Switching between tabs on a keyboard is much faster than having to bring your hand all the way to the mouse or the touchpad for it. It is also more convenient compared to the latter and saves energy, too. Different browsers require different key combinations for switching tabs. The keys also depend on whether you’re using a Windows or a Mac device. We have compiled tab-switching shortcuts for Google Chrome, Safari, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Brave, Vivaldi, and Edge.
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How to switch between tabs on Google Chrome
In order to switch to the next tab or the tab on your right, press Ctrl + Tab or Ctrl + PgDn on your keyboard if you’re on a Windows computer. If you’re using a MacOS-powered device, press Command + Option + Right Arrow to move one tab to the right.
To switch to the previous tab or the tab on your left, press Ctrl + Shift + Tab or Ctrl + PgUp on a Windows PC and Command + Option + Left Arrow on a Mac.
To switch to a specific tab, press the Ctrl key followed by the tab number. The first eight tabs are recognized by browsers as 1 to 8. So, if you wish to switch to the fifth tab, press Ctrl + 5. Mac devices work the same way in terms of tab switching. Pressing Command + 7, for instance, will take you to the seventh tab. Since web browsers number only tabs 1 through 8, pressing Ctrl/Command followed by 9 will take you to the last tab in the row.
How to switch between tabs on Safari
Similar to how it’s done on Google Chrome, to switch to the next tab on Safari, press Ctrl + Tab. The shortcut for doing this on MacOS is pressing Shift + Command + Right Squared Bracket (]).
To switch to the previous tab, press Command + Shift + Tab on a Windows device and Shift + Command + Left Squared Bracket ([) if you’re on a MacOS device.
The instructions for switching to a specific tab are also the same as the ones for Chrome. Safari recognizes the first eight tabs in numbers ranging from 1 to 8. Press Ctrl + 4, for instance, to jump to the fourth tab on Windows, and Command + 3, for example, to switch to the third tab on a Mac device.
How to switch between tabs on Mozilla Firefox
Firefox makes things a little more interesting. To move to the next tab, press Ctrl + Tab. Doing that will open thumbnails of all open tabs, and you can cycle through them holding Ctrl and pressing Tab. When you land on your preferred tab, release both the keys.
To switch to the previous tab on Firefox, press Ctrl + Shift + Tab (or Ctrl + PgDn) on Windows. On Mac, press Command + Option + Left Arrow (or Control + Shift + Tab).
Firefox works the same way Chrome and Safari does in terms of assigning numbers to tabs. To switch to a specific tab on Windows, press Ctrl + the tab number. On Mac, press Command + the tab number.
How to switch between tabs on Opera
Opera lacks the functionality to switch to a specific tab. You can only cycle forward and backward on the browser.
Press Ctrl + Tab to move forward and Shift + Control + Tab to cycle backward.
Brave Browser
How to switch between tabs on Brave
Brave works a lot like Google Chrome in terms of keyboard shortcuts for tab switching. To switch to the next tab on a Mac, press Command + Option + Right Arrow. If you’re on a Windows machine, press Control + Tab or Control + PgDn.
To switch to the tab on your left, press Control + Shift + Tab or Control + PgUp on Windows and Command + Option + Left Arrow on a Mac.
To cycle through tabs, press Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac) followed by the tab number. For instance, pressing Ctrl + 7 will take you to the seventh tab.
How to switch between tabs on Vivaldi
Things work a little differently on Vivaldi. The browser has a feature called Tab Cycling through which you can customize what the standard keyboard shortcuts will do for you. All you have to do is press Ctrl + Tab. The two keys can let you cycle between tabs in the order you decide. You can personalize this by going on Settings > Tabs > Tab Features > Tab Cycling. Choose between Cycle in Recently Used Order and Cycle in Tab Order to see which one works best for you.
How to switch between tabs on Edge
Microsoft Edge uses the same tab navigation shortcuts as Google Chrome.
To switch to the next tab, press Ctrl + Tab or Ctrl + PgDn on your keyboard. If you’re on a MacOS-powered device, press Command + Option + Right Arrow.
To jump to the tab on your left, press Ctrl + Shift + Tab or Ctrl + PgUp on your Windows device and Command + Option + Left Arrow on your MacOS device.
Edge also numbers its first eight tabs 1 to 8. On Windows, pressing Ctrl followed by the tab number will take you to the specified tab. On a Mac, simply replace the Ctrl with Command. So, press Command + 5, for instance, to go to the fifth tab.
Using keyboard shortcuts definitely saves a lot of time and energy. For more tips like these, refer to our guide on how to use cut, copy, and paste using keyboard shortcuts and the best Windows 10 keyboard shortcuts.
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