Use your Chromebook keyboard

Your Chromebook keyboard works just like a regular keyboard, with a few differences.

Unique keys on your Chromebook keyboard

Search Search your apps and the web
To turn Caps Lock on or off, press Alt + Search.
Previous page Go to the previous page in your browser history (F1)
Next page Go to the next page in your browser history (F2)
Refresh Refresh your current page (F3)
Full screen Hide the tabs and launcher in full-screen Immersive mode (F4)
switch window Show all windows in Overview mode (F5)
Decrease brightness Dim the screen (F6)
Increase brightness Make the screen brighter (F7)
Mute Mute (F8)
Decrease volume Lower the volume (F9)
Increase volume Raise the volume (F10)

 

Note: If you're using a Windows keyboard with your Chromebook:

  • The F keys work like the keys above, sometimes with a few differences
  • The Windows key between Ctrl and Alt works as the Search key

Change your keyboard settings

Change how the Ctrl, Alt, and search keys work

For example, you can make the Search key work as a Caps Lock key.

  1. If you haven't already, sign in to your Chromebook.
  2. Click your account photo.
  3. Click Settings Settings.
  4. In the "Device" section, click Keyboard.
  5. Use the menus to change how the keys work.
Add words to your dictionary

To add a word to your dictionary, right-click the word and select Add to dictionary. 

To add several words to your dictionary:

  1. If you haven’t already, sign in to your Chromebook.
  2. Click your account photo.
  3. Click Settings Settings.
  4. Under "Device," click Keyboard and then Change language and input settings.
  5. Click Spell check.
  6. Click Custom spelling.
  7. Enter a word into the field "Add a new word," then click Add word.
  8. To delete a word from your dictionary, click the X next to the word.
Correct words automatically

To turn on autocorrect or spell check:

  1. If you haven't already, sign in to your Chromebook.
  2. Click your account photo.
  3. Click Settings Settings.
  4. Under "Device," click Keyboard and then Change language and input settings.
  5. Click Input method.
  6. Next to your keyboard, click New tab New tab.
  7. Next to "Auto-correction," choose the level of auto-correction you'd like.
    • To get more corrections as you type, choose Aggressive.

Note: If you have more than one keyboard language, you'll need to turn on autocorrect for each one. Some keyboards don't have autocorrect.

Show suggested words as you type

Note: Currently, word prediction only works in Gmail.

  1. If you haven't already, sign in to your Chromebook.
  2. Click your account photo.
  3. Click Settings Settings.
  4. Under "Device," click Keyboard and then Change language and input settings.
  5. Click Input method.
  6. Next to your keyboard, click New tab New tab.
  7. Check the box to Enable next word prediction.

Fix problems with your keyboard

If the volume or brightness keys don't work, you might be at the upper or lower limit for that setting.

If the backward or forward buttons don't work, check if the same icons in a web browser window are grayed out. For example, if the back button on a webpage is gray, the browser isn't aware of a page to move backward to.

If you're having other problems with your keyboard, try these steps:

  1. Turn off the Chromebook, then back on.
  2. Try using the keys while you browse as a guest. If the keys work, delete the account that's having the problem on your Chromebook, then add it again.
  3. If the owner account is having problems, reset the Chromebook.

If you're still having trouble after trying these steps, contact your Chromebook manufacturer.

Do more with your keyboard

Mel is a Chromebook expert and author of this help page. Help her improve this article by leaving feedback below.

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