Chrome Tab Keyboard Shortcuts: The Complete List

Chrome has a full set of keyboard shortcuts for tabs, but most people only know two: open a new one, close it. The rest — jumping straight to tab 4, reopening the one you just closed, searching every open tab by title — save real time once they're muscle memory.

Opening, closing, and reopening

Action	Windows / Linux	Mac
New tab	Ctrl+T	Cmd+T
Close current tab	Ctrl+W	Cmd+W
Reopen last closed tab	Ctrl+Shift+T	Cmd+Shift+T
New window	Ctrl+N	Cmd+N
New Incognito window	Ctrl+Shift+N	Cmd+Shift+N
Close current window	Ctrl+Shift+W	Cmd+Shift+W

Ctrl+Shift+T / Cmd+Shift+T is the one worth memorizing first — press it repeatedly and it keeps walking back through your last several closed tabs in order, not just the very last one.

Switching between tabs

Action	Windows / Linux	Mac
Next tab	Ctrl+Tab	Ctrl+Tab or Cmd+Option+→
Previous tab	Ctrl+Shift+Tab	Ctrl+Shift+Tab or Cmd+Option+←
Jump to tab 1–8	Ctrl+1 … Ctrl+8	Cmd+1 … Cmd+8
Jump to last tab	Ctrl+9	Cmd+9

Ctrl+1 through Ctrl+8 count by position, not by how long a tab's been open — so if you drag tabs around, the numbers shift with them. Ctrl+9 is the one constant: it always lands on whichever tab is furthest right.

Finding a tab without scrolling the strip

Ctrl+Shift+A (Cmd+Shift+A on Mac) opens Chrome's built-in tab search — the same box behind the small downward arrow at the end of the tab strip. Start typing and it filters by title or URL across every open tab, including ones in other windows and ones scrolled off-screen. It's the fastest native way to answer "wait, do I already have this open?" without hunting favicon by favicon.

Two more that pair well with it:

• Address bar: Ctrl+L (Cmd+L on Mac) jumps straight to the URL bar from anywhere.
• Duplicate a tab: no default shortcut exists — right-click the tab and choose "Duplicate," or drag it while holding the modifier your OS uses for copy.
• Open a link in a new tab: Ctrl+Click (Cmd+Click on Mac) or middle-click — see How to Make Links Always Open in a New Tab in Chrome for every method.

Where shortcuts stop helping

All of the above make Chrome's existing tab bar faster to operate. None of them make the tab bar shorter, and none of them save a tab anywhere search can find it later. Ctrl+9 still gets you to the last tab whether there are 9 open or 90 — it just doesn't tell you which one that is.

The shortcuts that actually reduce clutter are the ones for saving and finding, not switching:

Amazing Tabs adds the two moves the native shortcuts don't cover:

• One-click save removes a tab from the strip entirely instead of just moving focus to it.
• Instant search (/ inside the app) finds any saved tab by title or content — the same reflex as Ctrl+Shift+A, but for tabs you've already closed.
• Free for up to 100 saved links, with Premium from $2.90/mo (billed annually) or $4.90/mo, and a one-time $99 Lifetime option for the first 200 founders.

Add Amazing Tabs to Chrome — free → Install from the Chrome Web Store. 100 saved links free, then $2.90/mo billed annually (or $4.90/mo) for unlimited and cross-device sync, $99 lifetime capped at 200 founder spots. See pricing for the full breakdown.

Quick recap

• Ctrl+Shift+T / Cmd+Shift+T reopens closed tabs, one at a time, walking back through history.
• Ctrl+1–Ctrl+8 jump to a tab by position; Ctrl+9 always jumps to the last one.
• Ctrl+Shift+A / Cmd+Shift+A searches every open tab by title or URL, including other windows.
• Mac swaps Ctrl for Cmd, except tab-switching also has Cmd+Option+←/→ as a native alternative.
• Shortcuts speed up navigating a messy tab bar — see How to Manage 100+ Open Tabs Without Losing Your Mind and How to Search Open Tabs in Chrome for how to actually shrink it.

Further reading: Chrome Tab Mouse Shortcuts You're Probably Not Using for the mouse-only equivalents — middle-click to close, double-click to open, drag to reorder or detach.