5 ms·

> lose all the data you typed into a web form if you accidentally backspace while not in a text field, because it navigates off the page Nowadays, I would cons

> lose all the data you typed into a web form if you accidentally backspace while not in a text field, because it navigates off the page Nowadays, I would consider this a problem with the browser. How often does one navigate backwards with the backspace key? Recently, I had some doubts over whether or not I should clobber the native browser behaviour for "ctrl-s", but then I realized that nobody anywhere EVER saves a web page to disk... and if they really needed to, the browser toolbar is right there.

leetcrew 6y ago
I for one fully expect the backspace button to work if I do not currently have a text field focused. once you learn keybindings for an application, there's usually no way to perform that function as quickly/efficiently with a mouse. please do not break the conventional ones. ctrl-s is probably fine to break though. even when it does "save" the page, it rarely does so in a useful way.
- LolWolf 6y ago
  On Mac the other default for navigating backwards is Cmd-[, if that helps any! (It's also a default in many applications for navigating backwards in whatever sense the app may intend.) I don't use Windows other than for gaming, so I'm afraid I don't know if there are other shortcuts other than backspace.
  - leetcrew 6y ago
    fyi, you can get pretty far on the basic shortcuts subbing ctrl for cmd.
  - jmholla 6y ago
    Alt-Left is back and Alt-Right is forward. Sadly, their equivalents on Mac are also for navigating to the beginning and end of the line so if you're in a text box you lose that control. Your alternative is handy. I wonder if it also works on Linux.
    - fiddlerwoaroof 6y ago
      Command-[/] for history navigation and command-{/} for switching tabs are macOS conventional keybindings that work almost anywhere there’s a concept of history or tabs. they may work on Linux in an attempt to support Mac users.
      - alsetmusic 6y ago
        This is backwards. Mac OS inherited EMACS keybindings.They work in dialogs, etc. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/25275598/a-list-of-all-emacs-keybindings-for-mac-osx https://stackoverflow.com/questions/25275598/a-list-of-all-e...
        fiddlerwoaroof 6y ago
        I could be wrong, but I don’t think these are emacs keybindings: although, the Cocoa text input system definitely is heavily influenced by emacs, both in design and in this sort of detail. The emacs-derived keybindings use Control on macOS, the Mac ones use Command
- ben_w 6y ago
  I’ve just tested on Chrome: backspace on its own does nothing, going to the previous page is bound to cmd-LeftArrow.
  - leetcrew 6y ago
    I'm one of those holdout firefox users. every day I come across more websites that only work on chrome though :/
  - vidanay 6y ago
    Chrome made this intentional change about four years ago. Prior to that, backspace had the described behavior.
- marcosdumay 6y ago
  Oh, I fully expect CTRL-Q to close my browser window (with all the tabs) when I mistype CTRL-W. That doesn't make it any good. Do you know at all times what element has the focus? An error there can be of high consequence. (Even though browsers do make an effort to refill forms on page forward, it doesn't always work.) It is a very bad shortcut, and there's always an alternative one anyway, because it's not always available.
  - edanm 6y ago
    Fwiw, on Chrome in Mac, you can configure it so that pressing cmd-q won't close the browser without holding it for a few seconds.
suprfsat 6y ago
Chrome hasn't supported backspace since 2016
Mountain_Skies 6y ago
Edge, or at least the Chromium version of it, has changed the navigate back key to be ALT+Left Arrow instead of the backspace key. It was annoying at first because I have over two decades of muscle memory for hitting backspace to go back. After a couple of days I got used to it and now am happy I can backspace without accidentally navigating away because focus wasn't where I thought it was.
- nickflood 6y ago
  This was a change that Chromium introduced in July 2016. I remember it being slightly controversial at the time and the issue from the tracker being posted to HN :)
- mook 6y ago
  Alt+Left/Right navigating through history has been in IE since at least IE4. I don't recall if it worked before then, and trying to look up ~25 year old documentation is somewhat difficult (especially since it would have shipped in a WinHelp file with the software instead).
  - Mountain_Skies 6y ago
    Since backspace worked in every IE version up until Edge/Chromium, I never knew the ALT+arrows combinations worked. It wasn't until backspace stopped working that I did a search to find what was going on and saw the ALT key combos. So they may have been there all along but I never had reason to find out about them until recently.
  - Macha 6y ago
    Pretty sure I've been using Alt-Left as my back shortcut in Firefox for over a decade also
robocat 6y ago
> but then I realized that nobody anywhere EVER saves a web page to disk... Some people do it all the time. I was emailed a saved page the other day. I was responsible for a single page web app, and the error detection code was stored in a <script> tag within the page, so I got plenty of “errors” logged for people trying to access saved pages.
- julianlam 6y ago
  https://xkcd.com/1172/ https://xkcd.com/1172/ :) Literally murdering children over here. I just knew somebody was going to come along and prove me wrong!

leetcrew 6y ago

I for one fully expect the backspace button to work if I do not currently have a text field focused. once you learn keybindings for an application, there's usually no way to perform that function as quickly/efficiently with a mouse. please do not break the conventional ones. ctrl-s is probably fine to break though. even when it does "save" the page, it rarely does so in a useful way.

