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Helium supports all standard Chromium keyboard shortcuts plus several custom shortcuts designed to improve productivity and privacy.

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Helium-Specific Shortcuts

These shortcuts are unique to Helium or have been modified from Chromium defaults:
ShortcutActionNotes
⌘ + Shift + CCopy page URL or Inspect ElementConfigurable in Settings → Appearance → Behavior
⌘ + Shift + EInspect elementNew shortcut for DevTools inspector
⌘ + Shift + IOpen DevToolsStandard DevTools shortcut
⌘ + Option + NNew split tabCreate split-screen view
⌘ + Option + IDevTools (Alt binding)Alternative DevTools shortcut
⌘ + Option + JDevTools ConsoleOpen directly to console
Configurable Shortcut: The Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + C shortcut behavior can be changed in Settings → Appearance → Behavior. When “Enable quick page link copying” is enabled, it copies the URL. When disabled, it opens DevTools inspector.

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Tab and Window Management

ShortcutAction
⌘ + NNew window
⌘ + Shift + NNew incognito window
⌘ + TNew tab
⌘ + WClose tab
⌘ + Shift + WClose window
⌘ + Option + RightNext tab
⌘ + Option + LeftPrevious tab
⌘ + [1-9]Jump to tab 1-9
⌘ + Shift + TReopen closed tab
⌘ + Shift + ATab search
ShortcutAction
⌘ + LeftBack
⌘ + RightForward
⌘ + RReload
⌘ + Shift + RHard reload (bypass cache)
⌘ + LFocus address bar
⌘ + KFocus search (in address bar)
⌘ + Option + UView page source
⌘ + DBookmark current page
⌘ + Shift + DBookmark all tabs

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Page Actions

ShortcutAction
⌘ + FFind on page
⌘ + GFind next
⌘ + Shift + GFind previous
⌘ + PPrint
⌘ + SSave page
⌘ + +Zoom in
⌘ + -Zoom out
⌘ + 0Reset zoom
SpaceScroll down
Shift + SpaceScroll up
⌘ + DownScroll to bottom
⌘ + UpScroll to top

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Editing and Text

ShortcutAction
⌘ + CCopy
⌘ + XCut
⌘ + VPaste
⌘ + Shift + VPaste without formatting
⌘ + ZUndo
⌘ + Shift + ZRedo
⌘ + ASelect all

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Browser and Settings

ShortcutAction
⌘ + ,Open Settings
⌘ + Shift + BToggle bookmarks bar
⌘ + Option + BOpen Bookmarks Manager
⌘ + Option + LOpen Downloads
⌘ + YOpen History
⌘ + Shift + DeleteClear browsing data
⌘ + QQuit Helium
⌘ + HHide Helium
⌘ + MMinimize window

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Developer Tools

Shortcut (Mac)Shortcut (Win/Linux)Action
⌘ + Shift + ICtrl + Shift + I or F12Toggle DevTools
⌘ + Shift + JCtrl + Shift + JOpen DevTools Console
⌘ + Shift + ECtrl + Shift + EInspect element
⌘ + Option + I-DevTools (alternate)
⌘ + Option + J-DevTools Console (alternate)
Modified from Chromium: The inspector shortcut has been changed from Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + C to Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + E to make room for the copy URL shortcut. You can restore the original behavior in Settings.

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Special Browser Features

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Middle-Click Actions

Middle-click (scroll wheel click) provides quick actions:
  • Middle-click on link: Open link in background tab
  • Middle-click on tab: Close tab
  • Middle-click on back/forward: Open in new tab
  • Middle-click and drag: Autoscroll (Windows by default, configurable via flags)

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Drag and Drop

  • Drag tab out: Create new window
  • Drag tab between windows: Move tab to another window
  • Drag tab to side: Create split view (if enabled)
  • Drag URL to bookmarks bar: Create bookmark
  • Drag link to tab bar: Open in new tab

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Customizing Shortcuts

Helium provides limited shortcut customization:
1

Toggle Copy URL Shortcut

Navigate to Settings → Appearance → Behavior and enable or disable “Enable quick page link copying with Ctrl+Shift+C”
  • Enabled: Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + C copies the page URL
  • Disabled: Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + C opens DevTools inspector
2

Configure Middle-Click Autoscroll

Use the Middle Click Autoscroll flag in Chrome Flags to enable or disable autoscroll on middle-click
3

Extension Shortcuts

Go to Settings → Extensions and click “Keyboard shortcuts” to customize extension shortcuts
Unlike some browsers, Helium does not support full keyboard shortcut customization. Shortcuts are designed to match Chromium standards while adding productivity enhancements.

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Accessibility Shortcuts

ShortcutAction
⌘ + Option + Up/DownNavigate focus areas
TabMove focus forward
Shift + TabMove focus backward
SpaceActivate focused item
ReturnSubmit form or activate button

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Tips and Tricks

Quick URL Copy

Use Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + C to instantly copy the current page URL to your clipboard. Perfect for sharing links quickly.

Tab Search

Press Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + A to search through all open tabs across all windows. Great for finding that tab you opened earlier.

Emergency Tab Close

Use Ctrl/Cmd + W repeatedly to close tabs quickly. Combine with Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + T to reopen if you close one by mistake.

Split View

Drag a tab to the side of the browser window while holding Option/Alt to create a split-screen view (if enabled in settings).

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Keyboard Navigation

For fully keyboard-driven browsing:
  1. Use Ctrl/Cmd + L to focus the address bar
  2. Type your search or URL
  3. Press Tab to navigate suggestions
  4. Press Enter to navigate
  5. Use F6 (or Ctrl/Cmd + Option + Up/Down) to move focus to page content
  6. Use Tab and Shift + Tab to navigate links and form fields
  7. Press Space or Enter to activate links

Settings Guide

Configure keyboard shortcut behavior and accessibility options

Chrome Flags

Enable experimental keyboard and input features

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