CD

Chrome DevTools Keyboard Shortcuts

55+ Chrome DevTools shortcuts for debugging, profiling, and inspecting web pages. Essential for web developers.

54 shortcuts 7 categories

Open

Action Shortcut
Open/close DevTools
Open DevTools
Open Console panel
Open Elements + Inspect mode

Elements

Action Shortcut
Select element to inspect
Navigate DOM tree
Expand DOM node
Collapse DOM node
Edit attribute / toggle
Edit as HTML
Toggle element visibility
Delete selected element
Undo DOM change
Redo DOM change
Next attribute in element

Console

Action Shortcut
Clear console
Autocomplete suggestion
Toggle Console drawer
Previous console command
Next console command
Multi-line entry
Clear input

Sources

Action Shortcut
Open file (Go to File)
Command Menu (run command)
Go to symbol / function
Go to line number
Select next occurrence
Resume / Pause script execution
Step over
Step into
Step out
Toggle breakpoint on line
Toggle breakpoint (disabled)
Find in file
Search across all sources
Find and replace
Save changes (with Workspaces)
Toggle comment

Network

Action Shortcut
Start/stop recording
Clear network log
Search requests
Replay XHR request
Hard reload (clear cache)

Performance

Action Shortcut
Start/stop profiling
Record and reload

General

Action Shortcut
Toggle dock position
Previous panel
Next panel
Command Menu
Show Settings
Toggle device mode (responsive)
Zoom in DevTools
Zoom out DevTools
Reset DevTools zoom

Pro tips

Command Menu is a Game Changer

Ctrl+Shift+P (⌘+⇧+P) opens the Command Menu - like VS Code's command palette. Run any DevTools action by name: take screenshots, disable JavaScript, toggle dark mode, and more.

Console is a JavaScript REPL

The Console isn't just for errors. Use it to test code snippets, query the DOM with $0 (selected element), $$('selector') for querySelectorAll, and copy() to copy values to clipboard.

$0 References the Selected Element

In Elements panel, select an element. Then in Console, $0 refers to it. $1 is the previously selected, and so on. Use $0.style.background = 'red' to test styles instantly.

Use Workspaces for Live Editing

Map your local project folder in Sources → Filesystem. Now edits in DevTools save directly to your files. Perfect for CSS tweaking - changes persist after reload.

Throttle Network & CPU

In Network panel, use the throttle dropdown to simulate slow connections (3G, offline). In Performance panel, use CPU throttle. Essential for testing real-world conditions.

Device Mode for Responsive Testing

Ctrl+Shift+M toggles device mode. Test any screen size, simulate touch events, and pick from preset devices. Add custom device dimensions for your target devices.

Frequently asked questions

How do I take a screenshot of a page in DevTools?

Open Command Menu (Ctrl+Shift+P), type 'screenshot'. Choose from: Capture screenshot (viewport), Capture full size screenshot (entire page), Capture node screenshot (selected element), or Capture area screenshot (drag to select).

How do I find which CSS is affecting an element?

Select the element in Elements panel (Ctrl+Shift+C to pick). The Styles pane shows all applied CSS rules in specificity order. Strikethrough = overridden. Computed tab shows the final calculated values. Filter styles with the search box.

How do I debug JavaScript effectively?

In Sources panel, click line numbers to set breakpoints. Use conditional breakpoints (right-click line) for specific conditions. Add 'debugger;' in your code for programmatic breakpoints. Watch expressions and the Scope pane show variable values.

How do I monitor network requests?

Open Network panel, reload the page. Filter by type (XHR, JS, CSS, Img). Click any request to see headers, payload, response, and timing. Right-click → Copy as cURL to reproduce in terminal. Use the Waterfall to identify slow requests.

What is the Performance panel for?

It records runtime performance: JavaScript execution, layout, paint, and compositing. Hit Ctrl+E to record, perform actions, stop recording. Analyze the flame chart to find bottlenecks. Long yellow bars = JS, purple = layout, green = paint.

How do I test accessibility in DevTools?

In Elements panel, select an element and check the Accessibility pane. Use Lighthouse (Audits panel) for a full accessibility audit. The 'Rendering' tab (Command Menu → 'Show Rendering') can simulate vision deficiencies and forced colors.

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