change keyboard shortcuts chromebook

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Tour of your Chromebook

Use your Chromebook keyboard

Your Chromebook keyboard works just like a regular keyboard, with a few differences.

Tap here to see an interactive tutorial

Unique keys on your Chromebook keyboard

Your unique Chromebook keys usually appear on the top row of your keyboard from left to right.

Change your keyboard settings

For example, you can make the Search or Launcher key work as a Caps Lock key.

To add a word to your dictionary:

Select Add to dictionary .

To add several words to your dictionary:

If you haven’t already, sign in to your Chromebook.

To turn on autocorrect or spell check:

Important: If you have more than one keyboard language, you'll need to turn on autocorrect for each one. Some keyboards don't have autocorrect.

Important : Currently, word prediction only works in Gmail.

Add or turn off emoji suggestions

Important: If you’re on a Chromebook that is set up and maintained by a school, company, or other group, emoji suggestions are off by default.

Apply emoji suggestions

Turn off emoji suggestions

Apply or turn off personal info suggestions

Add personal info suggestions.

You can quickly add personal info, like your phone number or address, with suggestions.

Update your personal info suggestions

In the box that appears, fill out your preferred info.

Turn off personal info suggestions

Fix problems with your keyboard

If the volume or brightness keys don't work, you might be at the upper or lower limit for that setting.

If the backward or forward buttons don't work, check if the same icons in a browser window are grayed out. For example, if the back button on a web page is gray, the browser isn't aware of a page to move backward to.

If you have other problems with your keyboard, try these steps:

If you still have trouble after trying these steps, contact your Chromebook manufacturer .

Troubleshoot issues with the keyboard

Do more with your keyboard

Need more help?

Try these next steps:.

How to Modify Chromebook Keyboard Settings

Customize your Chrome OS keyboard

change keyboard shortcuts chromebook

Accessories & Hardware

What to Know

This article explains how to adjust your Chromebook keyboard settings to your liking by assigning custom behaviors to specific keys and changing the language settings. Instructions in this article apply to laptops with Chrome OS .

How to Change Chromebook Keyboard Settings

To customize the Chromebook keyboard, follow these steps:

Select the taskbar in the lower-right corner of the desktop, then select the Settings gear to open the Chromebook settings in the Chrome browser.

Select Device from the left menu pane, then select Keyboard .

From here, you can change the function of certain keys. For example, select the Ctrl drop-down menu and choose one of the options listed.

Changes take effect immediately. If you reassign a key, it remains reassigned until you change it.

Select Treat top-row keys as function keys if you want to enable function keys.

To toggle between shortcut and function behavior, press and hold the Search key.

Select Enable auto-repeat to toggle the auto-repeat function, which repeats the key that is held down multiple times until you let go. Use the sliders below to specify how long the delay should be before repeating each keypress, as well as the repeat rate.

Select View keyboard shortcuts to see a list of all Chromebook shortcuts. You cannot modify shortcuts, but these shortcuts are useful to know.

Select Change language and input settings .

Select Input method to set the default language and change the keyboard layout. There are also advanced spell check options.

How Is a Chromebook Keyboard Different?

The layout of a Chromebook keyboard is similar to that of a Windows laptop, with a few exceptions.

If you prefer a traditional layout, customize the Chromebook keyboard so that it closely resembles what you're used to.

You can use a USB keyboard with a Chromebook, but keys that aren't on the Chromebook keyboard won't work.

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How to remap your Chromebook’s keyboard

Bring back Caps Lock and take control of your keys

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Chromebooks are pretty different from traditional laptops in a lot of ways — and not just because of their software.

The most obvious physical difference? Chromebooks feature keyboards with a variety of Chrome OS-specific functions, which means they don’t have standard keys like F1 or even Caps Lock. Depending on your style of working, that could be a welcome change or a massive pain.

The best Chromebook for 2022

If you aren’t thrilled with that arrangement, though, don’t despair. You can actually remap a fair number of your Chromebook’s keys and dramatically change how you use your device.

