14 Essential Chromebook Keyboard Shortcuts to Know
Using Chromebook keyboard shortcuts will help you speed up and work more efficiently. Any operation system OS like Windows, Linux, MacOS, Chrome OS has useful keyboard shortcuts built-in, that can help speed up or access extra features on your Chromebook.
You can use the function keys at the top of your keyboard, which replace the F1-F12 keys with useful browser action and hardware control buttons.
In this post, we’ll show you the top Chromebook keyboard shortcuts you need to learn.
Chromebook Keyboard Shortcuts
1. Open File Manager
Alt + Shift + m – You can open the file manager in Chrome OS faster by using this keyboard shortcut.
2. Split and arrange your windows
Alt + [ – pushes your window over to the left half of a split-screen. If the window is already in that position, the window will shift from the left to the center.
Alt + ] – pushes your window over to the right half of a split-screen. If the window is already in that position, the window will shift from the right to the center.
Alt + = – will maximize a window to fill the full width of your screen. If the window is already maximized, the window will shrink to its previous size.
3. Take a Screenshot on a Chromebook
Ctrl + []]] – press the Ctrl key and the window switcher key at the same time.
We’ve covered how to take a screenshot on a Chromebook before, and it the good news is that it couldn’t be any easier!
4. Switch Between Open Tabs
Ctrl + number – this switching back and forth is made easier by using the Ctrl and number keys.
5. Open Task Manager
Shift + Esc – You can easily identify processes that are taking a lot of CPU by using the Chrome OS task manager.
6. Adjust zoom for pages and the entire system
Uisng zoom options on Chrome you can enlarge — or shrink — a webpage or the whole system UI to better fit on your screen:
- Ctrl + + Increase the zoom on the current Chrome tab
- Ctrl + – Decrease the zoom on the current Chrome tab
- Shift + Ctrl + + Increase the display zoom of Chrome OS
- Shift + Ctrl + – Decrease the display zoom of Chrome OS
7. Lock the Screen
Ctrl + Shifl + L – To do lock the screen in Chrome OS just press the this key combo.
8. Toggling Caps Lock On/Off
Alt + search key – Chromebooks don’t come with a Caps Lock key like most of the Windows laptops. This key combination helps you add that functionality.
9. Open Pinned Apps and Files
Alt + number – You can pin your most-used apps to the dock in Chrome OS, and you can easily launch the first 8 apps in your dock with the combination of Alt and the corresponding numbers from 1 to 8.
10. Direct Logout
Ctrl + Shift + q – In case you need to log out from your Google account, this is all you need to do.
11. Quickly Navigate Webpages
There’s no Delete key on Chromebook keyboards, there’s no Page Up, Page Down, Home, or End keys, but there are Chrome shortcuts to replace them.
- Alt + ↑ — Page Up
- Alt + ↓ — Page Down
- Alt + Shift + ↑ — Home (goes to the top of the page)
- Alt + Shift + ↓ — End (goes to the bottom of the page)
12. Open the Notification Panel
Alt + Shift + N – Typing them a second time minimizes the panel after checking your notification.
13. Open the Quick Settings Panel
Alt + Shift + S – You can close it same way as notifications by typing them a second time minimizes the panel.
14. Show Keyboard Shortcut Overlay
Ctrl + Alt + ? – If you want to check out all of the shortcuts this combination will show you all the shortcuts associated with different buttons.
