Google gave Chromebooks several unique features that make it stand out from the rest. While creating the Chrome laptop, they made sure it had the potential to stand out from the rest. One of such features involves keyboard shortcuts. Like whenever you need to perform a task, rather than going through a series of inputs until you find out what it is you are trying to do, all you have to do is push a button or a button combination, and voila – you’re there. Of course, Windows and Mac also have these, but the Chromebook keyboard is a bit different from theirs. In that sense, there are several noteworthy keyboard shortcuts for the Chrome laptop.
Chrome Keyboards vs. Others
Before we delve into the many different shortcuts of the Chrome laptop, it’s good to know the difference between the Chromebook keyboard and that of other brands. First off, since this is a Chrome laptop made specifically for internet use, namely with Google Chrome, the keyboard design has been altered to accommodate the browser. Keys that have been either replaced or just plain deleted include (the following list is based on laptop keyboards):
- F buttons (F1-F12)
- Print Screen (Prnt Scrn)
- Insert
- Delete
- Page Up (Pg Up)
- Page Down (Pg Dn)
- Home
- End
- The rest of the cursor section (extra number keys, extra arrow keys, etc.)
- Caps Lock
- Function (Fn)
- Windows (represented by a flag; only on Windows)
- Command (only on Mac)
As for the keys that replaced those keys and/or were added for specific Chromebook use, those include:
- Back (symbol)
- Forward (symbol)
- Reload (symbol)
- Full Screen (symbol)
- Switch Window (symbol)
- Bright Down (symbol)
- Bright Up (symbol)
- Mute (symbol)
- Volume Down (symbol)
- Volume Up (symbol)
- Power (symbol)
- Search (symbol)
Taking a Shortcut
Sure, the keyboard shortcuts of the Google laptop aren’t much different from the other brands, but there are still plenty of differences that make it unique. For one, because Chromebooks have certain keys missing that other brands of laptop had, certain keys are there to make up for them. In that sense, shortcuts had to be changed too, along with the addition of all-new shortcuts. Here is a list of a few shortcuts for the Google laptop that you should know:
- Ctrl+? – Open help
- Shift+Esc – Open task manager
- Ctrl+Alt+/ – Open keyboard shortcut list
- Ctrl+M – Open file manager
- Alt+ up arrow – Page Up
- Alt+ down arrow – Page Down
- Ctrl+Alt+ up arrow – Home
- Ctrl+Alt+ down arrow – End
- Ctrl+Tab – Switch to next browser tab
- Ctrl+W – Close current tab
- Ctrl+Shift+T – Reopen last closed tab
- Ctrl+N – Open new browser window
- Alt+Tab – Switch to next open window
- Ctrl+Shift+Q – Sign out of Google account
- Alt+backspace – Delete file(s) in file manager
For the full list of shortcuts for the Chrome laptop, check out a compiled list at Google’s official site.
Whether you’re the type of person who uses shortcuts or not, if you have a Google laptop, it wouldn’t hurt to know some of these. Or better yet, you could make a copy of the entire list to refer back to or just bookmark the linked page. Whatever the case, the whole point of shortcuts is to give you the option of performing certain commands quicker (hence the term “shortcuts”), and if you’d like to make your Chromebook experience even faster than it already is, knowing these shortcuts certainly wouldn’t hurt.
