In Firefox forward slash is mapped to quick find. Is it possible to let forward slash behave the same in Google Chrome as in Firefox? To find a link and follow it in a page in Google Chrome I now have to type:
Ctrl + F, <search query>, ESC, Enter
In Firefox this is:
/, <search query>, Enter
Not being able to use forward slash to find in page has been a real show-stopper for me as I use it all the time in Firefox to browse documentation.
Try checking out Vimium, an extension which gives you Vim keymappings. This would allow you to type a '/' and then you start typing whatever you're looking for and it dynamically jumps you to the part of the page that matches.
You may just find that the rest of the Vim keybindings are helpful too - for scrolling, navigating tabs, opening new links, etc., all without taking your hands off the keyboard - but you could simply start with the search feature and safely ignore the rest of the functionality if you're not familiar with the other bindings.
A Chromium find-as-you-type extension was recently launched that comes very near to the behavior I want.
There are several problems with the extension:
In current versions of chrome you can do:
Ctrl + F, <search query>, Ctrl + Enter
Which is a bit more convenient compared to using ESC.
I've been posting this info wherever I can find threads on FAYT:
If you want to have this feature (find as you type/FAYT) enabled in Chrome by default, go to Chromium Issue 150: Type-ahead-find and read #4 for why it's not.
Then star (vote for) the issue, tell everyone who wants FAYT enabled by default to star it, and install tokland's extension as an awesome workaround for the time being: Chrome-Type-Ahead.
Also, please join my group on LinkedIn (Chrome-Type-Ahead-Find), start a Facebook group, tweet about it, or do something to spread the word.
As you realized, Chrome doesn't offer a native way to modify shortcuts. As things stand, you have two options:
if you are on the beta or developer channel - and are willing to install an extension - there's Shortcut manager to fulfill your remapping desires. BUT, right now, you'll have to contact the developer, since the "Find" browser action is not yet assignable;
you can use a AutoHotkey script, which will map the "/" in your numeric keyboard pad to Ctrl+F, only while in Google Chrome:
#IfWinActive, ahk_class Chrome_WindowImpl_0
NumpadDiv::
Send ^f
return
Update: The Chromium Find As You Type Extension comes with the '/' key search functioning out of the box. Just install the extension, and forward-slash search should start working.
For OSX users (I'm using 10.6.6)
I mapped the ⌘/ shortcut to the Chrome "Find..." command (Not as good as having a simple '/', but it will do for now...
Switch to Chrome and try it out
There is a problem with the AutoHotKey script that makes it unusable -- I don't think there's a way to get the desired behavior using AutoHotKey:
You can't search for text containing /. This can be fixed by checking if the find textbox has focus:
#IfWinActive, ahk_class Chrome_WindowImpl_0
/::
ControlGetFocus focussed, A
if ( focussed != "ViewsTextfieldEdit1" )
Send ^f
else
Send /
return
You'd have to do the same thing to allow entering / in the URL bar.
You can't type / in any web page's input box displayed by Chrome! Textboxes, search boxes, drop downs, etc... I don't know a way around this. The problem is that all these form controls don't seem to be visible to AutoHotKey (try mousing over them with Window Spy and you'll notice the control under "Now Under Mouse Cursor" doesn't change).
