Google has just dropped a new keyboard shortcut that you can use to restrict your search queries, and while it won’t save you a week, it’s easier to use than scrolling to the search bar. click on it and edit it. your query to start a new search.
The shortcut is simple and easy to memorize: when you’re on the results page for any Google search, all you have to do is grind the “/” keyboard key: a forward slash, if you’re still confused the other slash on the keyboard, and the cursor will return to the search box and be positioned at the end of the query. Then you can add or subtract words, add operators, or make a quick CTRL + A and Delete to start over.
This trick does not work when it is initially loaded google.com, because it is not necessary; as soon as you load the page, the cursor will be ready in the search box, ready to type whatever you want. But when you do multiple searches to find something, it’s a faster way to refine your search until you find what you’ve been looking for.
And while we’re at it, let’s give you a few more shortcuts to speed up your searches. Because you can use the browser’s address bar to start all of your Google queries instead of visiting the Google website, just make a mash CTRL + E or CTRL + K whenever you want to go look for something on the web. If you’re not on a website that has already taken a keyboard shortcut for a different purpose (such as adding a hyperlink to the text of a blog post), the cursor will immediately jump to an empty address bar to be able to start the search.
I’ve tried it in Chrome, Edge Chromium and Firefox, and it works natively. However, if you’re a Safari fan, you’ll have to grind Order + L. So it is in macOS. If you crush CTRL + L (or ALT + D) in Chrome, Edge Chromium, or Firefox, you’ll access the address bar and highlight everything there, a slightly different setting than deleting everything to perform a new search.
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