or convenient. I see a great opportunity for the open source community to really beef up Incognito into a truly private browsing feature in the future. One that hides both local traces of your activity as well as masking your online identity while surfing.
#3: Speed
Chrome is fast. Pages load fast. Client side scripts (Javascript) loads very fast. This is an area that all modern browsers are really starting to focus on and Google has raised the bar on what is possible in terms of ultra-fast rendering speeds. Especially as the web moves towards more online services that mimic (and exceed) traditional desktop applications, faster client-side rendering and script processing is a much needed feature.
#2: Application Shortuts
This will likely be an under-recognized feature for Google Chrome, but will become more and more useful as people shift their traditional desktop computing tasks into the online “cloud.” This simple feature allows you to create a desktop shortcut for any web app that you can access online. This feature is less about innovation and more about simple convenience. The new shortcut will immediately launch a special space-maximized version of Chrome that loads up your web app. This helps you treat your favorite web apps as if they were desktop apps. Again, as more and more apps are being run on the web, expect this feature to increase in value as well as expand in features (i.e. Application Shortcuts + Google Gears).
#1: Simplicity
Yes, the number one feature of Google Chrome is how simple it is. Screen real estate is maximized, the color scheme of the browser itself is simple and clean, and the browser basically just stays out of your way while you browse. For both beginners and advanced users alike, the interface is simple, powerful, and unobtrusive.
With all that being said, the browser is still in beta and is a great first attempt. I expect things to improve greatly as development continues. Of course, Google loves to keep things in beta. However, this is a great addition to the browser community and worth checking out. Download Google Chrome and see how you like it.
Live Google Chrome announcement
You can watch the live press event where Google announces and demos the new Google Chrome browser at 2:00 PM Eastern TODAY.
Live broadcast
First glimpse of Google Chrome
