All information courtesy of Chromebooks: A Resource Guide for BPS Educators
Adjusting to your new keyboard
If you are new to a Chromebook, you will notice it is not designed like a traditional laptop and one of the first differences you will notice is the keyboard.
When you take your Chromebook out of the box, you may be wondering:
1. Where is the Caps lock key?
2. Where is the Delete key?
3. Where are the Function Keys?
4. Where is Home, End, Page Up, and Page Down?
Fear not! Don't let the looks of the simple Chromebook keyboard fool you! Your Chromebook is actually equipped with many shortcut keys. Here's how you access them:
Press "ctrl + alt + ?/" (press all three keys together)
A keyboard will pop up on your screen that looks like this:
When you take your Chromebook out of the box, you may be wondering:
1. Where is the Caps lock key?
2. Where is the Delete key?
3. Where are the Function Keys?
4. Where is Home, End, Page Up, and Page Down?
Fear not! Don't let the looks of the simple Chromebook keyboard fool you! Your Chromebook is actually equipped with many shortcut keys. Here's how you access them:
Press "ctrl + alt + ?/" (press all three keys together)
A keyboard will pop up on your screen that looks like this:
Press and hold each key (Ctrl, Alt, and Search; located in between tab and the left shift key) to see the shortcut keys available.
To see a full list of shortcuts available in this mode, click the link below:
Tabs and windows | Page shortcuts | Browser settings | Text editing
To see a full list of shortcuts available in this mode, click the link below:
Tabs and windows | Page shortcuts | Browser settings | Text editing
1. Where is the Caps lock key?
The caps lock key has been replaced with a search key. The search key opens the Chrome OS apps menu allowing you to quickly access your apps or search via the Chrome browser.
If you want to get your Caps lock key back, follow these steps:
1. Go to settings and search for Keyboard
From keyboard settings, you can change the function of the search key to caps lock. Notice you can also change the functions of the Ctrl and Alt keys.
If you want to get your Caps lock key back, follow these steps:
1. Go to settings and search for Keyboard
From keyboard settings, you can change the function of the search key to caps lock. Notice you can also change the functions of the Ctrl and Alt keys.
As an alternative, you can continue to use the search key and when you need caps lock you can use the shortcut:
ALT + SEARCH - this will enable or disable caps lock.
When caps lock is turned on, you will see a up arrow like icon next to the time on the status bar.
2. Where is the Delete key?
This was one of the first things I noticed when I started using a Chromebook. Here are the keyboard shortcuts you will use instead:
ALT + Backspace - Delete the next letter (forward delete)
CTRL + Backspace - Delete the previous word
Backspace deletes the previous character
ALT + SEARCH - this will enable or disable caps lock.
When caps lock is turned on, you will see a up arrow like icon next to the time on the status bar.
2. Where is the Delete key?
This was one of the first things I noticed when I started using a Chromebook. Here are the keyboard shortcuts you will use instead:
ALT + Backspace - Delete the next letter (forward delete)
CTRL + Backspace - Delete the previous word
Backspace deletes the previous character
3. Where are the Function keys?
There are no function keys on a Chromebook. Instead, F1, F2, and so on have been replaced with what Google calls "browser buttons." These keys, shown below, allow you to perform certain tasks in the browser including:
There are no function keys on a Chromebook. Instead, F1, F2, and so on have been replaced with what Google calls "browser buttons." These keys, shown below, allow you to perform certain tasks in the browser including:
Some of the browser buttons have
secondary commands:
F4 + Shift – Full Screens the active window
Esc + Shift – Open Task Manager
Alt + F6 – Keyboard Brightness down
Alt + F7 - Keyboard Brightness up
Ctrl + F4 – Mirror Monitor
Ctrl + F5 – Take Screenshot
4. Where is Home, End, Page Up, and Page Down?
To access the familiar Home, End, Page Up, and Page Down commands, use the following short cuts:
Ctrl + Alt + Up Arrow key - Home
Ctrl + Alt + Down Arrow key - End
Alt + Up Arrow key - Page Up
Alt + Down Arrow key - Page Down
secondary commands:
F4 + Shift – Full Screens the active window
Esc + Shift – Open Task Manager
Alt + F6 – Keyboard Brightness down
Alt + F7 - Keyboard Brightness up
Ctrl + F4 – Mirror Monitor
Ctrl + F5 – Take Screenshot
4. Where is Home, End, Page Up, and Page Down?
To access the familiar Home, End, Page Up, and Page Down commands, use the following short cuts:
Ctrl + Alt + Up Arrow key - Home
Ctrl + Alt + Down Arrow key - End
Alt + Up Arrow key - Page Up
Alt + Down Arrow key - Page Down