Mouse shortcuts are mouse actions, often done while pressing a key on the keyboard.
For example, you might push the Ctrl key while LeftClicking to form the Ctrl+LeftClick mouse shortcut.
If you Ctrl+LeftClick on a link, you open the link in a new tab.
On occasion, mouse shortcuts don't involve the keyboard at all.
For example, you might MiddleClick on a link to open the link in a new tab.
| LeftClick | Click the left mouse button |
| RightClick | Click the right mouse button |
| MiddleClick | Click the middle mouse button (often the scroll wheel) |
| DoubleClick | Click the left mouse button twice quickly |
| ScrollUp | Scroll up with the scroll wheel |
| ScrollDown | Scroll down with the scroll wheel |
In all of our other articles, we push the use of keyboard heavily.
However, when you're browsing the web, you will probably have your hand on the mouse.
This is what makes mouse shortcuts so useful in web browsers.
Check out the following Firefox mouse shortcuts:
| Shift+ScrollDown | Back |
| Shift+ScrollUp | Forward |
| Shift+LeftClick on a link | Open the link in a new window |
| DoubleClick on the tab bar | Open a new tab |
| MiddleClick on a tab | Close the tab |
| Ctrl+LeftClick on a link | Open the link in a new tab in the background |
| MiddleClick on a link | Open the link in a new tab in the background |
| Ctrl+Shift+LeftClick on a link | Open the link in a new tab in the foreground |
| Shift+MiddleClick on a link | Open the link in a new tab in the foreground |
The mouse shortcuts we taught you in this article should be plenty.
If you're interested in learning even more, check out the exhaustive list of Firefox mouse shortcuts at Mozilla's Firefox Help: Mouse Shortcuts website.
