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Add a keyboard shortcut to a Chrome bookmark or bookmarklet
Not only does the Bookmark Bar take up valuable real estate, but no one really wants to click through folders of bookmarks to find what you're looking for.
Now, Firefox has 'Smart bookmarks', which lets you add a keyword to a bookmark. Chrome, however, only lets you assign keywords (and thus keyboard shortcuts) to search engines.
Fortunately, with a little bit of hacking, that doesn't matter.
Basically, you need to add your bookmarks as search engines. You won't have access to these bookmarks via the Bookmarks Manager or Bookmarks Bar, but you will be able to access your favorite sites with quick keyboard shortcuts. It's worth the trade off!
To begin, right click the address bar and select Edit search engines.
If you're using Chrome 9 (currently the stable channel), a window will pop up; Chrome 10 and later (currently beta and dev channels) will open a tab.
Chrome 9: click Add, and then fill in the details as if you were adding a normal bookmark. The Keyword will become the keyboard shortcut, so make sure it's only one or two letters (see image above).
Chrome 10 and later: Just scroll down and add a new row at the bottom. The Keyword will become the keyboard shortcut, so make sure it's only one or two letters (see above).
In both cases, pasting JavaScript into the address box will result in a bookmarklet (check Lee's list if you want to try some out!)
Now, to use your new keyboard shortcuts, just hit Ctrl+L, followed by the Keyword, and Enter. For example, my Download Squad shortcut shown in the image above would be Ctrl+L D Enter.
Incidentally, if you want to add some actual search engines to Chrome, check out the Mycroft Project, which has thousands of pre-configured search engines that you can install with a single click.
For more software tips, see our tips index.
Comments
11
Subscribe to commentsdave.flMar 2nd 2011 4:42PM
I've never considered using it that way before, this will save me a lot of time, thanks Sebastian.
Sebastian AnthonyMar 2nd 2011 4:42PM
@dave.fl (Use a real email address next time!)
(And no problem... go wild with the bookmarks!)
JeffreyMar 2nd 2011 5:28PM
Actually, I found this great extension called Neat Bookmarks that works really good and saves screen real estate. It's works kind of like Firefox's bookmarks sidebar if you've ever used it (most people haven't since it's kinda hidden) with some extra's like remembering the last bookmark you clicked on.
Sebastian AnthonyMar 2nd 2011 5:35PM
@Jeffrey Yeah! There are a couple of extensions that do something similar to Firefox's keyword system.
(We're covering one of them tomorrow, I think :)
DanMar 2nd 2011 5:34PM
I used over 100 keyword shortcuts in Firefox and was disappointed to find that XMarks didn't sync them across browsers. When I started using Chrome more and more, but was straddling the two browsers, I decided to write a tool to solve the problem (I called it Shortmarks).
To use it, you set Shortmarks as the default search engine in your browser, then use your shortcuts the same as if they were in your browser.
DanMar 2nd 2011 5:41PM
@Dan Oops, I didn't see the note about formatting in comments. Shortmarks is at http://shortmarks.com/
Sebastian AnthonyMar 2nd 2011 5:58PM
@Dan Sounds cool, will check it out :)
DanMar 2nd 2011 6:18PM
@Sebastian Anthony I'd love to hear your feedback.
v5point0May 28th 2011 9:13AM
@Dan I think it is an amazing solution - I just discovered it after coming across this post. Here is what I think: http://bit.ly/k2Drs6 I have also made a plug on Lifehacker: http://lifehac.kr/lsOXKR
Thank you
KAMiKZMar 2nd 2011 8:57PM
I love this innovation! Been using it since 1999 with the Internet Explorer 5 Web Accessories.
DanMay 29th 2011 3:32AM
@v5point0 Cool, thanks for the plug and welcome to Shortmarks :)