Chromebook Keyboard Shortcuts
Chromebooks have their own set of keyboard shortcuts that work very well once you learn them. Here are the ones worth memorizing.
Open the shortcut viewer
Press Ctrl + Alt + / (forward slash). Built-in shortcut reference with search.
Most useful shortcuts
- Ctrl + Alt + / open keyboard shortcut viewer
- Alt + Tab switch between open apps
- Ctrl + Tab switch between browser tabs
- Ctrl + Shift + T reopen the last closed browser tab
- Ctrl + T new browser tab
- Ctrl + W close current tab
- Ctrl + Shift + W close current window
- Search key open the app launcher
Screenshots
- Ctrl + Show Windows full screen screenshot
- Ctrl + Shift + Show Windows select an area
- Ctrl + Alt + Show Windows screenshot a single window
Caps Lock
- Alt + Search toggle Caps Lock on/off
Chromebooks don't have a dedicated Caps Lock key by default. The Alt + Search combo turns it on and off.
Window management
- Alt + [ snap window to left half of screen
- Alt + ] snap window to right half
- Alt + = maximize current window
- Alt + - minimize current window
- Show Windows key overview of all open windows
Virtual desks
- Shift + Search + = create new desk
- Shift + Search + - close current desk
- Search + ] switch to next desk
- Search + [ switch to previous desk
Text editing
- Ctrl + C copy
- Ctrl + V paste
- Ctrl + X cut
- Ctrl + Z undo
- Ctrl + Shift + Z redo
- Ctrl + A select all
- Ctrl + F find on page
- Ctrl + Backspace delete whole word
- Alt + Backspace delete forward (like Delete key)
Browser shortcuts
- Ctrl + L or Alt + D focus the address bar
- Ctrl + N new window
- Ctrl + Shift + N new incognito window
- Ctrl + R reload page
- Ctrl + Shift + R hard reload (clears cache for this page)
- Ctrl + + zoom in
- Ctrl + - zoom out
- Ctrl + 0 reset zoom
- Ctrl + 1 through 8 jump to that tab
- Ctrl + 9 jump to last tab
System
- Ctrl + Alt + Shift + R reboot Chromebook
- Search + L lock screen
- Ctrl + Shift + Q twice sign out
- Shift + Alt + S open status area (battery, Wi-Fi, time)
- Shift + Alt + N open notification center
Accessibility
- Ctrl + Alt + Z turn ChromeVox screen reader on/off
- Ctrl + Search + H turn on high contrast
- Ctrl + Search + M magnifier on/off
File management
- Alt + Shift + M open Files app
- Ctrl + O open file
- Ctrl + S save
- Ctrl + P print
Make your own custom shortcuts
You can remap some keys (Caps Lock to Escape, for example).
- Settings > Device > Keyboard
- Click "Customize keyboard keys"
- Remap Search, Ctrl, Alt, Escape, Backspace to other actions
Want a Chromebook walkthrough?
Isaac can do a 30-minute training to teach the most useful Chromebook shortcuts and features for your day-to-day.