To get started, simply head into the Keyboard section of your Chromebook’s settings:

The Keyboard change page

There, you’ll see a list of keys you can customize:

Each key can be remapped to handle any of the following functions:

The Chromebook keyboard change page

To remap any key, just click the box alongside it and select whatever function you’d like it to have. You might want to change the Launcher (or Search) key back to a Caps Lock, for instance. Or, if you like having the Launcher key in its default role but still miss Caps Lock, you might want to assign the Caps Lock function to your Escape or Assistant keys.

If you have any Chromebook other than the Pixelbook (which, as mentioned before, has a dedicated Google Assistant key) and want easier access to Assistant, you might consider assigning the Escape key or even the Launcher key to handle that function.

There’s one more keyboard remapping option worth noting: beneath that list of customizable keys, you’ll see a setting called Treat top-row keys as function keys . If you activate the toggle alongside that, the specialty keys on the top row of your Chromebook’s keyboard — the commands for going back, reloading a page, maximizing a window, and so on — will be transformed into standard F1-style function keys. You’ll still be able to access their specialty functions in that scenario but only if you first hold down the Launcher key and then press them.

Update May 25th, 2022, 2:30PM ET: This article was originally published on October 21st, 2019, and has been updated with a few slight clarifications about the Launcher / Search key.

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More from The Verge guide to Chrome OS and Chromebooks

Chromebook tips and tricks.

Chrome OS tips and tricks

Customized Chromebook keyboard shortcuts updated icons

There’s a new app for custom Chromebook keyboard shortcuts (Updated)

Google is working to update customized Chromebook keyboard shortcuts, complete with new icons and application interface. Using the in-progress code I generated some of the new icons that will be added to ChromeOS and they bring a more modern look to certain system functions.

There’s also mention of a dedicated Print icon although the code to display the icon isn’t yet present. It’s also possible these icons will change prior to implementation.

A code comment currently reads “Replace these temporary icons with the actual ones.” However, I can’t tell if that’s already happened: These could be temporary or they may have already been replaced with code for the planned icons.

Since the code refers to the Chromebook Shortcut Customization App first reported back in 2021 , I anticipate that these icons will eventually appear in your Chromebook Settings.

Navigate to Settings -> Device -> Keyboard and you’ll see the default Chromebook keyboard shortcuts . However, you can modify some of these; I anticipate the list of which shortcuts you can customize will be growing. And this interface will be changing too.

Update : Dinsan over at Chrome Story has a short video look at the new Chromebook keyboard shortcuts app. Here’s a peek at what’s coming:

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Actually make it yours —

Chromeos will finally, mercifully, let you change its keyboard shortcuts, beta build flags point to changing and adding keys for nearly all os functions..

Kevin Purdy - Feb 13, 2023 6:44 pm UTC

Child typing on a Chromebook

ChromeOS devices have become far more useful since the Cr-48 . With Linux and Android apps, and "web only" being far less of a hindrance these days, they're compelling as a secondary machine. But having to learn a whole separate set of keyboard shortcuts to use them efficiently is always going to be painful.

But help is on the way, if some experimental features in the latest beta ChromeOS release (111) are any indication. As spotted in Kevin Tofel's About Chromebooks blog , an updated version of the shortcut viewer in the Settings app— first seen in October 2022 —has the early makings of a shortcut changing and adding mechanism.

Clicking on a shortcut brings up a dialogue that allows you to, at the moment, add alternative shortcuts to common shortcuts for manipulating tabs, windows and desktops, system settings, accessibility, and other utilities. A small "lock" icon next to each suggests that you might also be able to unlock these shortcuts to remove or alter their defaults. A "Reset all shortcuts" button offers another hint. Sadly, none of the shortcuts you add seem to work for the moment, though the promise is there.

I'm someone who hops between a Mac (work), Windows (gaming), Linux (Pi work and testing/googery), and ChromeOS (shared "home" laptop) on any given day. My brain is capable of remembering all the major shortcuts I use, sure. But the minor annoyance of having to reach inside my mental filing cabinet for them, usually after pressing the wrong keys at least once, adds up to a major sigh-inducing frustration. I've used deeper system hacks, or apps like Rectangle for macOS , to line up my shortcut preferences between most of these systems; ChromeOS has long been the holdout for this kind of alignment and customization.

