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Handy keyboard shortcuts in Firefox 1.5

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As reluctant as I am to say it, I'm really warming up to the new Firefox 1.5 (this is coming from a Safari lover who syncs his bookmarks with .Mac). Mozilla really sped up surfing, the browser generally feels a lot more responsive, and I believe they've improved some of their keyboard shortcuts, so I thought I'd list a few of the particularly handy ones. Whether these are new or old, they could make a handy addition to anyone's Firefox habits:

  • Cmd + [ and ] for moving back and forward (just like in Safari!). Although cmd + left arrow still works for moving back, which is a big no-no in my opinion as that's a standard shortcut when typing text to move to the beginning of a line. Cmd + left arrow has obliterated many of my forum responses and blog posts.

  • Cmd + shift + r will refresh a web page and force Firefox to override the cache - web designers rejoice!

  • Cmd + shift + m will create a new email message in your default email app, now that Firefox offers a little bit of email integration under the Tools menu

  • Cmd + k will take you straight to the search bar

  • Cmd + shift + d will bookmark all tabs, offering a dialog to create a folder name to put them all in

There are a few others that are either new or that I've simply never noticed, so if you're drooling for more keyboard shortcut goodness simply open Firefox Help from the Help menu, and click on the "keyboard shortcuts" heading in the left-hand column to become a Firefox shortcut ninja.