Surfingkeys helps you use keyboard shortcuts to browse the web
While a mouse can move a cursor and select text, icons, files, and folders, it’s considered as a pointing device only. It’s a keyboard that is still viewed as the main input device for a computer. So, if you’re a keyboard buff and like keyboard-based navigation on the Internet, give Surfingkeys, a try. The procedure involved is simple- If, after installing the extensions and adding it to your browser, you notice that Surfingkeys is disabled, it’s possible you’re on one of the following pages.
Google DocsChrome New pageGoogle Sheets.
Choose a different page and hit the F key.
Instantly, all anchor points should be visible on the screen. By selecting a character or group of characters, you can click the relevant links. For example, For links,
Press F to open a link.Press C to open a link in non-active new tabPress CF to open multiple links in a new tabPress GF to open a link in non-active new tabPress AF to open a link in new tab
Similarly, to switch tabs,
Press E to go one-tab leftPress R to go one-tab rightPress X to close the current tabPress X to restore the closed tabPress « to move the current tab to leftPress » to move the current tab to the rightPress g0 to go to the first tabPress g$ to go to the last tabPress W to open a new window with the current tabPress J to move the current tab to leftPress K to move current tab to the rightPress yt to duplicate the current tabPress gx0 to close all tabs on leftPress gxt to close tab on leftPress gxT to close tab on the rightPress gx$ to close all tabs on the rightPress # to scroll pages / DIVs
Other shortcuts
G – Scroll to the bottom of the pageJ – Scroll downK – Scroll upH – Scroll leftL – Scroll rightE – Scroll a page upD – Scroll a page downGG – Scroll to the top of the page$ – Scroll all the way to the right% – Scroll to the percentage of the current pageCS – Reset scroll targetCS – Change scroll target
Some more additional shortcuts to search with desired search engines,
SW – Search selected with Microsoft BingSG – Search selected with GoogleSB – Search selected with BaiduSY – Search selected with YouTube
You can also write your own code snippets and assign keyboard shortcuts to execute them. For this, simply right-click the Surfingkeys icon and choose Settings.
When directed to a new page – Key Mappings, check the ‘Advanced mode’ box and begin writing your own code in the text editing section. When done, hit the ‘Esc’ to exit the anchor-point mode. The web interface should return back to its normal mode. Kindly note, the tool has a different set of actions configured for ‘selected text’. So, if you find that Surfingkeys is not responding to the commands listed above, check if any text/s are selected. Deselect the content to allow Surfingkeys to respond appropriately. Surfingkeys extension is capable of supporting keyboard combinations that require pressing 2 or 3 keys.
Final words
Surfingkeys allow you to do practically anything related to the browser via your keyboard. As such, it comes across as one of the most feature-rich and usable keyboard browsing addons. It’s not strictly bound by Vim legacy, but it does follow vi’s idea of the mnemonic hotkey language faithfully. The only downside of using this mode is you should have some knowledge about Javascript and HTML knowledge to do web scripting. For more information, you can visit the Chrome Web Store or Firefox Addon page. You can use Chrome extensions on Edge, as well.
