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. 

Here are six of my favorite Firefox mouse shortcuts for you to remember:

• Middle click on a link (will open in new tab)
• Holding the Shift key and scrolling down (takes you to the previous page)
• Holding the Shift key and scrolling up (takes you to the next page)
• Holding the Ctrl key and scrolling up (increases text size)
• Holding the Ctrl key and scroll down (decreases text size)
• Middle clicking on a tab (closes that tab)

Have any other Firefox mouse shortcuts you hold near and dear to your heart?  Leave them in the comments and let us know your favorites that you use in your everyday browsing.

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.

Tab Restore Shortcuts

If you accidently close a tab, you can bring it back by pressing the following keyboard combination:

Ctrl + Shift + T

The great thing about it, is the newly restored tab keeps all the surfing history too.  You can can keep doing it to, to browse backwards through all the tabs you have closed in your current browsing session.

You can also bring back closed Firefox tabs or windows by clicking on “History” in the menu bar.  At the very bottom, you should see selectable menus for:

• Recently Closed Tabs
• Recently Closed Windows

There you have it.  This tab and window restore tip will help you get out of a pinch more than a few times, so it is a good one to memorize.  This is one of my favorite keyboard shortcuts and Firefox browsing tips, second only to Ctrl + T to open a new Firefox tab.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

Having both my free time projects and my job very keyboard focused, I have developed a pretty good skill at typing.  Here recently though, I have been looking at a lot of free solutions to help my two nephews get more familiar with typing on a keyboard.  Lets face it, by the time they are grown (unless we finally develop that mind reading technology) typing will become as important as learning how to write.

That is where the Numpad Typing Drills and Addictive Typing Lessons (both add-ons for Firefox) come into play.

Click on the screen shots to get a closer look at each Firefox add-on:

So if you want to become a better typist, or you know somebody who you would like to teach, these two add-ons are the perfect (and free) way to get the task done.

+ Pickup Numpad Typing Drills for Firefox

+ Pickup Addictive Typing Lessons for Firefox

Both extensions are great tools in helping even the best typists become better at their craft.  Spruce up on your own typing skills and give both of these add-ons a shot.

Shift + Scroll Down = Go Back a Page

Shift + Scroll Up  = Go Forward a Page

Ctrl + Left Click or Middle Click = Open Link in Background Tab

Ctrl + Shift + Left Click = Open Link in Foreground Tab

Shift + Left Click = Open Link in New Window

Alt + Scroll = Scroll Line by Line

Middle Click on Tab = Close a Tab

Double Click on Tab Bar = Tab New

Ctrl + Scroll Up = Text Size Decrease

Ctrl + Scroll Down = Text Size Increase

Know of anymore good ones?  Be sure to leave a comment, and share with the rest of us.  For more keyboard shortcut fun, remember to check out Mission Ctrl? All the Ctrl Key Shortcuts for Firefox,  Firefox’s Navigation Bar Keyboard Combo Cheat Sheet and Ctrl + Shift Your Way Through Firefox.

Navigation Bar Keyboard Shortcuts

Choose Your OS: Windows | Linux | Mac OS

Alt + Left Arrow or Backspace = Go Back a Page

Alt + Right Arrow or Shift + Backspace = 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 + J = 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

There is at least one (and sometimes two) keyboard combinations you can use to get the navigation toolbar tasks done.  Anymore keyboard tips you’d like me to go over as we all become Firefox keyboard ninjas?