Tofel lists three flags he needed to enable in the chrome://flags section of his Beta Channel device to make the new shortcut viewer available; I had to enable one more before it would show for me. Those three plus one are listed below:

I also enabled chrome://flags#new-shortcut-mapping, though I'm not certain what effect that had. As noted, none of these shortcuts will allow for shortcut remapping at the moment, but they're likely to be effective in an upcoming ChromeOS release.

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Chrome Story

Chromebook keyboard shortcuts & function keys.

Are you a Chromebook user? Here is a set of keyboard shortcuts that you can use every day on your Chromebook. If you are new to Chrome OS, these shortcuts will help you master your new device.

Pixelbook Go Keyboard

Table of Contents

Commonly Used Chromebook Keyboard Shortcuts

First up, a handful of keyboard shortcuts that every Chrome OS user must know.

The caps lock key is one of the first things that users look for when they start using a Chromebook. On the Keyboard on Chromebooks and other Chrome OS devices, the Search key replaces Capslock. However, for those who need Capslock, there is a keyboard shortcut.

You can enable Caps Lock with the keyboard shortcut: ALT + SEARCH

Home and End

Just like the dedicated Caps Lock key, there are no Home, End, or Delete keys on Chromebook keyboards. But there are alternatives. Here is a handy list.

See a pattern here? There is no delete key either on your Chromebook. At least not a dedicated key. But there is a keyboard shortcut for it, something that you will use a lot from now onwards:

For the Delete key, press ALT + Backspace .

You can use the same keyboard shortcut for deleting files from the file manager and Google Drive.

Lock Screen

You can hold the power button for a second or two to lock the Chromebook’s screen. However, if you are a keyboard shortcut lover, or missing one of your most-used Windows keyboard shortcuts, press SEARCH +L.

Okay, you now know how to lock the screen. But what is the keyboard shortcut to log out of your Chromebook? Ctrl + Shift + Q it is!

There is no PrtScn key on a Chromebook. You can easily take screenshots using a keyboard combination.

Open the File Manager

One of the most used keyboard shortcuts for me, second only to the Screenshot one (I take a lot of screenshots for my blog) Press ALT + Shift + M to open the file manager of your Chromebook.

Create New Folder in File Manager

While you are in the Files app or the File Manager, Ctrl + E creates a new folder. Since Google Drive has integrated with the Files app, this keyboard shortcut can be used to create new folders in the Google Drive section of the app.

The Help App

The Chrome OS team has added a good-looking help app that works offline. To access this, press Ctrl +?

Control Display Settings

View all keyboard shortcuts for chrome os (app).

Chromebooks used to have a useful keyboard overlay to help us learn keyboard shortcuts. This has been replaced with a keyboard shortcut app.

change keyboard shortcuts chromebook

It doesn’t work exactly like the old keyboard overlay, but it is well-designed and organized. To open this app, use the keyboard shortcut:

Once you have it open, you can right-click the app icon from the shelf and pin it.

change keyboard shortcuts chromebook

Change Keyboard Shortcuts on a Chromebook

How do I modify keyboard shortcuts in Chromebook? Well, there is a way to do that!

You can change the following two keyboard shortcuts:

Alt, Ctrl, Search, and Assistant

Chrome OS-specific keys in the top row (function keys)

Now let us take a look at these in detail.

As I explained in the Keyboard section of the Chrome OS Settings guide, you can remap Alt, Ctrl, Search, and even the Assistant key.

For each key, you have the following options:

Make the “Top Row” Work as Function Keys

Chromebooks (famously) come with a set of Chrome OS-specific keys in the first row of the keyboard, instead of the traditional function keys (F1, F2 F3, etc).

If you would rather keep them as traditional function keys, there is a way to do that. Open the Chromebook Settings app and go to Device > Keyboard. Enable “ Treat top-row keys as function keys “

That is to make the top row work as function keys, always . What if you want those keys to work as function keys only temporarily ?

