Using Firefox with the keyboard

One of the great things about Firefox is how easy it is to use with a keyboard. I’ve been trying it out for a few days. It is quite easy once you know the commands.

To go forward a page press Alt + Right arrow key. To go back a page press Alt + Left arrow key.

To open a new tab press Ctrl + T. The browser puts the selector on the address bar as soon as you open a new tab. This makes it nice and easy to open a tab and type the address quickly.

To close a tab press Ctrl + W to close the current tab.

To fill out a form press the Tab key to jump down a box. This is a standard command for most programs.

To go to your Home page press Alt + Home. Makes sense doesn’t it?

To select the web search box on the Navigation Toolbar press Ctrl + K.

To bring up your History press Ctrl + H. This is a great way to check your housemates recent internet exploits… Not that I’m encouraging snooping.

Install SwiftTabs extension at https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/380/. This allows you to set additional controls for your tabs. I have it set up so the Left arrow key moves me a tab left and the Right arrow key a tab right. Also I have set the End key to close the current tab.

As you can see Firefox is very keyboard friendly. Yet another recent to boycott Uncle Microsoft…