Keyboard Shortcuts

Web Highlights supports several keyboard shortcuts to speed up your workflow. You can highlight text, toggle the sidebar, and more — all without touching your mouse.

• Default Shortcuts
  • Highlight Selected Text
  • Highlight with Last Format
  • Toggle Sidebar
• Customize Your Shortcuts
• Productivity Workflows
  • Speed-Highlight While Reading
  • Keyboard-Only Highlighting
  • Distraction-Free Setup
• Tips
• Common Questions

Default Shortcuts

Action	Windows / Linux	Mac
Highlight selected text	Alt + S	Option + S
Highlight with last format	Alt + A	Option + A
Toggle sidebar	Alt + W	Option + W

Highlight Selected Text

Select any text on a webpage and press Alt + S (Windows/Linux) or Option + S (Mac) to highlight it instantly with your default color.

Highlight with Last Format

If you use formatted highlighting, press Alt + A (Windows/Linux) or Option + A (Mac) to highlight text using the same format as your last highlight.

Toggle Sidebar

Press Alt + W (Windows/Linux) or Option + W (Mac) to quickly open or close the sidebar.

Customize Your Shortcuts

You can change any keyboard shortcut to fit your preferences:

1. Paste chrome://extensions/shortcuts into your browser's address bar.
2. Find Web Highlights in the list.
3. Click the pencil icon next to the shortcut you want to change.
4. Press your desired key combination.

Quick Access

You can also open the shortcuts configuration by clicking the shortcut icon at the bottom of the sidebar.

Productivity Workflows

Speed-Highlight While Reading

The fastest way to highlight an article is to keep one hand on the mouse for text selection and the other on the keyboard. Select text → Alt + S → keep reading. No need to move your cursor to the popup marker.

Keyboard-Only Highlighting

Combine shortcuts with formatted highlighting for a fully keyboard-driven research workflow:

1. Select text with Shift + Arrow keys
2. Press Alt + S to highlight with default color
3. Press Alt + A to re-apply the last format (useful when highlighting multiple headings or code blocks in a row)

Distraction-Free Setup

For maximum focus, disable the automatic popup and rely solely on keyboard shortcuts. This removes the floating marker that appears when you select text — highlights are created only when you explicitly press the shortcut.

Tips

• If a shortcut conflicts with another extension or the browser, change it via the steps above.
• Shortcuts work on any webpage where the extension is active, including PDFs and YouTube transcripts.
• Custom shortcuts are managed per browser profile via chrome://extensions/shortcuts. If you use Chrome Sync, they may carry over to other devices signed into the same Google account.
• Use multiple colors alongside shortcuts: Alt + S always uses your default color, so set your most-used color as the default.

Common Questions

Do shortcuts work on PDFs and YouTube?

Yes. Keyboard shortcuts work wherever Web Highlights is active, including PDF highlighting and YouTube transcript highlighting.

Can I set different shortcuts for different colors?

Not directly. The shortcut always highlights with your current default color. To change colors quickly, set your most-used color as the default (see Multiple Color Highlighting).

What if my shortcut conflicts with another extension?

Open chrome://extensions/shortcuts, find Web Highlights, and change the conflicting shortcut to a different key combination.

Do shortcuts work in Edge, Brave, and other browsers?

Yes. Since Web Highlights runs on all Chromium-based browsers, keyboard shortcuts work the same way in Chrome, Edge, Brave, Vivaldi, and Opera.