One of my long-time friends and fellow Chromebook user Hector reached out to me recently with a question about his new Pixel Slate. He said he couldn’t find keys such as CTRL and ALT on the software keyboard of his Chrome tablet.
That’s because they aren’t there! Well, at least they’re not there by default; you can add them to the on-screen Chrome OS keyboard if you know where to look.
To address this, go into the “Input method” options within Chrome OS. It’s easy to just search for input method within the Settings, as shown:
From here, click the down arrow to the right of Input method and you’ll see several options in a drop-down menu.
Choose the “Manage Input Methods” option to see a range of keyboard choices for various world regions:
You’ll notice that I have the US Extended keyboard option chosen. It’s not on by default, which is why Hector doesn’t see those “missing” keys in the software keyboard. If it’s not checked for you, simply check the box. There’s no restart or any further steps: At this point, you should see a full onscreen keyboard for Chrome OS.
Here’s what it looks like, where you can see the CTRL and ALT keys for example:
You’ll also note the EXTD button to the left of the space bar. This key will now let you select between the standard and extended keyboard at will.
Additionally, you might have noticed that I have the “Show input options on the shelf” menu item selected in the second step screenshot above. You don’t need to enable this, but if you do, you’ll see either a US or an EX button appearing on your system tray. This is also a keyboard selector for quickly changing between the two options:
I think Google should consider making the US Extended keyboard enabled by default for any true Chrome OS tablet: Without the optional hardware keyboard, device owners may think they don’t have a CTRL or ALT key since it isn’t there out of the box. Regardless, it’s easy to modify the keyboard settings to make these keys available if you need to.
8 Comments
Thanks! AltGr and Shift+AltGr offer a good option for some frequently used unicode characters.
Does chrome OS let you use other keyboards like Swiftkey? I have been searching the internet and have not found an answer
I agree this option should be enabled by default. It drove me crazy trying to find the setting. Thanks to Kevin, I was copying and pasting in no time in Tablet mode!
I have had an HP Chromebook for a year, because my daughter insisted it’s all I need.
I hate it!
It will not connect to my printer (wireless), it is limited in use and not easy to figure out.
Don’t waste your money!
It’s not the Chromebook, but your circumstances.
I appreciate your frustration. What should have been easier for you wasn’t because of bad execution and no training..
It wasn’t fair to dump any kind of computer, especially not a Chromebook, on you without setup and training. Printing is one of the most messy, variable parts of any computer setup. NO two companies make printers that set up and communicate exactly the same way.
The only issues my 93-year old mother had with the Chromebook I bought her were with printers that my brother, who doesn’t have much Chromebook experience set up. The first one broke and the second one was the cheapest HP wifi in the local Walmart. Fortunately all it needed was HP Print for Chrome.
You gave no useful information on your printer, which is probably the issue. The older and less expensive the printer, the harder it is to get it to work with Chrome OS.
The easiest kind to set up with Chrome OS is CloudPrinter copmpatible, the next easiest ones are newer model wifi or USB printer from HP, Canon or Epson.
If your printer will not work with CloudPrint, and it is incapable of connection by USB cable, then try installing the “WiFi printer driver for Chromebooks” from http://chrome.google.com
( https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/wifi-printer-driver-for-c/hhcgnlnhaapiekdelngjichnccjfkbnc )
The only cavaet is that you need to launch it before printing. Once you do, it automatically finds and connects to most wifi printers. It requires little setup besides brand/name, choose the printer from the “destination” drop list dialog ( it looks something like “name+printer …ipp…tcp.. local”, and print.
Once you get your printer working, I recommend a book by Michael Miller, or take a look at what I did for my Mom: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zrCGljozTnQAvJkHsMPV_KQPhIR8ARh0/view?usp=sharing
Is there a way to press ctrl+alt+t at the same time? I did everything but it does not press all at the same time ?
Thanks Kevin,
Setting this up is not difficult, but knowing the where-and-how is pretty obscure.
I recently added the Dvorak keyboard layout for someone (on a chromebook) and she is very
happy about that. For anyone wanting that, it’s in the same settings area described here.
Thanks Kevin! I just purchased a HP X2 tablet which I will use 99.9% of the time as a tablet. Keyboard selection is still hard to find. I had had a look in keyboard settings but did not work out how to select a keyboard you can use (the default is not great). After reading your article I managed to add, then play with different keyboard, then select the best one for what I am doing at the time. The ‘show input method on the self’ (now I know what it is called!) is really handy.