Do you think is it even possible to browse websites by using only keyboard without a mouse? I am not going to lie that it is possible by breaking the Tab key but no one would do it from a vanilla browser that does not get any help from third party extensions or plugins. I have previously written about a Firefox extension called Mouseless Browsing where you can easily visit the link on the webpage by referring to the unique ids behind every link or element. Press the Control key and followed by typing the number of the id to get to the link. It is that easy and fast.
However if you want something that has more features that makes you a total pro in surfing the web without even touching the mouse, try Vimperator. Vimperator is a Firefox browser extension with strong inspiration from the Vim text editor, with a mind towards faster and more efficient browsing. If you haven’t heard of Vim text editor, it is a highly configurable text editor built to enable efficient text editing. It is an improved version of the vi editor distributed with most UNIX systems. Without a doubt that it is hard at first trying to learn how to browse the web without a mouse by using Vimperator but once you get used to it, I am confident that you will surf the web faster, more efficiently, and even saving your shoulder because you don’t need to reach for the mouse.
If it important that you read the tutorial after installing Vimperator. There are a lot useful information there but I think the most basic instruction is to start with a : (colon). For example, to open the Vimperator help page, press : and followed by typing help or helpall and hit the Enter key. Some of the keys such as f are binded by default. Try opening a webpage and then hit the f key. You would instantly notice that links and elements are highlighted in yellow with numbers on them. To go to the link, simply type the number and you will be automatically forwarded to the link.
There are other features such as macros to replay key strokes, and even extensions to extend Vimperator’s functionality with scripts just like you can extend Firefox with extensions. Are you ready to learn how to browse websites like a Pro using only Keyboard with Vimperator?
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