Some keyboard shortcuts are common — Crtl + C for copy, Ctrl + V for paste — however simply as usually, shortcuts change between programs, web sites, and packages. The very best Chromebooks have some pretty normal shortcuts — and a helpful shortcut Ctrl + Alt + / to point out you the extra primary ones — however trying on the full checklist of shortcuts will make your eyes glaze over sooner than the outdated 400-page novel you needed to learn over summer season trip.
Effectively, after years of Chromebook use and abuse, I’ve hit on some shortcuts that each scholar ought to know, with a view to get what they have to be executed faster and higher. Begin with the 10 important Chromebook keyboard shortcuts it’s essential to know, then scope out the masterclass beneath. In any case, if there’s something I realized from faculty, it is that you have to work smarter, not tougher.
Normal Chromebook keyboard shortcuts
These system-wide shortcuts are good to know as a result of they can be utilized it doesn’t matter what web site or net app you are in. They may help you lay issues out extra productively in your display screen, discover what you are on the lookout for extra rapidly, or rapidly conceal a recreation window earlier than the instructor’s help walks previous.
- Tab shortcuts: Ctrl + T opens a brand new tab, Ctrl + Shift + T reopens the final closed tab, and Ctrl + W closes the at the moment chosen tab.
- Choices menu: Alt + E opens the choices menu, the three-dot menu in Google Chrome and Google Recordsdata. This shortcut doesn’t work in Android apps.
- Cursor choice and motion: Shift + arrow keys selects textual content within the course you progress the cursor, and Ctrl + arrow keys strikes the cursor one phrase to the left or proper or to the start of the road above or beneath. Utilizing Shift + Ctrl + arrow keys lets you choose bigger parts of textual content rapidly.
- Screenshot: Ctrl + Overview (the button that appears like a stack of home windows) takes a screenshot of your present full Chromebook display screen. Whether or not you want this for capturing the consequence you bought on an online quiz, how a homework module is misbehaving, or one thing humorous that somebody stated in a gaggle chat, it is an important shortcut to know.
- Display zoom: Ctrl + + zooms in and magnifies the present tab of Chrome, whereas Ctrl + – zooms out and shrinks the present tab of Chrome. If you wish to return rapidly to 100% default zoom, you are able to do so with Ctrl + 0.
- Cover your recreation/tab: Alt + – will decrease the present window. When you’ve got a number of home windows open, then hitting Alt + – once more will decrease the following open window. Should you solely have one window open in your Chromebook, hitting Alt + – once more will restore that minimized window as soon as your instructor, little brother, or dad or mum has left and the coast is obvious.
- Cut up-screening home windows: Alt + [ pins the current window to the left side of the screen and Alt + ] pins the present window on the correct facet of the display screen, making it far, far simpler to reference your notes whilst you write your historical past report or write useful expertise articles. Alt + = will make a window full-width once more with out making it fullscreen, which hides the tackle bar, tabs, and toolbars.
Google Drive/Docs shortcuts
Google Drive and Google Docs have some fairly expansive keyboard shortcuts out there to customers on their web sites. Whereas these aren’t all Chromebook unique, they’re definitely shortcuts value figuring out.
Google Drive shortcuts
- Show all of the keyboard shortcuts with: Ctrl + /
- Doc creation: Shift + T creates a brand new Doc, Shift + S creates a brand new Sheet, and Shift + F creates a brand new Folder. If you are going to be utilizing Google Drive for all of your notes, homework, and random daydreaming tales all year long, create folders early and infrequently to maintain issues organized.
- Rename objects: Tapping N pops up the window to rename the at the moment chosen merchandise. Naming screenshots and different randomly named photos and downloaded attachments will assist maintain issues higher organized and straightforward to seek out in your Google Drive.
- Scroll up, down, left, and proper with the j ok h l keys if you don’t need your fingers leaving the keyboard.
Google Docs shortcuts
- Clear formatting: Ctrl + will clear any bizarre formatting off of a web site or app. On that observe, keep in mind that Ctrl+ Shift + V is the shortcut for pasting textual content with out formatting.
- Formatting lists: Ctrl + Shift + 7 will toggle on a numbered checklist or format highlighted textual content right into a numbered checklist. Ctrl + Shift + 8 will do the identical with a bulleted checklist.
- Phrase rely: Ctrl + Shift + C will carry up the phrase rely display screen, exhibiting what number of pages, phrases, and characters are in a highlighted part and the total doc, so you understand how shut you might be to that completely insane 10,000-word rely your English instructor assigned.
- Voice typing: Ctrl + Shift + S will begin voice typing, permitting you to dictate textual content to your doc with out having to sort all of it out.
- Leap to prime or backside: Ctrl + Search + left arrow will take you to the start of your doc whereas Ctrl + Search + proper arrow will go to the tip.
- Insert hyperlinks: Ctrl + Okay will open the insert hyperlink window in Google Docs, permitting you to create a brand new hyperlink for brand spanking new textual content or add a hyperlink to the textual content you had at the moment highlighted.
Recordsdata app shortcuts
The Recordsdata app on a Chromebook is a little bit of a hidden gem. It ties into Google Drive seamlessly, and it may also be used with Chrome Internet Retailer add-ons to distant into different cloud storage programs like Dropbox and OneDrive.
