News Summary:
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The newest beta of Chrome OS 111, which opens in a new tab, has a revamped keyboard shortcuts app that lets you remap those shortcuts however you like, according to About Chromebooks(opens in new tab).
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With Chrome OS testing, it has been discovered that Chromebooks are about to undergo a significant improvement thanks to the ability to completely redefine keyboard shortcuts.
Since this is still early testing for the feature, the functionality isn’t yet operational. You can modify the shortcuts in the new panel, but they won’t be put into effect.
Nevertheless, it’s fantastic to see that Chrome OS will soon allow you to create your own shortcuts.
In fact, you have to fiddle with some experimental flags to find the right panel because the shortcuts app is still hidden from testers in Chrome OS 111 beta.
This isn’t a huge surprise because there have been rumors about Google bringing this functionality to Chrome OS for quite some time.
Only a few fundamental keyboard components can currently be redefined (for example, changing the’search’ key’s function). With this modification, you will have complete control over the library of shortcuts (in theory anyway, if the final implementation pans out as it looks now).
This makes it easier for those who are more accustomed to a Windows or macOS system to use a Chromebook (perhaps one they just bought and are completely unfamiliar with) on a daily basis by allowing them to keep their preferred shortcuts from those platforms by remapping them under Chrome OS.
It’s possible that About Chromebooks just discovered this feature, which may have been present in earlier beta releases of Chrome OS. So, it’s possible that Google has been experimenting with the idea behind the scenes for some time; hopefully, we’ll actually see it debut in beta soon enough – and then in release afterwards.
