How to add custom keyboard shortcuts for extensions on Chrome

Chrome allows you to add custom keyboard shortcuts for extensions to provide quick access to certain functions, and here's how to use it.

Avatar for Mauro Huculak
@Pureinfotech
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Chrome extension keyboard shortcuts
Chrome extension keyboard shortcuts

On Google Chrome, alongside the keyboard shortcuts that you can use with the browser, every extension you install can also be controlled with shortcuts for quick access to certain functions, but it’s a feature that you must configure manually.

Although you can create custom keyboard shortcuts for extensions, you can only add them for the features that the developer wants you to control.

In this guide, you’ll learn the steps to add keyboard shortcuts to control features for extensions on Google Chrome.

How to create a keyboard shortcut on Chrome

To add keyboard shortcuts to launch or control certain features of a Chrome extension, use these steps:

  1. Open Chrome.

  2. Click the main menu (three-dotted) button in the top-right corner.

  3. Select the More tools submenu and click the Extensions option.

    Quick tip: Alternatively, you can navigate to chrome://extensions to quickly access the Extensions page.

  4. Click the Extensions menu in the top-left corner.

  5. Click on Keyboard shortcuts.

    Chrome keyboard shortcut access
    Chrome keyboard shortcut access

  6. Click the empty field for the action that you want to control for the extension and create the keyboard shortcut.

    Create keyboard shortcut for Chrome extension
    Create keyboard shortcut for Chrome extension

  7. Use the drop-down menu on the right and select the In Chrome option. (You can also select the Global option so that the keyboard shortcut will work even when Chrome isn’t in focus.)

Once you complete the steps, you’ll now be able to control the extension using keyboard shortcuts.

If you want to change or remove the keyboard shortcut for a particular function, just update the shortcut field or click the remove button.

These instructions should work on Chrome for Windows 10 as well as for Linux and macOS.

About the author
Avatar for Mauro Huculak

Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He has also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 15 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 21 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me. Email him at [email protected].