Six Simple Must-know Keystrokes for Safari Users
Safari is my browser of choice in Mac OS X, I like Chrome and FireFox a lot but it doesn’t have the same Apple polish to it, and page rendering seems speedier in Safari (my opinion, no intention on sparking a browser war here).
If you’re a Safari user, here are some key strokes that you should know about that will make web browsing a speedier and more pleasant experience. These keyboard shortcuts are particularly useful for laptop users since the hands tend to be situated on the keyboard more often.
| Action / Explanation | Keystroke |
| Navigate to left tab | Shift + Command + Left Arrow |
| Navigate to right tab | Shift + Command + Right Arrow |
| Select Google search box | Command + Option + F |
| Scroll down a screens length | Command + Down Arrow |
| Scroll up a screens length | Command + Up Arrow |
| Close all tabs except specified one | Option + click the close button on the tab you want to maintain open |
If you found these keystrokes to be useful, you can expand your knowledge even further by mastering this list of 31 keyboard shortcuts for Safari on Mac OS X, where you’ll become a web browsing wizard in no time at all.
While this is obviously going to be focused on the Mac, it’s worth noting that Safari is also available in Windows, and most of the keystrokes work the same in the Windows side of things too by replacing the Command Key with the Control Key. If you frequently use a Mac and PC and want to experience true cross platform browsing, Chrome may be a better fit thanks to it’s cloud syncing abilities and greater similarities across all platforms it runs on. That said, Safari is an excellent browser, particularly for Mac users who also have an iOS device, where cloud syncing and Handoff features allow for easy switching between browsing sessions.
[…] Six simple must-know keystrokes for Safari users […]
great little tip about safari
my mouse cursor seems to be inactive in one of my safari windows… I can only move around via keystrokes, and can’t click on things in the page…
Can you help me get my click back?
The CMD+arrow shortcuts are wrong above: CMD+down scrolls to the bottom of the page; CMD+up scrolls to top. OPT+down & OPT+up travel by one page length (but Space & SHIFT+space are easier).
A couple more:
* The slash key (“/”), when cursor’s not in a text box, invokes Find.
* J and K scroll down & up, respectively.
cmd+{ for tab left and cmd+} for tab right is better. The other schortcut gets caught up if you have your cursor in a text box.
those are cmd+shift+[ (or) ]
Awesome post! I didn’t know about the navigating between tabs bit, brilliant. I also use Function up, and Function down to scroll through pages page at a time (if that makes sense)
“Great key strokes. But is there a key stroke to change pages?”
This is not Safari specific, but CMD~ lets you toggle through open windows in an application. Works great in any program where you have lots of hidden windows open.
Yeah, didn’t know about Cmd-Opt-f and Cmd-i which are nice additions.
To change pages, use Cmd-Shft-Left or Right Arrows. But be aware that if your cursor is in any of the boxes (url, google or a field on the page) this doesn’t work. You have to mouse click on the page. Anybody know a key command that escapes the boxes..? :)
Don’t forget “cmd-[” and “cmd-]” which move you back and forward through pages you’ve been to. Of course, that also works in open finder windows and a bunch of other things :)
Great key strokes. But is there a key stroke to change pages?
Dont forget cmd+i –> mail webpage inline.
Space bar scrolls down one screen length and shift space bar scrolls up one screen length. Seems easier than using command and arrow keys.
I knew about all but two of these, but those two (selecting the Google search box, and closing all but one tab) are real gems that I will use every dang day.
Thanks a million!!