Link Opener for Chrome

by Ben Ubois

This official extension restores the ability for Chrome users to open article links in a background tab using a configurable keyboard shortcut.

Previously this was possible without an extension, however the Chrome team recently removed this feature.

The default shortcut to open a link is option/alt + v. This can be customized in Chrome’s Keyboard Shortcuts for Extensions and Apps page.

The extension is open source and ideas for improvements are welcome.

An extension for Safari is not necessary because WebKit still supports the browser API to create background tabs.

Update: Martijn van der Ven has created a FireFox version of this extension. Thanks Martijn!