5 Shortcuts for Quicker Internet Browsing

Productivity experts say that keyboard shortcuts are 60% faster than using a mouse. So here are my top five shortcuts that work in all the major browsers: Internet Explorer, Safari, Chrome and Firefox.

(Note: while these tricks work in all browsers, on a Mac, you may need to use the Command key instead of Control. Watch the video above for details.)

Shortcut # 1:  Move Quickly Between Tabs – Control-Tab

If you need to move between multiple web pages, working in multiple tabs is faster than multiple windows. Why? Because Control-Tab lets you fly through all your tabs.

Shortcut #2: Reopening a Tab You Just Closed – Control-Shift-T

Sometimes you’re moving so fast online that you accidentally close a tab. That can be frustrating, particularly if the page you just closed had some crazy, hard-to-remember URL. Fear not. Control-Shift-T reopens the last closed tab.

Shortcut # 3: Zooming In – Control-+

Want do see some detail on a webpage more clearly? Font too small? No problem. To zoom in, hit Control and the plus key (if your keyboard has the + sign on the same key as the = sign, you do not need to hit Shift as well). To zoom out, use Control and the minus key.

Shortcut # 4: Better than Scrolling – Spacebar

Sometimes you get to a really long web page, and you want to scroll, but mousing or using the scroll bar on the right side of the browser frame can be tedious. Instead, try the Spacebar. Every time you hit it, the web page will scroll down one frame. To move one frame up on the page, use Shift and Spacebar 

Shortcut #5: Fast Find – Control-F

If you don’t want to wade through the whole page to find what you’re looking for, use the Control-F shortcut. It opens a little search bar at the top of the browser window. Type in the keyword you’re looking for, and it will list how many times it appears on the page. Then click on the arrow to the right of that new search box, and the page will advance to the next point at which that keyword appears. 

[Related: 8 Microsoft Word Shortcuts You Probably Don’t Know]