How to Use Custom Mouse and Keyboard Shortcuts on Chromebook

Google allows you to customize your mouse buttons and keyboard shortcuts on Chromebooks. If you frequently take screenshots, you might have set a mouse button as a trigging shortcut. That’s because Chromebooks lack default keyboard shortcuts for media controls like play, pause, and skip tracks. Luckily, that’s changed. You can add keyboard shortcuts for a variety of actions, including media playback controls. Here’s how you can customize mouse buttons and keyboard shortcuts on Chromebook.

Requires ChromeOS 123 Version or Above

To begin customizing your Chromebook’s keyboard shortcuts or mouse buttons, ensure your device runs ChromeOS 123 version or later. If you’re on an older ChromeOS version, you can still enable the feature via Chrome Flags. Here’s how:

Type the following URL into your Chrome browser’s address bar:

chrome://flags

On the Chrome Flags window, type the following string in the search bar to enable keyboard shortcut customization. Toggle the flag from default to enabled.

#enable-shortcut-customization

For Mouse button customization, type this string in the search bar and toggle the flag from default to enabled.

#enable-peripheral-customization

After that, click Restart at the bottom to apply changes. These flags enable the features even on older versions of ChromeOS.

Customize Keyboard Shortcuts on Chromebook

If you want to use keyboard shortcuts for specific actions, you can do that to. Here’s how you can customize keyboard shortcuts:

1. On your Chromebook, go to Settings > Device > Keyboard and input and click on View keyboard shortcuts.

2. It opens a window with all the keyboard shortcuts. Alternatively, you can also press Search Key + Ctrl + S to open the same window.

3. To edit a shortcut, click the pencil icon next to it, then click Add shortcut. Press your a key combination and click Done to save.

4. To delete any shortcut, click on the Delete icon next to the shortcut. You also have the Restore defaults option if you want to go back to the default settings for any action.

To reset all shortcuts, click the Reset all shortcuts button on the bottom left of the Key shortcuts window. There are a few things to remember when customizing the keyboard shortcuts:

• You can’t modify shortcuts with a Lock icon beside them.
• Use the shortcut with the search icon to avoid conflicts with other systems and browser shortcuts. While it’s not mandatory, it simplifies your experience.
• You cannot set top row keys, any single letter, or modifier Key as a shortcut. It has to be a combination of at least 2 keys.
• You can add up to 5 shortcuts for each action.
• It will show you a warning when trying to set the same shortcut already assigned to another function. However, you can press the shortcut again to set it to the new function and remove it from the old.

Customize Mouse Buttons on Chromebook

Here’s how to customize the mouse buttons:

1. Connect your mouse (wired or wireless) to the Chromebook.
2. Open the Settings app, then go to Device > Mouse.
3. Select Customize mouse buttons.
4. On the customization page, click on the mouse button you want to customize.
5. That button option will appear on the screen, click on the drop-down beside it to assign a function.

There are various functions to choose from like the screenshot capture, media play/pause, volume control, overview page, emoji picker, and more. You can also assign a keyboard shortcut if the desired function is not listed.