How do you quickly scroll to the top or the bottom of a webpage? While we might often think of the mouse’s scroll wheel as a pretty default “duh-like” answer – there are other and maybe better ways to get the job done in Firefox.
Tag Archives | keyboard
Hide and Recover the Firefox Menu Bar
This is a handy browsing trick I just learned about recently. Usually in my Firefox browser, I have the menu bar hidden, to save on screen real estate. However, there comes a time (every so often) when I need to get it back. Rather than un-hiding it, getting what I need, then hiding it again – I have found a much quicker way to bring the menu bar back for just a minute.
Page Zoom in Firefox
Page zooming is a Firefox feature that is often overlooked. It was a new feature added to Firefox 3, which in turn allowed you to increase or decrease the size of a web page to help improve the readability. So, how can you take advantage of this magnificent feature inside of Firefox?
Mouse Tips for Firefox Fans
There is a lot you can do with Firefox when it comes to the mouse. Now, most of the time people focus on all the keyboard shortcuts you can do with Firefox – however, the mouse shortcuts are equally as cool.
Undo Closed Tabs and Windows in Firefox
Oh undo function, what would I do without you?
Well, I would probably be forced to do it again – but that is beside the point. I love being able to reopen a closed tab or window in Firefox. It has saved my rear end many times. This is just one of those Firefox tips you really should memorize.
Stop Squinting to Read Web Pages
Don’t you hate it when you visit a web site and the web site’s text is so small, you can barely make out what you are reading? Here are a few ways you can work around that everyday issue.
Three Ways to Enlarge or Shrink Text
You can enlarge text per web site you are visiting by holding the Ctrl key on your keyboard and scrolling up to enlarge text, and down to shrink text. If your mouse doesn’t have the scroll wheel, then you can also do this by holding the Ctrl key and hitting the “+” key to enlarge text, and the “-” key to make text smaller. The third way to enlarge text via Firefox would be to go to your menu bar, go to View > Zoom, and then choose to zoom in (to make things bigger) or zoom out (to make things smaller).
Reset a Web Page to Normal (after Zooming)
Now if you have messed around with the font size so much, your not sure what the default size should be – you can reset that too. Just go to the menu bar, then click View > Zoom and then Reset. This will reset the web page to it’s normal viewing size.
So there you have a few more accessibility options to play with from within Firefox, so you can stop squinting at web pages you are trying to read.
Firefox’s Navigation Bar Keyboard Combo Cheat Sheet (for Macs)
Doing my part to share the knowledge around, a lot of people have requested that I do more to post alternative operating system keyboard combinations here.
So, for those of you who live the Apple lifestyle, here is the way you can navigate around the navigation bar without having to ever lay your fingers on your one button mouse. If you know of any more (because as you can see, I am not a big Apple user) please share in the comments. Would love to build up a database of more keyboard shortcuts for everybody to use.
Navigation Bar Keyboard Shortcuts
Choose Your OS: Windows | Linux | Mac OS
Cmd + [ or Cmd + Left Arrow or Delete = Go Back a Page
Cmd + ] or Cmd + Right Arrow or Shift + Delete = Go Forward a Page
Opt + Home = Go to your Homepage
F5 or Cmd + R = Reload a Page
Cmd + . or Esc = Stop a Page from Loading
Cmd + P = Bring up the Print Options
Cmd + J = Launch the Download Window
Cmd + Shift + H = Open Your History in the Sidebar
Cmd + B = Open Your Bookmarks in the Sidebar
Cmd + T = New Tab
Cmd + N = New Browser Window
Cmd + X = Cut
Cmd + C = Copy
Cmd + V = Paste
For the Apple fans out there, here are a few more bonus keyboard combinations, that should help assist you in getting your browsing done a little faster.
- Cmd + F = Find
- Cmd + Home = Go to the Top of a Web Page
- Cmd + End = Go to the Bottom of a Web Page
- Cmd + Shift + T = Reopen the Last Closed Tab
Know of anymore Firefox keyboard shortcuts that would be useful for your fellow Apple fans to know? Drop in a comment and share!
Firefox’s Navigation Bar Keyboard Combo Cheat Sheet (for Linux)
Out of user demand, I have decided to re-visit the Firefox navigation bar keyboard combo cheat sheet for some of the other operating systems out there. Here are all the keyboard shortcuts for the standard navigation bar for the various Linux distros out there. Hopefully all the most useful ones have made it onto the list, but if there is one I missed, please feel free to add it to the comments.
Navigation Bar Keyboard Shortcuts
Choose Your OS: Windows | Linux | Mac OS
Alt + Left Arrow or Ctrl + [ = Go Back a Page
Alt + Right Arrow or Ctrl + ] = Go Forward a Page
Alt + Home = Go to your Homepage
F5 or Ctrl + R = Reload a Page
Esc = Stop a Page from Loading
Ctrl + P = Bring up the Print Options
Ctrl + Y = Launch the Download Window
Ctrl + H = Open Your History in the Sidebar
Ctrl + B = Open Your Bookmarks in the Sidebar
Ctrl + T = New Tab
Ctrl + N = New Browser Window
Ctrl + X = Cut
Ctrl + C = Copy
Ctrl + V = Paste
As a bonus, here are a few of my other favorite keyboard combos that you might want to memorize.
- Ctrl + F5 or Ctrl + Shift + R = Reload the Page (overriding the cache)
- Ctrl + F = Find (then use F3 to find again)
- Alt + (1-8) = Select a Specific Tab (if you have eight or less open)
Have a favorite that didn’t make it onto the list? Leave a comment and share it with the rest of us.
Add Keyboard Shortcuts to Your Bookmarks
Want to have the power of your bookmark collection right at your fingertips? SiteLauncher will allow you to assign keyboard shortcuts to all your favorite bookmarks.
To launch, all you have to do is hit Ctrl+Space (or for the Mac users Ctrl+Alt). If you want to use it without the graphical launcher above, use Shift+Alt (or Shift+Ctrl for the Mac users).
Some of the best features include the ability to customize the appearance, set the launcher to open in current or new tabs, set the launcher up as your homepage and you can add as many sites to it as you need to.
You can get more information about it via the official web site, and download it via the Firefox Add-ons site. It is nice to see a good looking and well thought out extension – and this one fits the bill.
Quicker Web Searches with Searchy
Need a quicker way to search the Web?
Searchy, a new experimental add-on for Firefox will allow you to do that in a very stylish and unique way. Once you get it installed, just hit Ctrl+Shift+K to bring up the Searchy search box, then type in what you are looking for. You will get the results in real time as you type.
Also, another neat tip is that you can use “@” before your search to just search the web site you are on at the time. If your not in love with the keyboard combo you must use to get it to search – that can easily be changed in the options.
It might not re-invent searching, however Searchy does give a pretty (and unique) new face to something we all do every single day. To learn more about the development of the extension, be sure to check out the Searchy’s official web site.
