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I'm trying to use my computer using the keyboard exclusively, without touching the mouse. When browsing the web it can get hard. I use Tab to select links, but there are often dozens of links on a webpage. I can use Chrome's text search (Ctrl-F) to home in on a piece of text in no time; But I can't figure out how to use it to click on a link.

For example, let's say there's a link on a webpage with the text "Swedish Furniture". I can easily find it by typing Ctrl-F s w e d, and then Chrome marks the link as found, but is there any way to follow the link after it's found without tabbing through all the links on the page?

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6 Answers 6

Reset to default
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To follow a link after it's found in search, press Esc followed by Enter.

Chrome Search Cheat Sheet

  1. Ctrl+F to open the search box.
  2. Ctrl+G or Enter moves through all highlighted results.
  3. Ctrl+Shift+G or Shift+Enter reverse move through all highlighted results.
  4. Esc closes search box, turns off all highlights, selects the focused text/link
  5. Enter to follow a link after highlights are off.

Use Cmd instead of Ctrl on Mac.

No extensions required.

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    It's just an incredible amount of extra typing, especially compared to Firefox.
    – Thanatos
    Aug 11, 2017 at 21:17
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Another method is Control + Enter (after highlighting in search).

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  • 3
    Even better than that the accepted answer! (with less details about Chrome Search shortcuts, though) I'm glad I can upvote both answers and don't have to choose which one to accept.
    – sylbru
    Jun 30, 2017 at 9:54
  • Any way to ctrl + enter + something-else and have the link open in a new tab?
    – chrismarx
    Sep 24, 2018 at 16:08
  • 1. Ctrl + F and search for link 2. Esc - will close search and leave link highlighted 3. Ctrl + Enter
    – Brian Koser
    Sep 26, 2018 at 2:14
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I have used vimium.
By installing its extension in chrome, you will be able to click any links on the page with shortcut f
For more information, you can refer to https://vimium.github.io/

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  • You should include all relevant information in your answer.
    – Ramhound
    Nov 28, 2016 at 18:15
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    I don't get your point. What do you mean all relevant information? I just suggest to install one extension of Chrome. Once you install the vimium, you will know how to use it.
    – Yu Huang
    Nov 29, 2016 at 15:49
  • Its possible I was replying to the wrong answer, when I submitted that comment, we expect more out of extension recomendations other then "here use this ... instead ". Question was answered 5 years ago, so new answers after all this time, are held to a higher standard.
    – Ramhound
    Nov 29, 2016 at 18:28
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Here's a simple, easy to use chrome extension that solves this exact problem:

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/grep-click-type-button-te/ciokdkmjfdaidmcjmdmpjedgdflbfhng?hl=en-US&gl=CA

It's basically a control-f enhancement that lets you search for text of clickable elements on the page, cycle through results, and click on things.

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Why not use an extension to solve your problem? Try Keyboard Navigation; it should do what you want without any problems.

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  • A bit slow, but seems to work.
    – Ram Rachum
    Aug 2, 2010 at 14:37
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I have tried Keyboard Navigation but it's pretty bad.

Eventually, I found a plugin that works for Chrome, Safari, and Firefox. It's quite good. Its also scriptable-- you can add custom selectors to pages you access often.

gleeBox

http://thegleebox.com/manual.html

What works well for links (No plugin, on a Mac running Chrome): Command + F, highlight the text in the page, then hit escape then enter.

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