Most of us barely think about the mouse or trackpad anymore. Point, click, and scroll is muscle memory at this point. But imagine running your entire browser without laying a finger on the mouse. For some folks, that’s not just a party trick. Keyboard-first browsing can actually crank up your speed, save your wrists during long sessions, and maybe even act as one of those sneaky little productivity hacks that keep you locked in and focused.
Now, not every browser is wired for that kind of thing. A few are purpose built for full-on keyboard control, while others can be bent in that direction with the right extensions. If the idea of ditching your mouse sounds tempting, these are the browsers you’ll want to check out.
qutebrowser
Vim’s web-browsing cousin
qutebrowser is probably the first cute name that comes up when you talk about keyboard-driven browsing. It’s designed from the ground up to be controlled entirely by the keyboard, borrowing heavily from Vim, a text editor famous for efficiency and modal editing. In Vim, instead of pointing and clicking, you switch between modes and issue keyboard commands for every browser action, keeping your hands almost always on the keyboard. qutebrowser applies this philosophy to the web.
The interface is stripped down to almost nothing. You don’t see toolbars, menus, or big buttons crowding the screen. Instead, nearly all actions, such as opening links, navigating tabs, searching, bookmarking, scrolling, etc., are handled through keystrokes. For example, pressing the “f” key reveals clickable hints over links; typing the corresponding key activates the link.
Once you learn the commands, qutebrowser can be much faster than moving your hand back and forth between keyboard and mouse. The trade-off is the learning curve—it feels alien at first, especially if you’ve never used Vim or modal interfaces before. But if you stick with it, you’ll find yourself flying through web pages with nothing but keystrokes.
Download: Qutebrowser (Windows | macOS | Linux)
Nyxt
Emacs-style power browsing if you happen to love Lisp
If qutebrowser is Vim for the web, Nyxt feels closer to Emacs (one of the oldest text editors still in use), both in style and philosophy. It is a browser built around customization, where every action is a command you can call, chain together, or program.
By default, you can browse the web, open and close tabs, run searches, and manage bookmarks entirely with the keyboard. The real depth emerges once you start using Lisp to define your own commands, automate workflows, remap keybindings, or even alter the browser’s core behavior through a REPL (Read-Eval-Print Loop). If you’ve never heard the term, a REPL is basically an interactive prompt where you can type code and see the results instantly.
There are some trade-offs. Sites that rely heavily on modern JavaScript may behave unpredictably or require you to adjust settings like no-script mode. Resource usage can also grow under load, and while macOS and Windows builds exist (the latter often run through Windows Subsystem for Linux), they are not as refined as the main Linux release.
Download: Nyxt
Vieb
A fresh spin on Vim-style surfing
Vieb is a newer keyboard-driven browser that tries to modernize the best parts of Vim-style navigation. Like qutebrowser and Vimb, it allows you to handle almost everything from the keyboard, whether that means moving through pages, managing tabs, or opening links with hinting.
What makes Vieb stand out is its foundation on Electron, which gives it a more approachable and polished feel compared to some of the older minimalist options. It features a cleaner graphical interface, built-in privacy features, and sensible defaults that make it easier to get started without spending hours on configuration.
Of course, being relatively young and not as mature as qutebrowser, you may encounter occasional bugs or limitations on some websites or workflows.
Download: Vieb (Windows | macOS | Linux)
Firefox and Chrome with extensions
The easy way to test-drive keyboard browsing
You do not need to give up your favorite browser to browse without a mouse. Extensions such as Vimium and SurfingKeys can turn Chrome, Firefox, or other Chromium-based browsers into keyboard-first environments.
These tools add hint labels to clickable elements and let you scroll, search, switch, and open tabs entirely with keystrokes. You can also remap keys if the default layout does not suit your workflow.
The upside of using these extensions is that you retain all the compatibility, extensions, and performance of a mainstream browser while gaining the experience of a keyboard-driven one. The extension handles most of the work needed to approximate a mouse-free workflow.
It is not quite as seamless as a browser built from scratch, like qutebrowser. Occasionally, you may still need to reach for the mouse, and these extensions can sometimes conflict with site scripts or stop working. However, this seems like the easiest and least disruptive way to experiment with mouseless browsing without overhauling your setup.
Download: Vimium (Chrome | Firefox | Edge)
Download: SurfingKeys (Chrome | Firefox)
So, should you ditch the mouse?
Giving up the mouse is not for everyone, but it is more than just a niche experiment. Keyboard-driven browsers can help boost productivity, reduce hand strain, or simply provide a fresh way to interact with the web.
You don’t need to commit to a full keyboard-driven browser right away, either. Adding an extension like Vimium to your regular browser can give you a sense of what mouse-free browsing feels like. Once you get used to it, you may find it hard to go back.
