Did you know that in Chrome you can open tabs, click links, scroll pages, and even navigate menus—all using just your keyboard? This is possible with a simple extension. It took me a while to get used to it, but now I browse Chrome like a pro without ever touching a mouse or touchpad.
How exactly does Vimium work in Chrome?
Wicker easy to use. Once installed, it assigns unique keyboard shortcuts or tooltips to every clickable element on a web page, such as links, buttons, and text fields. You can then use the appropriate key or key combination to perform the desired action. Once you become familiar with these shortcuts, you will immediately begin to navigate through them smoothly.
However, the extension doesn't work on pages like the Chrome Web Store, New Tab page, or text editors, so don't be surprised if it appears greyed out in some places. Additionally, Chrome may display some permission warnings when installing Vimium. In fact, it only needs access to load JavaScript – nothing more. Vimium does not send data anywhere and does not track your activity.
You can click ? You can open Vimium's built-in help menu at any time—it shows a complete list of all available shortcuts. It's like a quick reference guide right in your browser.
Likewise, you can click I to enter insert mode whenever you need to enter text into a text field – Vimium will ignore keyboard shortcuts so you can type freely. Hit Esc to exit and return to normal navigation.
Shortcuts are case sensitive, meaning press G with Caps Lock turned off performs a different action than G with Caps Lock enabled.
Open and navigate any web page
Once you install Vimium, navigating web pages will be easier. Press j scroll down and To to scroll up. To move sideways, press hour (left) or l (right). Want to jump straight to the top? Press guaranteed victory. Need to hit rock bottom? Tap G. On long pages, press d smoothly scrolls the page down, while You scrolls backwards—eliminating the need for constant manual scrolling.
If the page is full of links, click and or F Makes Vimium display tooltips in small letters on every clickable element – just press the appropriate key(s) to instantly open the target link(s). Pressing F opens links in the same tab by clicking and opens them in a new tab. To refresh the page, click rand so that view page source codetype gs.
Copy links and URLs instantly
Vimium also makes copying and sharing links incredibly fast. Want to share the page you're currently on? Just click wowand the URL is instantly copied to the clipboard. Should I copy a specific link instead? Press Yesthen select the link using the on-screen letter hints displayed by Vimium—right-clicking is no longer required.
If your site has multiple sections or frames, click girlfriend to switch focus between them. It's ideal for navigating complex pages or applications without ever touching your mouse.
Open pages, access bookmarks, and search instantly.
You don't even need to touch the address bar. Press O to bring up the Quick Open prompt—here you can enter a URL, a keyword from your history, or a bookmark name, and Vimium will instantly find it. Press O to open a link in the same tab, or ABOUT to open it in a new one. Also, b And B Allows you to open bookmarks directly, so you don't have to dig through menus.
If you are reading a long article or white paper, click / To search for a specific word or text phrase– just like using Ctrl+F in Chrome. Vimium highlights matches as you type and you can click n to move to the next result or N go back. It's a convenient way to navigate long web pages and documents without using a mouse.
Manage tabs and move forward and back
Vimium makes it easy to manage multiple tabs. Use J or GT to move left through tabs and TO or gt move to the right. To open a new tab, click T. Need to close the current one? Hit X – and if you accidentally close it, click X to instantly bring it back. You can even search all open tabs With Twhich is incredibly convenient when you have dozens open at the same time.
You can also click r0 to instantly go to first tab in a Chrome window or g$ move straight towards last tab– ideal for quickly navigating between tabs without touching the mouse.
You can also forget about Chrome's back and forward buttons entirely. Press HOUR return to previous page or l to move forward again. Want to open multiple new tabs at once? Just enter a number before the command, like this: 3t opens three new tabs. This repetition trick works in other places too, e.g. 3d to scroll down three half-pages at a time.
Advanced Navigation Techniques
On sites with Next or Previous buttons, such as blogs, forums, or image galleries, click ]] jumps forward while [[[[[[[[ will take you back. To focus on the first text field on the page (for example, the search bar), click gi. Want to move up one level in your website URL (for example, from example.com/blog/post to example.com/blog)? Just click gu.
If you ever need to open multiple links at once, click Alt+F (
Here's how Vimium lets you control your browser right from your keyboard—no mouse required. To stay informed about new updates or features, you can check the release notes on the website GitHub. And since the source code is open, you can check source code to confirm that it does not track or share your data. Try it – you'll be surprised how much Your browsing becomes smoother.
