CNET TV: 10 Firefox keyboard shortcuts

by Jessica Dolcourt

Which gives you faster browsing in Firefox, the keyboard or the mouse?

The keyboard, of course. Every time you lift your fingers to open a new page or switch tabs, you lose seconds of productivity time.

Commit some of CNET Executive Editor Tom Merritt's tips to memory, however, and that precious time can become yours again.

Control Tab is my favorite shortcut. Which is yours?

Jessica Dolcourt reviews the latest and greatest smartphone apps, in addition to a healthy dose of Windows software. E-mail Jessica and follow her on Twitter.

Topics:: Browsers and extensions,; Mac Software,; Windows Software

Tags:: Firefox 3,; Quick Tip

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Add a Comment (Log in or register) (13 Comments)


by Owyn December 15, 2008 1:16 PM PST: Tried to watch this in FF3.0.4 with Flash 10. No luck it wants at least Flash 9. The old string versus number compare bug which has had a fix almost since Flash10 was released.

Oh well, IE7 is still running Flash 9. IETAB FF plugin to the rescue.; Like this Reply to this comment

by CPP-Crispy December 15, 2008 8:18 PM PST

The shortcuts I use the most are Alt - Left Arrow key for back and Alt - Right Arrow key for forward. this is because in Linux the Backspace dose not work for going back. I also use Ctrl - L to highlight the address bar. F5 to refresh the page and Ctrl - P to print. I use these along with the others that were mentioned above.

Happy Shortcuting!

Like this Reply to this comment


by MafiaPenguin December 16, 2008 9:04 PM PST: Good ones, those are the ones I use too (on Windows, wish I could bring myself to install Ubuntu).; Like this


by MafiaPenguin December 15, 2008 8:33 PM PST: If my internet connection is slow enough, then why do you make videos?
make them all text!; Like this Reply to this comment


by Mark Merriman December 16, 2008 4:14 PM PST: I enjoy the tips.; Like this Reply to this comment


by vikefan December 16, 2008 4:18 PM PST: Kind of ironic that I couldn't watch this video about Firefox shortcuts in Firefox. I had to watch it in Internet Explorer. The tips were pretty cool though...thanks!; Like this Reply to this comment


by kishmed December 16, 2008 11:30 PM PST: Those are great shortcuts I regularly use. One more short cut which I like is....Ctrl+e ...it takes you directly to search engine beside the address bar. So no need to click www.google.com if your default search engine is google. So if you wanna google something while you browse, just press Ctrl+t (for new tab) and Ctrl+e (for search) type the word and press enter..
While viewing any webpage, just click space bar to scroll down.(****+Space bar for scrolling up.); Like this Reply to this comment


by HeyUGuys December 17, 2008 10:34 AM PST: I don't know why they call this clip "Firefox keyboard shortcuts" when most, if not all of the shortcuts, they showed can work on all the major browsers, even older browsers like Netscape and IE6.; Like this Reply to this comment


by lyferd December 17, 2008 11:33 AM PST: me either...but what is the meaning of life anyways?; Like this Reply to this comment


by wadah1111 December 17, 2008 3:49 PM PST: Some problem you might interfere with, is that when you use ctrl+tab to switch between tabs and you reach a tab with a flash video, trying to go to the next tab by pressing the shortcut will fail and instead you will go to the play and other controls of the video and this is so annoying.
Anyone can help in fixing this?; Like this Reply to this comment


by Tracy Wright December 17, 2008 8:20 PM PST: Yeah, I thought it would be more of the not-so-obvious ones but I guess not. And I'm not sure what you guys are whinging about the viewing capabilities on Firefox, There is only a problem with your speed or update your current version.; Like this Reply to this comment


by Tracy Wright December 17, 2008 8:20 PM PST: Yeah, I thought it would be more of the not-so-obvious ones but I guess not. And I'm not sure what you guys are whinging about the viewing capabilities on Firefox, There is only a problem with your speed or update your current version.; Like this Reply to this comment