You’re presumably using your touchpad, external mouse, stylus, or fingers to scroll through this page. But what if we told you there’s another way to use your browser to visit web pages?
We’ll teach you how to utilize the function on popular online browsers including Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, Brave, and Internet Explorer. It’s called “Caret Browsing,” and we’ll show you how to use it. Safari and Opera, two popular browsers, do not support the feature.
What Is Caret Browsing and How Does It Work?
“Caret Browsing” (also known as “Caret Navigation”) is a word that refers to a different way of browsing and viewing online pages on your browser. It entails selecting texts and moving around online pages using your keyboard’s direction or arrow keys (also known as Cursor keys).
If you have a broken mouse, trackpad, or stylus, this solution will come in handy. You might also use this function simply for the sake of having fun with it.
How to Make Caret Browsing Possible?
Caret Browsing is activated with a single keystroke. The option to enable Caret Browsing in Google Chrome and Internet Explorer is also found in the browser’s options menu. Learn how to enable Caret Browsing on Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer, and the Brave browser in the sections below.
In Google Chrome, enable Caret Browsing.
Caret Browsing may be activated in Google Chrome in two ways: via a hotkey or from the Accessibility menu. Toggle on Navigate pages with a text cursor by pressing F7 on your keyboard or going to Settings > Advanced > Accessibility.
To rapidly open Chrome’s Accessibility menu, paste chrome:/settings/accessibility into the address bar and hit Enter. Toggle on the option that says Navigate pages using a text cursor after that.
Caret Browsing will be enabled for all active Chrome tabs and windows if you enable it. To continue, select Turn On on the confirmation prompt.
In Firefox, enable Caret Browsing.
Select Yes on the confirmation window by pressing F7 on any Firefox tab. The only way to enable Caret Browsing in the browser is to do so. Unlike Chrome, Firefox does not have a Caret Browsing option in the Settings menu.
In Microsoft Edge, enable Caret Browsing.
In Microsoft Edge, the F7 hotkey is the only way to activate Caret Browsing, much like in Firefox. After that, select Turn On to make the feature active.
In Internet Explorer, enable Caret Browsing.
Internet Explorer will continue to function flawlessly until Microsoft retires it in June 2022. Caret Browsing is also supported, making it one of the few browsers that supports it. Start Internet Explorer, press F7 on any tab, and then select Yes when prompted.
Alternatively, pick File, Caret browsing, and click the gear icon on the tab bar (or press Alt + X).
Caret should be enabled. Brave is a website where you can browse for free.
Brave is a Chromium-based web browser with a strong focus on privacy. Caret Navigation can be activated by pressing F7 on your keyboard if Brave is your default web browser. To conclude, select Turn On on the confirmation window that appears on the screen.
Caret Browsing: How to Use It
It’s simple to turn on Caret Browsing. If you aren’t used to using a keyboard, though, it may take some time to become acclimated to the feature. Let’s take a look at how the feature functions.
Using Caret Browsing Mode to Navigate Web Pages
You should see a flickering cursor anywhere on the current web page after enabling Caret Browsing. The arrow up and down keys will take you to the previous and next lines, respectively. The left and right arrow keys, on the other hand, move the cursor one step to the left and right, respectively.
Using Caret Browsing Mode to Open Links
When you move the cursor to the anchor text of a link, Chrome will highlight it with a border depending on the page you’re visiting. To access the link in the same tab, press Enter (or Return on a Mac) on the highlighted text.
While using Caret Browsing, press Control + Enter (on Windows) or Command + Return (on Mac) to open a URL in a new background tab (for macOS). The link will open in a new foreground/active tab if you press Control + Shift + Enter (on Windows) or Command + Shift + Return (on macOS).
Move the cursor to the link’s anchor text and hit Shift + Enter (or Shift + Return for Mac) to open it in a new window.
In Caret Browsing Mode, Selecting Texts
In Caret Browsing mode, you must highlight the text you wish to copy before you may copy it. To highlight texts letter-by-letter in the chosen direction, move the cursor to the text’s location, hold Shift on the keyboard, then hit the left or right arrow keys.
By holding Shift and pressing the arrow keys up or down, you may highlight text horizontally in a line-by-line method.
- On a Windows PC, press Alt + Shift + Right/Left arrow keys; on a Mac, press Option + Shift + Left/Right arrow keys to highlight text word by word.
- It’s also possible to select an entire paragraph to be highlighted.
- Move the cursor to the beginning of the text on a Windows device and hit Alt + Shift + Arrow Down or Control + Shift + Arrow Down (on Internet Explorer). Option + Shift + Arrow Down is the Mac shortcut.
- Move the cursor to the end of the paragraph and press Option + Shift + Arrow Up (on Mac) or Alt + Shift + Arrow Up (on Windows) (on Windows).
- A separate shortcut for choosing multiple paragraphs at once is available in Internet Explorer. To highlight a text in a downward or upward direction, press Control + Shift + Arrow Down or Control + Shift + Arrow Up.
- To copy the highlighted text, press Control + C (or Command + C on a Mac).
How Do I Turn Off Caret Browsing?
Want to use your mouse, stylus, or touchscreen to navigate web pages again? Caret Browsing will be disabled for all web browsers specified in this post by pressing F7 on your keyboard.
Toggle off Navigate pages using a text cursor in Chrome’s Accessibility menu (Settings > Accessibility).
Deselect Caret surfing in Internet Explorer by clicking Tools (the gear symbol) on the tab bar.
If you’re experiencing trouble utilizing Caret Browsing, check to see if your browser supports it. Also, make sure you’re using the most recent version of your browser and try again. If you have any queries, please leave them in the comments area below.
