Are you still using your keyboard and mouse to browse the web? What if there was a way to browse the web with only your keyboard while maintaining the same speed or even increasing productivity?

If you are already familiar with Vim (Unix) you have probably guessed that the name Vimium derives from it.

For anyone who is not familiar with Vim: It is basically a free and open-source, highly customizable text editor. Just imagine a regular text editor that can be found on any device, but on steroids. You can learn some basic Vim commands with this browser-based introduction to Vim. Actually, even if you are a more experienced user you might be able to learn something new. At least for me this was the case.

How does it work?

Now that we know what Vim is all about, how the heck are Vim functionalities supposed to help browsing the web? Vimium is a browser extension (Chrome, Firefox) and once you installed it you can use Vimium’s game-changing keyboard shortcuts on any website (don’t worry, you can also exclude websites in the settings!).

Let me introduce you to my favourite keyboard shortcuts (that I use 90% of the time):

I recommend you download the extension, refresh this page and try it out right away.

  • Scroll down (j) and up (k)
  • Scroll down a page (d) and up a page (u)
  • Scroll left (h) and right (l)
  • Move to top of page (gg) and bottom (G, i.e. shift+g)
  • Jump to tab on the left (J) right tab (K)
  • Open link with f (little pop-ups with letter combinations show up that you can enter to open a link, exactly as shown in the image above)
  • Open link in new tab with F, i.e. shift+f
  • Open mulitple links in new tabs with alt+f
  • Move tab left («) and right (»)

Note: You can also use f to focus on a text box or another HTML element on the page (e.g. for scrolling). I’d recommend you just play around with it and you will naturally learn how to optimally use it.

Other important shortcuts:

  • Switch to last active tab on same window (^)
  • Text box focus (gi), switch text box with tab
  • Close tab (x)
  • Open recently closed tab (X, i.e. shift+x)
  • Open omnibar to search in same tab (o)
  • Open omnibar to search in new tab (O, i.e. shift+o)
  • There are many more, simply press ? to show all available commands

Also don’t forget that it is possible to add a number modifier to many of these shortcuts, e.g. 3j will scroll down three times, 3K will jump three tabs to the right and 5x will close 5 tabs.

Vimium is highly customizable. Just have a look at the extension settings and the Wiki.

Bonus: You can even use it on your smartphone. The official Chrome mobile app doesn’t support browser extensions, however there are alternatives on the app store that do. Simply download the Yandex or Kiwi browser to install the Vimium extension and connect your Bluetooth keyboard. This way you can seamlessly switch from browsing on your laptop to browsing on your phone with almost the same feel. I found it to be useful in situations in which I only had my phone and a keyboard with me (and a sore thumb). I tried both the Yandex and Kiwi browser, but the Yandex browser seems to be working better (Android). I haven’t tried it on Firefox for Mobile though.