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What are all the Google Reader keyboard shortcuts?

I keep reading from people like Robert Scoble that there are all sorts of keyboard shortcuts that make Google Reader one of the fastest for reading lots of RSS feeds. All that I've figured out is the space bar, however. Can you share them all for us?


Dave's Answer:

I'm also busy learning how to be maximally efficient in Google Reader so this is a valuable exercise for me too. There's quite a set of different keyboard shortcuts available in the program, and I dug up the full list by checking Google's fairly extensive Common Questions document.

Here's the full list:

j/kitem down/upselects the next/previous item in the list
space/shift-spacepage down/upmoves the page down/up
n/pscan down/upin list view, selects the next item without opening it
oopen/close itemin list view, expands or collapses the selected item
enteropen/close itemin list view, expands or collapses the selected item
stoggle starstars the selected item
shift-stoggle shareshares the selected item
mmark as read/unreadswitches the read state of the selected item
ttag an itemopens the tagging field for the selected item
vview originalopens the original source for this article in a new window
shift-amark all as readmarks all items in the current view as read
1expanded viewdisplays the subscription as expanded items
2list viewdisplays the subscription as a list of headlines
rrefreshrefreshes the unread counts in the navigation
shift-n/pnavigation down/upselects the next/previous subscription or folder in the navigation
shift-xnavigation expand/collapseexpand or collapse a folder selected in the navigation
shift-onavigation open subscriptionopens the item currently selected in the navigation
ghgo to homegoes to the Google Reader homepage
gago to all itemsgoes to the "All items" view
gsgo to starred itemsgoes to the "Starred items" view
gtgo to tagallows you to navigate to a tag by entering the tag name
gugo to subscriptionallows you to navigate to a subscription by entering the subscription name
utoggle full screen modehides and shows the list of subscriptions
?keyboard shortcuts helpdisplays a quick guide to all of Reader's shortcuts

Of these, I have to admit that most don't seem too useful, and some are confusing in their overlap. For example, while there's an apparent difference between "j" and "n", since I always read my feeds in "Expanded" view, they exhibit exactly the same behavior when reading a set of feeds.

I'm most intrigued about sharing items, however, and that's next on my list, to have a URL where people can look over my shoulder and see what items in my feeds I think are most interesting. That's the "shift-s" (or "S") shortcut, btw. I still miss the ability to annotate my shared items a la Bloglines, but perhaps as I dig into the sharing capability I'll find a similar capability.

Anyway, those are the most critical shortcuts. For the way I use Google Reader to keep up on RSS, I'll candidly admit that most of 'em are irrelevant (for example, I don't change views or open or close individual items) and I still read, oh, about 170 feeds on a daily basis. Am I missing key features and capabilities? Perhaps someone who has had more time using Google Reader can comment on this?


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Categorized: Blogs and Blogging   (Article 7373, Written by )
Tagged: google reader, rss feeds, rss readers
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Reader Comments To Date: 3

Cale Bruckner said, on May 25, 2007 11:33 AM:

Google Reader Keyboard Shortcuts - type "?" to display a handy pop-up window that lists all the shortcuts.

Horatio said, on July 12, 2007 10:05 AM:

Thank you for this too, got to your site via google search of "google reader shortcut"

nb said, on October 7, 2007 5:37 AM:

Cool, thanks! Very useful

Starbucks coffee cup I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you, Dave, for all your helpful information by buying you a cup of coffee!

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!











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