MUO Polls: Top 5 Firefox Shortcuts You Can’t Live Without
It’s time for another MakeUseOf Poll. This time instead of voting on the best program for the job we are asking you to tell us about your favorite shortcuts.
Like any other widely used piece of software Firefox has its own set of keyboard shortcuts. Some of them are quite popular while some are ones you may never have heard about. If you have been using Firefox for some time now I am sure you have your own must-use list. Tell us about them.
Please vote on your top 5 shortcuts below (you can select up to 5 shortcuts). We might have missed a few though. If one or more of your favorite shortcuts aren’t listed then please select ‘Other’ and let us know about them in the comments.
Top 5 Firefox Shortcuts you Can't Leave With Out
- Ctrl + T (open a new tab) (19.0%, 523 Votes)
- Ctrl + F (on page search) (11.0%, 298 Votes)
- Ctrl + C/V/X (text Copy, Paste, Cut) (11.0%, 295 Votes)
- Ctrl + Tab (jump through tabs) (8.0%, 222 Votes)
- Ctrl + Shift + T (restore the last closed tab) (6.0%, 150 Votes)
- F11 (full screen mode) (5.0%, 131 Votes)
- Ctrl+L or Alt+D (highlight the address) (4.0%, 118 Votes)
- Ctrl + D (bookmark current page) (4.0%, 113 Votes)
- / (find as you type text) (4.0%, 96 Votes)
- Esc (Stop) (3.0%, 87 Votes)
- Ctrl + K (brings cursor to search toolbar) (3.0%, 85 Votes)
- 'Keyword Search' Feature (NOT a shortcut) (3.0%, 81 Votes)
- Ctrl + Plus / Ctrl + Hyphen (increase/decrease text size) (3.0%, 73 Votes)
- Ctrl + N (open a new Firefox window) (3.0%, 69 Votes)
- CTRL + P (print page) (3.0%, 68 Votes)
- Ctrl + R (reload current tab) (2.0%, 66 Votes)
- Ctrl + B (show bookmarks) (2.0%, 55 Votes)
- Ctrl + U (view page source) (1.0%, 39 Votes)
- Ctrl + J (open download manager) (1.0%, 39 Votes)
- Ctrl + H (show browsing history) (1.0%, 39 Votes)
- Ctrl + [1 to 9] (change to the tab with this number) (1.0%, 36 Votes)
- Other (please tell us in comments) (1.0%, 33 Votes)
Total Voters: 2,705
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I voted for three above. My fourth favourite one is CTRL + P for printing something out and my fifth is ALT and the left & right arrow keys for navigating back and forth through pages.
I voted:
^T
^K
^U
^L
^T+Shift
I use ^F and / (depending on if I need to find all occurrences or just one). ^R, ^, ^+ and ^- are also very common for me. I pretty much only work with keyboard shortcuts.
By the way, ^Y is that annoying download manager. ^J doesn’t do anything for me. I really think Download Statusbar ought to be the default, though. It’s much more convenient than the separate window.
What about F5?
F5 = Ctrl + R
Cmd+W is left out
Exactly…. CTRL-W to close the tab!!!!
You list shortcuts for opening, switching, reloading, restoring tabs, why not the shortcut for closing them, Ctrl-W? On a laptop with a touchpad, it’s very useful.
Ummm, where is ctrl-W? That is the one I use the most.
I missed it, my bad.
ctrl-t ??? just double click the tab bar for a new tab in maxthon.
No, thank you. I like my carpal tunnel.
While we can double-click the tab bar (or add a new-tab button to the navigation bar), it’s more practical for some of us to keep our hands on the keyboard.. Hence, ctrl+t.
And doesn’t this pertain only to Firefox? Maxthon doesn’t even use the same engine.
I’m near-sighted, so I use ctrl++ frequently on sites using very small text (if I wore my glasses, I’d have to sit 4 feet away from the monitor). I’m thrilled that FF3 remembers individual sites’ text-size settings. Now I only have to use that shortcut when on new sites.
I tried a shortcut remapper addon a while back, but I quit using it for some reason (maybe it didn’t work that great, or maybe the developer stopped updating so it wouldn’t work with newer releases?) I’m tired of shortcut-clashes between addons, but after chatting with one addon developer, I learned that FF keeps taking away available shortcuts, leaving addon developers less options. So of course there’s going to be an increase in addon shortcut clashes.
Is there a fairly reliable way to remap FF3’s shortcuts? I searched, but mostly found Mac and Linux FF3 remapping, no windows.
I am sure you can remap shortcuts in about:config. I have never tried it myself though.
What about ALT-ENTER for opening a new tab with the search results (if using the Search bar) or opening a bookmark in a new tab.
Agree, that’s another good shortcut. Though for some reason I am used to CTRL+T -> Ctrl+K, does the same thing.
i really like ctrl+F4 (closes current tab)
I dunno, maybe it’s just me, but I find it easier to close tabs using mouse scroll button. Simply bring the cursor on top of the tab and click on the scroll button.
ctrl-W for sure, as well as / for find-as-you-type (ie: really quick searching for the first occurrence of a term)
Just five ? I selected eight and I use them ALL the time.
i need ctrl c/v/x for paper and for my flat
I voted:
Ctrl+F
Ctrl+L
Ctrl+D
Esc
and Ctrl+F12 which reopens the last closed tab.
I never the use the search bar, only quick searches in the adress/awesome bar
Is there a repository of all the shortcuts ?
Oh and no Ctrl+T to open a new tab. Tab mix plus takes care of that any time I type a new URL, open a bookmark or a history item
Guess I’m odd, I don’t use shortcuts because I prefer Mouse Gestures (FireGestures 1.1.2 plugin).
I vote ^F, ^C, F11, keyword search and ^K
I’ve become so used to use Mouse Gestures Redox - i rarely use the keyboard at all.
Paint line upwards = new tab
right then left = close tab
line downwards = Google Calendar
Etc.
Etc.
I’m a big fan of CTRL + W to close tabs I don’t need any more.
backspace, for going back a page.
Alt + tab
I very often want to have a quick look at a word in the free dictionary or some subject in Wikipedia
So I’ve got into the habit of selecting text then:
Ctrl+C > Ctrl+T > Ctrl+K > Ctrl+V > Ctrl+DownArrow (to scroll through search engines) > Enter
I almost do it without thinking these days.
Might consider upping the use of Alt+Enter for “open search in new tab” though - that’s a good ‘un.
most used?
^ + SHIFT + B - organize bookmarks
Has to be Ctrl+W (Command+W OSX) which closes tabs.
Ctrl+F5 for a hard refresh. I use it all the time.