Filed under: Internet, Internet Tools, Mac 101
Mac 101: Browser tab tricks
How did we ever get by without tabbed browsing? Think back to the days of OS 9 and IE 4. Ugh.JimD at creativebits has shared a cool trick (Firefox and Safari) for quickly returning to a previously visited website in a new tab, thus preserving the site you're currently browsing.
This got us thinking of some of our favorite browser tricks, like this one. If you've got several tabs open, you can move from one to the other with keyboard shortcuts. In Firefox, it's Command-Option plus the arrow keys. In Safari, it's Command-Shift plus the arrow keys.
Quickly jump to the address field with Command-L (both Firefox and Safari). It selects the full text, so you can either just start typing or hit Command-C to copy the url. Of course, Safari 3 lets you grab Web Clips and turn them into Dashboard widgets.
Have you got a favorite browser trick to share with newcomers to the Mac?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Joe Sak said 2:17PM on 7-08-2008
In safari, you can grab any image (in an img tag) and put it on your desktop by simply dragging it.
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bds said 2:23PM on 7-08-2008
Not exclusively a browser trick, but command-ctrl-"d" while hovering your mouse pointer over a word to get the pop-up dictionary is brilliant.
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Chris G. said 2:22PM on 7-08-2008
My favorite trick is single-window mode in Safari. No more unwanted new windows, everything ends up in tabs.
http://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=626971&st=0
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Nico said 2:28PM on 7-08-2008
The system-wide default shortcut for switching tabs is Cmd-Shift-[ and Cmd-Shift-]. This works in Firefox, Safari, Terminal, MacVim, Adium (after a prefs change), and others.
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mike said 2:28PM on 7-08-2008
Thank you for the switching tabs shortcut!
I haven't been able to figure this out in Safari to save my life! In firefox it was a breeze.
This will make life so much easier again.
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Shunnabunich said 7:00PM on 7-08-2008
Actually, I'm heading the other way (or trying, at least) — trying to give Firefox a fighting chance after using Safari more or less exclusively. I think the single biggest obstacle for me is that Firefox's tab-switching shortcuts take two hands, while Safari's take only one, making general use feel a lot more convenient and efficient. Does anyone know a way to customize those keyboard shortcuts in Firefox? An extension or something, perhaps?
Simon Arch said 2:35AM on 7-09-2008
The key command for switching tabs in Safari was the same as Firefox once upon a time. Then Apple changed it. I've never understood why.
Katanna said 2:34PM on 7-08-2008
Am I the only person in America still not using tabs? I have never gotten into them, I guess I find that cmd-tilde is faster for switching than looking up, finding the one I want, moving the mouse to it, and clicking on it.
Matthew
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Galley said 2:36PM on 7-08-2008
Tags can be dragged and dropped to change their order, and a tab can also be moved to a new window. Likewise, all windows can be merged into one tabbed window.
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MacTipper said 2:40PM on 7-08-2008
*Long comment.*
In Safari, you can drag a tab off of it's window and it will turn into a new window. You can even do it in slow motion! (Hold shift when you drag the tab.)
Also, in Safari you can use Cmd-1 thru Cmd-9 to access those respective bookmarks in the bookmarks bar. (Cmd-1 opens the first bookmark, Cmd-2 opens the second, etc.)
The Command trick from the original post works on pretty much any GUI link. If you hold command and hit return in either the address bar or google search then it will open in a new tab. Same thing applies to clicks on the bookmarks bar.
Finally, you want to use Cmd-Shift-[ (or ]) for going back and forth in your tabs. This prevents you from running into the text box situation. (Cmd-Shift-Arrow_Keys selects text to the end of the line in that direction.) And Cmd-[ (or ]) moves back and forward in your history. (Which is also superior to Cmd-Arrow_Keys, but I use the Three Finger Swipe. :D)
MacTipper
http://www.mactipper.com/
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Frank said 2:44PM on 7-08-2008
If tabbed browsing is turned on, the command key combined with nearly any* action results in the action happening in a new tab.
For instance, if you find a word or phrase that isn't in Dictionary.app, you can select it, right click it, and hold down the command key as you select "Search in Google" and the search results are loaded in a new tab. Same goes for the forward/back buttons, and web form submit buttons.
*Sadly, you can't open the RSS feed of a page you're looking at in a new tab by command-clicking the blue "RSS" thingy in the address bar, or snap back in a new tab by
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Andre said 2:45PM on 7-08-2008
I have a mouse with several buttons. I have it configured so when I press down on the scroll-wheel it opens the link under the pointer into a new tab.
Another button causes Command-W, closing the current tab.
Dragging a tab up over the top border of the browser causes that tab to separate into its own browser window.
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Otsego_Undead said 2:53PM on 7-08-2008
anyone know how to take a tab and make it its own window in Firefox 3? I tried dragging.. shift dragging, etc. Sometimes i need to browser windows open side by side, but have the site already open in a tab.
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Noah Dietterich said 2:54PM on 7-08-2008
MacTipper mentioned my favorite, which is using cmd+number keys to open your bookmark bar addresses.
Safari, unfortunately, is missing a "duh" feature in Firefox: opening 'new window' links in a new tab instead. Anyone know of workaround to make that happen?
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anon said 6:35PM on 7-08-2008
defaults write com.apple.Safari TargetedClicksCreateTabs -bool true
Jim Morrison said 5:24PM on 7-08-2008
Gestured tab switching in Safari & Firefox with multiclutch is wonderful. (on gesture enabled trackpads only of course)
http://wcrawford.org/2008/02/28/everytime-i-think-about-you-i-touch-my-cell/
two fingered scroll + three fingered swiped tab switching is about all I need these days.
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goobi said 3:19PM on 7-08-2008
"Safari, unfortunately, is missing a "duh" feature in Firefox: opening 'new window' links in a new tab instead. Anyone know of workaround to make that happen?"
There is a terminal command that enables just this.
defaults write com.apple.Safari TargetedClicksCreateTabs -bool true
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My tabby thing would be:
1. You can change the shortcut using the keyboard shortcuts pane so now Ctrl+tab switches tabs for me. (Also Command + [ ]
2. Command+Option+W closes all tabs but the current selected one.
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anon said 6:36PM on 7-08-2008
@goobi
defaults write com.apple.Safari TargetedClicksCreateTabs -bool true
Eimantas said 3:24AM on 7-09-2008
I must say, that Single Window Mode doesn't work on safari4 (developer preview). I hope it will work after final safari4 release.
Happy Chandler said 3:20PM on 7-08-2008
Command-K in Firefox brings you to the built in google search.
Ctrl-tab and Ctrl-Shift-Tab cycle through the tabs. Command-1 through Command-8 brings you to the 1st through 8th tabs, and command-9 goes to the last tab, no matter how many you have.
The "Search in Google" command to quickly get to a google map of something.
Re-ordering tabs by dragging and dropping (Call me weird, but I keep my google reader in tab 1 and Facebook in tab two, all the time).
The setting to reopen all the tabs in the current location so that you don't lose all your pages if you accidentally close Firefox.
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