I discover that if I have to do lots of Google Drive cleanup like folder creation, file renaming, and shifting giant numbers of information from one folder to subfolders, the Recordsdata app goes to be far faster than the Google Drive web site, and even the Home windows Explorer app on a pc to which I’ve synced Google Drive.
- Folder creation: Ctrl + E creates a brand new folder.
- Rename objects: Ctrl + Enter to rename the chosen merchandise. I discover this goes faster in Recordsdata than on the Google Drive website as a result of you do not have to take care of pop-up home windows or the window reloading after renaming a file. Ctrl + Enter, sort within the new identify, faucet Enter, then arrow key over to the following merchandise and repeat.
- Delete objects: Alt + Backspace to delete an merchandise from a folder. Gadgets deleted from a Google Drive folder within the Recordsdata app nonetheless go to the Google Drive trash folder, so you’ll be able to get better them inside various days should you discover you deleted one thing on accident.
Remapping Chromebook keys
Chromebook keyboards fluctuate from conventional keyboards in just a few methods. Maybe an important change for a lot of — particularly for youthful customers with fingers too small to achieve each letter whereas holding down the Shift key one-handed — is the “Launcher” key being a Search or App Launcher key as a substitute of Caps Lock.
Fortunately, Google is aware of that it is a key that numerous folks use, so Google permits Chromebook customers to remap the Launcher key, in addition to the opposite function-related keys — Alt, Ctrl, Escape, and Backspace — in order that they are often what we use slightly than the default perform. Here is tips on how to get your Caps Lock again.
1. Faucet the Time within the bottom-right nook of the display screen to open the Chromebook menu.
2. Faucet the Settings gear to open Settings.
3. Scroll down and beneath Machine, faucet Keyboard.
4. Faucet the Drop-down menu to the correct of the important thing you need to change.
5. Faucet Caps Lock.
You may remap the opposite perform keys if you’d like, however Caps Lock is the one main deviation most customers will need to appropriate.
All of the shortcuts
Lastly, keep in mind you’ll be able to see all of the Chromebook keyboard shortcuts at any time. Simply press the Ctrl + Alt + / keys to see a listing of what you are able to do with the keys proper in your display screen.
A bonus tip
The present implementation of Chromebook keyboard shortcuts is fairly strong, however there’s another within the works. With the discharge of ChromeOS 111, Google launched a technique to customise keyboard shortcuts, nevertheless it’s nonetheless not out there out of the field. As a substitute, you may have to allow just a few flags first, offered that you simply need to customise Chromebook keyboard shortcuts to your liking.
1. Open a brand new browser tab in Chrome.
2. Within the URL area, sort chrome://flags and hit Enter.
3. On the prime of the window, sort shortcuts and hit Enter.
4. Allow the next flags:
- Allow New Shortcut Mapping
- Allow improved keyboard shortcuts
- Allow shortcut customization app
- Allow customization in new shortcuts app
5. Click on the Restart button within the backside proper nook.
After your Chromebook is completed restarting, you may have entry to the brand new standalone Keyboard Shortcuts app. And you do not even have to navigate via the Settings app to make use of it.
1. Press the All the things key in your keyboard.
2. Seek for shortcuts
3. Choose Keyboard Shortcuts.
From right here, you may be greeted with the all-new and separate Keyboard Shortcuts app. Within the left sidebar, you may see an array of various shortcut classes, together with Normal, Machine, Browser, Textual content, Home windows and Desks, and Accessibility. Not solely will this offer you a greater concept of what shortcuts can be found, however you’ll be able to truly customise the vast majority of these to your liking.
1. With the Keyboard Shortcuts app open, find a shortcut you need to customise.
2. Hover your cursor over the shortcut.
3. Click on the Pencil icon.
4a. If you wish to change the shortcut totally, click on the Pencil icon to the correct of the shortcut.
4b. If you wish to create a further shortcut with out altering the default choice, click on the Add shortcut button.
5. Enter the keyboard mixture that you simply need to use for the shortcut.
6. Click on the Finished button.
You may go forward and repeat these steps for any Chromebook keyboard shortcuts that you simply need to customise. The one “catch” is that should you see a shortcut with a “lock” to the correct, you will not be capable of change or customise that particular one.
Lastly, should you occur to mess up on making a keyboard shortcut, or simply need to reset all of them again to the defaults, you are able to do so.
1. Open the Keyboard Shortcuts app in your Chromebook.
2. Find the shortcut that you simply need to reset.
3. Hover your cursor to the correct and click on the Pencil button.
4. Click on the Restore defaults button within the window that seems.
5. If it’s essential to restore greater than only one shortcut, click on the Reset all shortcuts button within the sidebar on the left.
We aren’t certain when Google can be rolling this out and enabling it by default to the Secure channel. Nevertheless, contemplating how polished the app appears at this level, we would not be shocked if it comes sooner slightly than later.
Acer Chromebook Spin 714 (2023)
Acer continues to impress by introducing new Chromebooks with loads of energy and much more versatility. The 2023 Chromebook Spin 714 packs a wallop, and contains a convertible design.
