i am stunned that folks didn't know about this since i've been using this shortcut hundreds of times a day for at least 20 years. i guess the moral of the story is that browser vendors really need to make it easier to discover the useful features that are buried in documentation
In Windows' File Explorer, F6 cycles focus between window sub-regions, while Alt+D sends you unconditionally to the address bar independent of where the focus is. So maybe there is a parallel here.
Alt-d is, AFAIK, equivalent to a menubar shortcut (like Alt-f) that just happens to go to not quite a menu. None of the others close on repeat, so it doesn't either. UX consistency, though maybe the sort that doesn't matter as much as usual.
Ctrl+F4, Ctrl+W close tab
Alt+F4 close window
Ctrl+(Shift+?)+Q close browser entirely
Ctrl+Shift+T undo close tab
Ctrl+Shift+N undo close window
Ctrl+N new window
Ctrl+Shift+P new private window
Ctrl+B toggle bookmarks bar
Ctrl+Shift+B open library (bookmarks window)
Ctrl+H open history in side pane
Ctrl+Shift+H open library (history window)
Ctrl+G, F3 find again
Ctrl+Shift+G, Shift+F3 find previous
Ctrl+Shift+V paste as plain text
Ctrl+Shift-Z redo
Alt+Entry in address bar opens address in new tab
Some browser-based editors will helpfully offer Vim bindings for editing, without exhaustively emulating all bindings. Of course, once in the flow of editing, I type Ctrl+W to delete a word, and voila, the tab closes!
I'd almost forgotten about Ctrl-L. I used to use it all the time on Celeron work computers with IE, because I could open the browser, type Ctrl-L and an address, and press Enter before the toolbar finished drawing. I wouldn't even see what I had typed appear before the page I requested started loading! Think I also used it with Windows Explorer, after the IE integration…
I dislike shortcuts with special characters, as its availability depends on the keyboard layout. It's quite common that the shortcut doesn't work when you have to use modifier keys to invoke it.
Some vendors make an effort to support non-US layouts, others not so much (e.g Adobe, and recently Microsoft).
As a shortcut junkie, I've even changed the OS keyboard layout to enable more shortcuts to work, and memorising the location of special characters by feel. But that's not exactly an intuitive UX.
As some examples of shortcut keys that usually brings me dread are: /, ~, [, ], ;, |
I much prefer shortcuts in the form of "ctrl + letter"