KeyConfig is a handy Firefox add-on that power users will just love. One of the features I liked in Opera is the integrated keyboard shortcuts (a lot of them) that are packaged by default. The first thing I do after a fresh Opera install is to configure the following keyboard shortcuts:
- z - Go Back
- x - Go Forward
- a - Go to previous tab
- s - Go to next tab
- c - Close tab
Below is a step-by-step tutorial on how we can set the above quickkeys in Firefox:
- Install KeyConfig Firefox add-on from here. At this time, it is in experimental section. So you will need to create a free account at Firefox add-ons site to download.
- Install functions for keyconfig from here
- Restart Firefox. Note that there are no options for this add-on
- Go to Tools -> Keyconfig (or press Ctrl+Shift+F12)
- Click on ‘Add a new key’
- Type in ‘Go Back’ for the name and BrowserBack(); in the text field. Press OK.
- Now select the new entry you just created, click inside the text box below, type in your hotkey, ‘z’ in this case and hit Apply.
So you should have the entry like so:
- Clicking on any other pre-existing entry in the list will show up ‘Add a new key’ button. Now create other keyboard shortcuts similarly. Below are the codes you need:
Go Forward (X): BrowserForward(); Previous Tab (A): f4kc_PrevTab(); Next Tab (S): f4kc_NextTab(); Close Tab (C): BrowserCloseTabOrWindow() - Once you are done setting up the above keys, click Close button and press OK for the alert window that says that changes take place only after a browser restart.
- Restart Firefox and test the keys.
Note: When you visit a web page where the focus goes to a input field by default like in Google homepage, click anywhere in the empty space on the page or else your key input will be entered in the field. None of the above keys work in Gmail webpage when you have keyboard shortcuts enabled in Gmail’s settings.
We hope you found this how-to helpful. Please social bookmark this tutorial and help us and others. Thanks in advance.
18 May 08
10:09 am
Thanks very much for this.
I am migrating from Opera & really missed the “Z” and “X” shortcuts. I had found “Keyconfig” as well as “functions for keyconfig” but didn’t have the first clue as to how to use them. I did find that I had to go to Tools > Options > Advanced and uncheck “Search for text when I start typing”.
Is there any way to have Opera’s “Shift + LeftClick” to open a link in a new tab?
19 May 08
12:13 am
Hi Bob,
One can open a link in new tab by holding Ctrl when clicking on links in Firefox. Do you still like to use Shift instead of Ctrl?
19 May 08
12:37 pm
Thanks very much for your prompt response and for the tip. I couldn’t find it in FF Help. Are there any other undocumented shortcuts?
(No, I don’t need Shift+LeftClick now to open a link in a new tab)
19 May 08
11:29 pm
Other shortcuts I use frequently in Firefox are:
Alt+D: To focus the address bar
Ctrl+K: To focus the search box
For a list of other keyboard shortcuts that I have recently started putting together, check out http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pvTU6DWRcqNJcdO-YTHhidw
19 Jun 08
11:13 am
Like the last poster, the thing I missed most in FF3 were the simpler keyboard bindings from Opera. I’ve changed my tab focus using Keyconfig successfully: thanks! However, I can’t command PreviousTab or NextTab and their associated commands to work. Binding the result to any key combination does nothing when FF3 is closed and restarted. Am I missing something, here?
19 Jun 08
6:01 pm
I am yet to update this tutorial so it is relevant for FF3. In the mean time, here’s how you can set shortcuts for Previous and Next tabs:
In Keyconfig’s options window, find f4kc_NextTab(); and set a new key. Similarly find f4kc_PrevTab(); and set your desired key.
Take a look at this screenshot: http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/6476/keyconfiglm4.png
19 Jun 08
6:58 pm
I must be doing something wrong, then. When I bring up the Keyconfig screen, there is no f4kc_NextTab();. Instead, the names are, for example:
Close Window
cmd_findPrevious
Delete
Home
Open File…
etc. If I create a name, Next Tab, and put f4kc_NextTab(); in the Key Editor window, then assign it a key, the command doesn’t work.
19 Jun 08
7:02 pm
If it helps, I’m using version 20060828.1.
19 Jun 08
7:24 pm
Just noticed 20071212.2 on the add-on site. Deleted the older version, and tried to install the newer one, only to get this:
“Firefox could not install the file at
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/downloads/file/21860/keyconfig-20071212.2-fx+tb.xpi
because: Invalid file hash (possible download corruption)
-261″
19 Jun 08
7:29 pm
At the risk of making a nuisance of myself, I followed the link back from the add-on page to your homepage, clicked the keyconfig.xpi file, and installed 20080611, which I figured would be the latest. It brought up the same Keyconfig screen as before, however, even down to my last attempted Next Tab edit. Still doesn’t work.
19 Jun 08
8:50 pm
Well, that was interesting. I discovered your separate Functions for Keyconfig add-on, found the older one, followed it back to the homesite, found the updated one, installed that, and–success. All is working as it should.
Sorry for the hassle, sorry for the wasted space on your site, but thanks for the excellent program. Is there anyway the two separate add-ons might be conflated in a future release, so as to make it a little easier for other users to find one updated file, instead of two?
20 Jun 08
2:33 am
I am a mere user of keyconfig. Keyconfig and functions for keyconfig are maintained by different guys if I am not mistaken.
Here are the latest versions of both of them (you need to first install keyconfig and then functions for keyconfig) as of today:
http://mozilla.dorando.at/keyconfig.xpi
http://www.pqrs.org/tekezo/firefox/extensions/functions_for_keyconfig/files/functions_for_keyconfig-1.3.13.xpi
20 Jun 08
7:13 am
Thanks. The functions add-on is identical to the one I found by tracking to their homepage, and I suspect that’s the case with the keyconfig add-on itself, too. I will be looking for further updates, but keyconfig at this point really does everything I wanted it to. That may change in the future, of course, but it seems to be an app one can grow with.
25 Jun 08
7:31 am
THANK YOU! I have been trying for awhile now to make the Windows-standard shortcut for next MDI window to work as the Next Tab command. I have Ctrl-Shift-F6 set up on my multi-button mouse next to Alt-Tab so I can switch apps and windows without taking my hand off the mouse and now that efficiency works in FF3!
This has been my one and only grievance with FF and now it’s solved - it seems I was doing everything right except downloading the functions package.