LolWolf 6y ago
On Mac the other default for navigating backwards is Cmd-[, if that helps any! (It's also a default in many applications for navigating backwards in whatever sense the app may intend.) I don't use Windows other than for gaming, so I'm afraid I don't know if there are other shortcuts other than backspace.
- leetcrew 6y ago
  fyi, you can get pretty far on the basic shortcuts subbing ctrl for cmd.
- jmholla 6y ago
  Alt-Left is back and Alt-Right is forward. Sadly, their equivalents on Mac are also for navigating to the beginning and end of the line so if you're in a text box you lose that control. Your alternative is handy. I wonder if it also works on Linux.
  - fiddlerwoaroof 6y ago
    Command-[/] for history navigation and command-{/} for switching tabs are macOS conventional keybindings that work almost anywhere there’s a concept of history or tabs. they may work on Linux in an attempt to support Mac users.
    - alsetmusic 6y ago
      This is backwards. Mac OS inherited EMACS keybindings.They work in dialogs, etc. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/25275598/a-list-of-all-emacs-keybindings-for-mac-osx https://stackoverflow.com/questions/25275598/a-list-of-all-e...
      - fiddlerwoaroof 6y ago
        I could be wrong, but I don’t think these are emacs keybindings: although, the Cocoa text input system definitely is heavily influenced by emacs, both in design and in this sort of detail. The emacs-derived keybindings use Control on macOS, the Mac ones use Command
ben_w 6y ago
I’ve just tested on Chrome: backspace on its own does nothing, going to the previous page is bound to cmd-LeftArrow.
- leetcrew 6y ago
  I'm one of those holdout firefox users. every day I come across more websites that only work on chrome though :/
- vidanay 6y ago
  Chrome made this intentional change about four years ago. Prior to that, backspace had the described behavior.
marcosdumay 6y ago
Oh, I fully expect CTRL-Q to close my browser window (with all the tabs) when I mistype CTRL-W. That doesn't make it any good. Do you know at all times what element has the focus? An error there can be of high consequence. (Even though browsers do make an effort to refill forms on page forward, it doesn't always work.) It is a very bad shortcut, and there's always an alternative one anyway, because it's not always available.
- edanm 6y ago
  Fwiw, on Chrome in Mac, you can configure it so that pressing cmd-q won't close the browser without holding it for a few seconds.

suprfsat 6y ago

Chrome hasn't supported backspace since 2016

Mountain_Skies 6y ago

Edge, or at least the Chromium version of it, has changed the navigate back key to be ALT+Left Arrow instead of the backspace key. It was annoying at first because I have over two decades of muscle memory for hitting backspace to go back. After a couple of days I got used to it and now am happy I can backspace without accidentally navigating away because focus wasn't where I thought it was.

nickflood 6y ago
This was a change that Chromium introduced in July 2016. I remember it being slightly controversial at the time and the issue from the tracker being posted to HN :)
mook 6y ago
Alt+Left/Right navigating through history has been in IE since at least IE4. I don't recall if it worked before then, and trying to look up ~25 year old documentation is somewhat difficult (especially since it would have shipped in a WinHelp file with the software instead).
- Mountain_Skies 6y ago
  Since backspace worked in every IE version up until Edge/Chromium, I never knew the ALT+arrows combinations worked. It wasn't until backspace stopped working that I did a search to find what was going on and saw the ALT key combos. So they may have been there all along but I never had reason to find out about them until recently.
- Macha 6y ago
  Pretty sure I've been using Alt-Left as my back shortcut in Firefox for over a decade also

robocat 6y ago

> but then I realized that nobody anywhere EVER saves a web page to disk... Some people do it all the time. I was emailed a saved page the other day. I was responsible for a single page web app, and the error detection code was stored in a <script> tag within the page, so I got plenty of “errors” logged for people trying to access saved pages.

julianlam 6y ago
https://xkcd.com/1172/ https://xkcd.com/1172/ :) Literally murdering children over here. I just knew somebody was going to come along and prove me wrong!