Chrome Story

To open the same website on another tab, you can duplicate your current browser tab. You can do this on Chrome and Edge.

CTRL + SHIFT + K on Edge to Duplicate Tab

Microsoft Edge (Chromium) has a keyboard shortcut to duplicate tabs. You can use

CTRL + SHIFT + K

This keyboard shortcut duplicates the current tab in Edge.

Duplicate a Chrome Tab

To duplicate a tab, you can right-click the tab and choose Duplicate.

What if you want to do this using a keyboard shortcut? There is a hack for that.

You can use a combination of two keyboard shortcuts to duplicate a Chrome tab.

Step 1 – Press ALT + D. This selects the current tab.

Step 2 – While the URL is selected in the address bar, press ALT + ENTER.

Smart, isn’t it?

Chrome to get an easier method.

CTRL + SHIFT + K does not work in Chrome yet.

The feature request bug submitted by a user explains that Internet Explorer and Edge both have a keyboard shortcut to copy an existing tab. They both use CTRL + K. However, Firefox and Chrome use CTRL + K to focus on the address bar aka Omnibox.

If you press CTRL + K, now, Chrome will move the cursor to the address bar, ready to take your input. You can enter a search term or a web address to navigate.

Google Chrome currently does not have a keyboard shortcut to replicate an existing tab. A recent code change that we spotted points towards Google’s plan to add a new keyboard shortcut.

The team is still discussing how this should be handled. One of the comments from a Chromium developer says:

“I don’t have a strong preference here. There’s a cost to changing long-standing shortcuts, and a cost to adding new shortcuts (which we don’t have very many left available). Status quo is the easiest route, but given the Edge behavior my second choice would be to match them. I don’t think we should add a brand new shortcut for this given the middle-click-reload route exists.”

As the developer explains, there is a cost to changing an existing keyboard shortcut. If you are someone who uses CTRL + K to quickly start searching or browsing, you wouldn’t want Chrome duplicating your tabs after a new update, right?

The code commit that we spotted today speaks about “Add duplicate tab accelerator for Windows Ctrl+Shift+K”. It is not clear if Chrome will retain CTRL + K for focusing on the omnibox and use CTRL + SHIFT + K for duplicating tabs or the other way around.

The “Edge” Factor

Now that Edge is based on Chromium, Microsoft would want use the same keyboard shortcut that their users are familiar with. This will be an additional point for the Chromium team to consider.

It might take a few weeks to get this clarified . Will it be CTRL + K or CTRL + SHIFT + K? Bookmark this page and come back soon to find out.

Which keyboard shortcut would you prefer? Let us know in the comments section.

Source: Gerrit and Chromium Bug Repository.