Browser Setup and Shortcuts

Firefox, Chromium, and Google Chrome each serve a slightly different role on a development machine. Firefox is useful for daily browsing and cross checks, Chromium is a clean Blink based test browser, and Google Chrome is helpful when you need the official Chrome build or Chrome specific sync and integrations.

Installation

Use the package manager that matches your distribution. Firefox and Chromium are typically available from standard repositories. Google Chrome may require a separate package source depending on the distro.

Arch Linux: Firefox and Chromium from official repositories, Google Chrome from the AUR

sudo pacman -S firefox
sudo pacman -S chromium
yay -S google-chrome

Ubuntu and Debian: Firefox and Chromium packages depend on release and packaging policy, while Google Chrome is usually installed from Google’s .deb package

sudo apt update
sudo apt install firefox chromium

When to use each browser

Firefox: good default browser for daily work, reading, and non-Chromium compatibility checks
Chromium: useful for testing Blink based behavior without Chrome account sync or extra proprietary integration
Google Chrome: useful when a site behaves differently in the official Chrome build or when Chrome sync, profiles, or proprietary features matter

Firefox shortcuts - Tabs

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl+T	New tab
Ctrl+W	Close tab
Ctrl+Shift+T	Reopen closed tab or window
Ctrl+Shift+P	New private window
Ctrl+Tab	Next tab
Ctrl+Shift+Tab	Previous tab

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl+L	Focus address bar
Ctrl+R	Reload page
Ctrl+Shift+R	Hard reload (bypass cache)
Ctrl+F	Find in page
Alt+Left	Back
Alt+Right	Forward

Firefox shortcuts - Bookmarks and History

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl+D	Bookmark current page
Ctrl+J	Open downloads
Ctrl+H	Open history
Ctrl+Shift+B	Toggle bookmarks toolbar

Firefox shortcuts - Zoom and DevTools

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl++	Zoom in
Ctrl+-	Zoom out
Ctrl+0	Reset zoom
F12	Toggle developer tools
Ctrl+Shift+I	Toggle developer tools (alt)
Ctrl+Shift+K	Open web console