7 Chrome/Firefox Shortcuts To Work Faster

Are you ready to jump from novice to power user in seven easy steps? Then stay tuned to the following shortcuts will save you on Chrome/Firefox. Whether you've been using these browsers for years there are some shortcuts you should know.

Here we go. 

(Note in the case of any Ctrl-key shortcuts, Mac users should use the Cmd key instead.)

1. Head for homepage

You know the routine: You've read through to the bottom of a Web page (or well into the bowels of Facebook), and now you want to go back to the top. Do you furiously spin your mouse's scroll wheel or reach for the scroll bar on the right? Both moves take way too long. Instead, just tap the Home button on your keyboard and you instantly jump to the top of whatever Web page you are viewing.

2. Finding the download file

Novice users often find themselves in the same pickle: unable to find the file they just downloaded. Instant fix: press Ctrl-J. That will immediately open a new tab listing all your downloads. Find the one you want, then click Show in Folder. You can also click Open Downloads Folder at the top of that tab.

3. To bookmark

Of the many ways to instantly bookmark a Web page, it's hard to beat the simplicity of this: Click the star at the far right of the address bar. Okay, if you prefer keyboard shortcuts, it's hard to beat the simplicity of pressing Ctrl-D. Both actions trigger the same result: a pop-up box for quickly adding the page to your favorites (with the name and folder of your choice).

4. Closing tab

Everyone knows that when you want to close a tab, you click the little 'x.' For keyboard shortcuts, just press Ctrl-W to send the current tab packing.

5. To scroll up and down

The space bar: not just for spaces anymore. In Google Chrome/Firefox, as long as your cursor hasn't landed in a text field (like when you're filling out a form), you can tap the space bar to scroll down an entire page at at a time -- great for mouse-free reading. Want to scroll back up again? Just press Shift-space.

6. How to find

You already know how to search the Web; Chrome/Firefox makes it easy to search within a page. Just press Ctrl-F, then start typing your search word or phrase. This is a dynamic search, meaning highlighted results start to appear with the very first letter you type. The more characters you enter, the more focused the search becomes.

7. Make your browser faster with just one click

How do you judge PC speed? By how many browser tabs you can open before things start to seriously bog down.

If you routinely keep lots of tabs open, you may have noticed a serious system hit. Sure, you can bookmark tabs you want to revisit later, but that's not always the best option. (It's definitely not the fastest.). You can use OneTab, a Chrome extension (also available for Firefox) that instantly collapses all your open tabs into a single, nicely organized tab -- thus reducing Chrome's performance impact while keeping important tabs at the ready.