Open links on any web page in Chrome using just your keyboard with this handy extension

I can’t be the only one who sometimes can’t be arsed to reach for my mouse when I need to click on things at my desktop; it’s more of an issue than usual when I’m practicing guitar and scrolling through tutorials or scrubbing back and forth on YouTube jam tracks.

Thankfully, there’s an extension for that, and it’s called Vimium. This handy tool assigns keyboard shortcuts to every link on the page you’re viewing – including linked images. Look ma, no mouse!

Just hit the F key on any page, and Vimium will overlay tiny yellow bubbles labeled with keyboard shortcuts on hyperlinked elements; hit those keys and you’ll be taken to your chosen destination.

Vimium is also pretty customizable: you can create exclusions so it doesn’t interfere with sites that already support shortcuts. For example, it automatically sets the J and K keys to act as scroll up/down buttons, and those same keys let me jump between articles on Feedly; you can hit the extension button in Chrome while visiting Feedly to quickly turn off all or certain shortcuts for that domain.

Admittedly, it does take a bit of getting used to – mostly because the shortcuts are invisible until you remember to invoke them. But once you’ve got the hang of it, you’ll find Vimium to be indispensable for getting around Chrome more easily.

Via Lifehacker