Essential Shortcuts For Surfing The Internet
A quick guide to using the web browser. Newbie or curious? It will help you.
Since the mouse was invented, there has been a revolution and an increase in its functions. Without a doubt, the mouse is a useful and essential tool for everyday users on the web; Not for expert users 😊.
What I am going to propose with this post is not an attack against the mouse’s use. It would not be very responsible on my part. What I want to communicate to you is a way to achieve greater productivity, better investment of time (it is not a post about techniques to manage time), or to look like experts working our computer.
Imagine that you are enjoying a movie on your computer and your loved one interrupts you to tell you how she/he enjoyed having finished creating the web application in which she/he invested so much time and effort. Moving the mouse to enable the player controls and then looking for the button to stop the movie will make you look disinterested in her/his story. Save yourself the trouble; use the keyboard to get it.
Retrieve the tab where you checked the code to find the error that does not let you sleep — closing an unwanted pop-up window. Keyboard shortcuts can help you in various situations. The shortcuts that will be presented will be those corresponding to Chrome. Other browsers may have these same shortcuts. I need to mention that you can substitute the Control key for the Command key if you use a MacBook.
Next, I will introduce you to the keyboard shortcuts. It will have a brief description of its functions and then the key combination.
Delete navigation data
It will take you to a new tab where a modal window will be generated to ask you what you want to delete. You can delete from your browsing history and cached files and images. Check the boxes on the right to select them — Press Clear Data to finish.
By the way, check my post about cookies and browsing data to learn more about privacy when browsing on the Internet.
Close current tab
Close the tab of the browser you are using. The browser will close if you have no more tabs open.
Recover a previously closed tab
It will reopen the last tab you closed. It will keep your session open if you have it. If you were filling in a form, the data inserted in the text fields would be kept when you retrieve the window.
Open an incognito window
It will open a new window in incognito or InPrivate mode (the way to call it may vary). When browsing incognito mode, reduce the things that are associated with you. It does not work like a VPN. Sites can know your location.
By the way, check my post about the incognito mode to learn more about it.
Open a new window
It will open a new window in normal browser mode. If you have pinned or fixed tabs in your browser, they will not stay in a new window.
Search in the browser
It will perform a search on the current web page. This kind of examination does not mean that it will query the site’s database. This feature is useful for searching for information on a long web page or PDF documents (not scanned).
It is a quick search. It does not allow advanced functions.
See the source code of the page
A new tab will display the source code (HTML, CSS, and JavaScript) of the page. You cannot edit the code.
Open the element inspector (developer tool)
Open the Item inspector at the bottom of the window. It shows by default the Light theme of its interface. If you did not know, this is where you can edit the code of the web page.
Screenshot from the browser
We have the solution to capturing the screen or the content of a full web page. Now, it is achieved without plugins or applications external to the browser. You can select different types of screenshots. Choose a capture per node or a full-page capture.
First, you must use the keyboard shortcut to get to the element inspector (the key combination is above). Then, without touching anything else, press the key combination:
Write “screenshot” in the dialog box that is generated to be able to see the screenshot options. Scroll using the directional arrows and select using the Enter key.
Edit text of a web page
It allows you to edit the web page’s text without having to enter the elements inspector to modify it. It will enable you to see the page’s interface’s behavior, definitely, a useful feature for designers.
It is not, properly, a keyboard shortcut. You will feel the power of touching JavaScript code.
Open the Item inspector (you have no excuse not to). Select the console from the top menu. If you get lines of code saying that an error has been generated, it doesn’t matter. You can clean your console or continue like this.
Type the line of JavaScript code below and hit the Enter key.
document.designMode=’on’;
The value “on” will be printed on the console. If you press, with your mouse, on any text on the web page, it will create a cursor to indicate that you can edit the content. Check out the screenshot below. Close the Item inspector when you are done.
As you may have noticed, some shortcuts are useful for average users, for users with technical web skills, or designers.
Regardless of your profile, use keyboard shortcuts wisely and enjoy your time for other things.
Greetings.