Simply press and hold down the Search aka Launcher key and tap any of those top row keys to use them as function keys.

For example, hold down the Search key and press the reload key to use it as F2.

Note: You can find the complete list of Chrome (browser) keyboard shortcuts here in the official help center article .

Keyboard Shortcuts for Google Chrome – The Most Useful 10

These keyboard shortcuts work on your Chromebook. However, these are not limited to Chrome OS. You can use these keyboard shortcuts on Windows 10, macOS, and Linux as well.

If you are a Google Chrome user, here are the most useful Chrome (browser) keyboard shortcuts.

Note : On macOS, replace CTRL with CMD.

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Keyboard Shortcuts on ChromeOS in 2022: Everything you need to know

Switching from a Mac or PC to one of the top Chromebooks can be a bit scary. After all, you're moving to a cloud-based computing platform and probably implementing a new workflow. Keyboard shortcuts are also a little different on ChromeOS. If you use an external keyboard designed for Windows or macOS, you'll also need to learn how specific keys behave in ChromeOS.

The good news is, we have you covered with this comprehensive guide to ChromeOS keyboard shortcuts. Whether you use your device for school or work, this guide will help you improve your efficiency using your Chromebook for daily tasks. We'll start with a quick look at the most popular shortcuts, then move on to some specific categories of interest.

Popular Chrome keyboard shortcuts

In this section, we take a look at the most popular keyboard shortcuts on ChromeOS. Everyone needs to take the occasional screenshot or turn on Caps Lock for some good old-fashioned digital yelling. It's important to note that depending on your keyboard, you can press the Search key

or the Launcher key

for some shortcuts. Both keys work the same.

Check out the list below for the shortcuts you will likely use the most when navigating ChromeOS.

Using external keyboards and remapping keys

Many users migrating to a new Chromebook come from a computer running Windows or macOS. Perhaps you still enjoy using your trusty mechanical keyboard with a Windows or Mac layout? If you’re using a Windows or Mac keyboard, press the Windows key or Command key instead of the Search key

or Launcher key

To change how a specific keyboard key works:

Note that you'll only be able to change the function of critical keys like Ctrl , Alt , Escape , Backspace , Caps Lock , and the External Meta key (search key.)

Chrome keyboard shortcuts for text editing

For those of you using a Chromebook for work or school, you probably edit a fair amount of text. Luckily, a few of the text editing shortcuts you know from Windows or macOS carry over nicely to ChromeOS. Whether you use Google Docs, Microsoft Office, or another option, these general keyboard shortcuts will come in handy. We've also included a specific set of shortcuts relevant to use in Google Drive/Google Docs.

General shortcuts for all apps

Shortcuts specific to Google Drive/Docs

Chrome keyboard tab and window shortcuts

Navigating tabs and organizing windows is essential to any operating system. This is especially important on ChromeOS since most of your work will be completed in a browser. Many of these shortcuts are familiar as they're similar to both Internet Explorer and Safari in many ways.

Chrome keyboard browser page shortcuts

When working inside a browser page, you'll also need to navigate the page itself. Moving up or down on a page is familiar, and searching a page is also the same command found on Windows. Google functionality is at the heart of your Chromebook, so of course, you can perform a quick Google search. Advanced users may also want to check a page source code.

Check out the list below for the full list of shortcuts to use on a browser page.

Specific tips for Mac and Windows users

The tips below remedy some of the issues encountered by users migrating to ChromeOS from a Mac or Windows machine. You might want to get the missing Caps Lock key back or switch the Ctrl and Alt key functionality for reachability. These suggestions should ease the burden of moving to ChromeOS.

Caps Lock key replacement

You may have noticed that Chromebooks do not have a Caps Lock key. You can capitalize letters using the Shift key as usual, but you can also press Launcher+Alt to enable Caps Lock. You might also consider remapping the Launcher key to become a Caps Lock key. The process for remapping is outlined at the beginning of this article.

