Keyboard shortcuts can really speed up your browsing online, especially when doing research. Using your mouse to help you search for keywords, go from one page to another, selecting text, copying and pasting, searching for more information and navigating through multiple tabs back and forth can really add up to your available browsing time. Besides, your web browser is perhaps one of the most used applications in your computer, why not take advantage of the most important keyboard shortcuts to save time. Here, you’ll find ten of the most useful keyboard shortcuts when going online.
Ctrl-Tab/Ctrl-W/Ctrl-Shift-T
If you are like most Web users, no doubt you like to have more than one web page open at the same time. To quickly navigate through your different opened tabs, press Ctrl-Tab. If you want to close one of your tabs, use Ctrl-W. However, if you changed your mind and want to bring that page back up, hit Ctrl-Shift-T and the tab you just closed will reappear.
Pg Up – Pg Dn / Home – End
Instead of slowly scrolling down or up a Web page, use the Pg-Up and Pg-Dn keys to quickly browse the page. The Home and End keys are similar to the previous two keys. However, they will bring you to the top and bottom of the page, respectively.
F11
Toolbars and tabs help you navigate the Web. However, if you want to explore a particular page without the clutter, use the F11 key-on the top row of your keyboard-to hide the toolbars and tabs. It’s an excellent way to enjoy an article or simply to concentrate your attention on the page. Hit F11 again to bring back the toolbars and tabs.
Ctrl-F/Ctrl-G
Whenever you need to search for a keyword within a Web page, hit Ctrl-F. This key combination will open a search box for the current page. After you find the first instance of the keyword you are looking for, hit Ctrl-G to locate the next occurrences.
Ctrl-D
Bookmarking is a good way to save pages for later reading or to explore in more detail after finishing your research. Use the Ctrl-D key combination to quickly bookmark a page. A dialog box will pop up asking you to confirm, add to or change the bookmarking information. Do the necessary changes and save the page.
Ctrl-S
Other times, you may want to explore a particular page when offline. To save a page to your hard drive, flash drive or CD, hit Ctrl-S to bring up a dialog window where you can select the directory where you want to save the page to. You can save it as a complete Web page, as an HTML page or some other confituration. Once