Chrome extension keyboard shortcuts: change them, fix them, and bind Ctrl+Tab or ⌘T

Updated 5 November 2026

An extension promised a keyboard shortcut and nothing happens when you press it. Or you want it on Ctrl Tab, and Chrome's shortcut page refuses the key. Both come down to one page, a short list of rules, and one workaround. This guide covers all three.

Where extension shortcuts live

Chrome keeps every extension's shortcuts on one page. Type chrome://extensions/shortcuts in the address bar and press Enter, or open the Chrome menu, choose Extensions › Manage Extensions, then click Keyboard shortcuts on the left.

Each extension lists its commands with a field next to each. Click the pencil icon, press the keys you want, and the field fills in. To clear a shortcut, click the pencil and press Backspace or Delete. The dropdown after each field sets the scope: In Chrome (the default) or Global, which works when Chrome isn't the active window.

An extension can suggest at most four shortcuts when it's installed, but it can have more commands than that. The extra ones show here with an empty field until you set one.

Why your shortcut stopped working

Four causes account for nearly every "extension shortcut not working" report. Check them in order.

1. The field is empty. Open the shortcuts page and look. An empty field means the key was never set, or Chrome cleared it. Set it again and the problem is gone. This is the most common cause, and the only one you can't see from the extension itself.
2. Another extension got there first. One key triggers one command. If two extensions suggest the same key, Chrome's documentation says the second one "won't register as expected", and neither extension is told. Look down the shortcuts page for the key, clear it from the extension you care less about, then set it on the other.
3. Chrome or the operating system owns the key. Chrome's documentation says its own shortcuts and the system's "always take priority over extension command shortcuts and cannot be overridden". If you typed Ctrl T into the field and it refused, this is why. The next two sections explain which keys and what you can do about it.
4. The key fires, but the extension can't act on that page. Chrome blocks extensions from running on its own pages (settings, the extensions page, the new tab page) and on the Chrome Web Store. A shortcut that opens something over the page does nothing there. Try it on an ordinary website before assuming it's broken. Well-made extensions fall back to a small window of their own on those pages.

Keys Chrome will not accept

These rules come from Chrome's commands documentation for extension developers. They apply whether the extension suggests the key or you type it on the shortcuts page.

So an extension that wants to be your Ctrl Tab can't ship that way, and the form won't let you type it either. There is still a way.

Bind Ctrl+Tab or ⌘T anyway (the console method)

The shortcuts page is itself a web page inside Chrome, and it has a function for setting a command's key. Called directly, that function skips the form's checks. Chrome then honours the binding and the extension's command runs instead of Chrome's own. QuicKey, an open-source tab switcher, documented this first and deserves the credit. Tab Launcher's settings page walks you through the same steps with the lines filled in and a Copy button. The steps, as that page gives them:

1. Open the shortcuts page: type chrome://extensions/shortcuts in the address bar and press Enter.
2. Open the console on that page: press Ctrl Shift J (⌥ ⌘ J on a Mac).
3. Paste a line and press Enter. If Chrome warns you about pasting, type allow pasting, press Enter, then paste again.
4. Check the field. Close DevTools. The shortcut's field now shows the new key. Try it on any web page.

Each line names the extension, one of its commands, and the key. For Tab Launcher these are:

⌘ T opens the command bar instead of a new tab (on Windows and Linux, replace Command+T with Ctrl+T):

chrome.developerPrivate.updateExtensionCommand({ extensionId: "jonmbhmofklmhcccfofjlpjillibjcdh", commandName: "open-bar", keybinding: "Command+T" });

Ctrl Tab switches to recent tabs, and Ctrl Shift Tab goes back through them:

chrome.developerPrivate.updateExtensionCommand({ extensionId: "jonmbhmofklmhcccfofjlpjillibjcdh", commandName: "switch-recent", keybinding: "Ctrl+Tab" });
chrome.developerPrivate.updateExtensionCommand({ extensionId: "jonmbhmofklmhcccfofjlpjillibjcdh", commandName: "switch-recent-back", keybinding: "Ctrl+Shift+Tab" });

For another extension, swap in its ID (the long string in its Chrome Web Store address) and the command name from its manifest or its own instructions. In these lines, Ctrl means the Control key on every platform, including the Mac; Command is the Mac's ⌘ key.

Two things to know. These keys replace Chrome's own (new tab, next tab) for as long as the binding stands. And Chrome may clear the binding after an update, so if a key stops working, repeat the steps. Tab Launcher's settings page shows which shortcuts are set right now, so you can tell at a glance.

Mac and Edge differences

Mac. Chrome turns Ctrl in an extension's suggested shortcut into ⌘, so an extension that suggests Ctrl+K shows as ⌘ K on a Mac. On the shortcuts page you can press ⌃ (Control), ⌥ (Option) or ⌘ as the modifier. Chrome's "next tab" on a Mac is ⌘ ⌥ → as well as ⌃ Tab, so binding ⌃ Tab to an extension still leaves you a built-in way to walk the tab strip.

Edge. Microsoft Edge has the same page at edge://extensions/shortcuts, with the same rules, and Chrome Web Store extensions keep the same ID there. We've only tested the console method in Chrome. QuicKey's page notes that a copy installed from the Edge Add-ons store has a different extension ID, so a line written for Chrome needs that ID swapped in.

Global shortcuts

By default an extension's shortcut only works while Chrome is the active window. Set the dropdown next to a command to Global and it works from any app, which suits things like a clipboard tool or a notes extension. Chrome only lets an extension suggest a global key from Ctrl Shift 0 to 9, but once it's installed you can pick any key the table above allows. Global shortcuts aren't supported on ChromeOS, and a global key that another desktop app already uses will be a tug of war; pick something nothing else wants.

FAQ