To do this, click the time in the bottom right-hand corner, and click the Settings icon. Scroll down to Keyboard , and remap the Search key, choosing Caps Lock from the list. Keep in mind that if you replace the Launcher key with Caps Lock, you will lose out on some of the shortcuts above that use the Launcher/Search key.

Change scrolling direction

You may prefer scrolling set so when you swipe down, you scroll down the page. This is very natural as it's how smartphones and tablets behave with touch. It's easy to change the scroll direction on your Chromebook. To do this, click the time in the bottom right hand corner, and click the Settings icon. Scroll down and select Touchpad. Under the scrolling option, select Enable reverse scrolling.

Enabling right-click

Right-click works a little differently on a Chromebook than on a PC (where you typically hit Shift + F10). You can either press the touchpad with two fingers to open the right-click menu (as you might on a Mac), or you can click Alt and use just one finger on the touchpad. Once you do, you can scroll, moving left and right to move horizontally, or up and down to move vertically.

Function key replacement

One thing PC users will notice right away is the lack of function keys. Indeed, Chromebooks also don't have a Print Screen key. Luckily, it's incredibly easy to take a screenshot in ChromeOS, as we've seen. On your Chromebook you'll notice several new shortcut keys at the top of your keyboard -- these adjust volume, brightness, and control window operation for apps. The good news is Windows shortcuts for copy, cut, and paste still work the same on your Chromebook.

Command key replacement

The Command key is an integral part of keyboard shortcuts on macOS. In ChromeOS, the Ctrl key is equivalent to the Command key. Perhaps the most annoying thing is that the Ctrl key is a bit further to the left, making it a little more difficult to reach. If you want to remedy this situation, use Chrome's remapping function to swap the Ctrl and Alt key functionality.

To do this, click the time in the bottom right-hand corner, and click the Settings icon. Scroll down to Keyboard , and remap the keys, setting Alt to Ctrl and Ctrl to Alt.

These are our top keyboard shortcuts for ChromeOS, along with some tips to help you get acclimated with your new machine. Chromebooks are some of the best USB C laptops out there, and with these tips you can easily use ChromeOS as a daily machine. Remember if you want to see the entire list of available shortcuts, you can always press Ctrl + Alt + / (forward slash) on your Chromebook to view the entire list.

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COMMENTS

Chromebook keyboard shortcuts
Shortcuts on external keyboards · At the bottom right, select the time. Or press Alt + Shift + s. · Select Settings . · Under "Device," choose Keyboard. · Change
Use your Chromebook keyboard
Change your keyboard settings · If you haven't already, sign in to your Chromebook. · At the bottom right, select the time. Or press Alt + Shift + s. · Select
How To Change Keyboard Shortcut Functions On Chromebook
How To Change Keyboard Shortcut Functions On Chromebook [Tutorial]You can use keyboard shortcuts to complete some tasks more quickly.
How to Modify Chromebook Keyboard Settings
How to Change Chromebook Keyboard Settings · Select the taskbar in the lower-right corner of the desktop, then select the Settings gear to open
How to remap your Chromebook's keyboard
Click the clock in the lower-right corner of the screen. · Tap the gear-shaped icon in the panel that appears. · Scroll down to the Device subhead
There's a new app for custom Chromebook keyboard shortcuts
Navigate to Settings -> Device -> Keyboard and you'll see the default Chromebook keyboard shortcuts. However, you can modify some of these;
ChromeOS will finally, mercifully, let you change its keyboard shortcuts
The dialogue to remap or add a keyboard shortcut in ChromeOS, non-functional but available in Beta builds. (Ctrl+alt+left arrow is the author's
Chromebook Keyboard Shortcuts & Function Keys
Alt, Ctrl, Search, and Assistant · Open the Chromebook Settings app and go to Device > Keyboard. · By default, the keys are assigned to their
Keyboard Shortcuts on ChromeOS in 2022: Everything you need to
Using external keyboards and remapping keys · At the bottom right, select the time. Or press Alt + Shift + s. · Select Settings . · Under Device
Chromebook Keyboard Shortcuts
So to make up for the change, Google has put in a lot of keyboard shortcuts. There are way too many to remember, but anytime you need to access them