Windows lets you open Google Chrome with a custom keyboard shortcut for quick and easy access to the browser. Here’s how.
Google Chrome is the primary browser for the vast majority of users. Mainly because the Chrome browser is pretty fast, easy to use, and integrates well with Google services and Android devices. Not to mention, Chrome is constantly updated with new web technologies.
In general, to open the Chrome browser in Windows there are multiple ways. For example, you can click on the taskbar icon, double-click on the desktop icon, or search for it in the Start menu. Though these methods are not hard, there is a much easier way to open Google Chrome, i.e. assign a custom keyboard shortcut of your choice. Once assigned, you can open Google Chrome with the keyboard shortcut. The keyboard shortcut is especially helpful to reduce mouse usage as much as possible.
In this quick and simple article, let me show how you can assign a keyboard shortcut to open the Chrome browser in Windows.
Compatibility Note: The steps shown below will work in Windows 7 and 8.
Open Google Chrome browser with keyboard shortcut
- Right-click on the Chrome desktop shortcut.
- Select the “Properties” option.
- Go to the “Shortcut” tab.
- Select the “Shortcut” field.
- Press the shortcut of your choice.
- Click “Apply” and “Ok”
Detailed Steps
1. First, we need to create the Google Chrome desktop shortcut. This is the shortcut that lets you assign a keyboard shortcut. So, search for “Google Chrome” in the Start menu.
2. Right-click on the result and select the “Pin to Start” option.
3. Once Chrome is pinned to the Start menu, you will see it on the left panel. Now, drag and drop the pinned Chrome tile on to the desktop to create the desktop shortcut.
4. After creating the shortcut, right-click on it and select the “Properties” option. This is where you can change a lot of settings related to the program shortcut.
5. Go to the “Shortcut” tab in the properties window. This is where you can assign a keyboard shortcut to open Chrome.
6. In the shortcut tab, click on the “Shortcut” field. Next, press the keyboard shortcut you want to assign. In my case, I’m assigning “Shift + Alt + C”.
7. Finally, click on the “Apply” and “Ok” buttons to save the changes you just made.
That is all. From now on you can use the assigned shortcut to open the Chrome browser.
It is important to note that you need to make sure that the assigned shortcut is not in conflict with other shortcuts or you did not assigne a duplicate shortcut. In both these cases, the shortcut might not work and the Chrome browser will not open on key press.
I hope that helps. If you are stuck or need some help, comment below and I will try to help as much as possible. If you like this article, check out how to open Chrome from Windows command line.
