How to Create a Delete Key on Chromebook

There are ways to get around the missing keys, including Delete

image of Delete key on computer keyboard

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by Scott Orgera
Scott Orgera has been a tech journalist since 2007. He has 25+ years' experience as a programmer and QA leader and several Microsoft certifications.
Updated November 08, 2019

One commonly-used keyboard option not found on most Chromebooks is the Delete key—a casualty of smaller, redesigned devices. By using the magic of keyboard shortcuts, you can still simulate the behavior of a Delete key on Chrome OS. Here's how to create a Chromebook delete key function, as well as several others.

How to Delete on Chromebook

To mimic the Delete key’s functionality on Chrome OS, you can use the following keyboard shortcut: Alt+Backspace. This key combo can be pressed for a number of different reasons, such as deleting a file or erasing the character to the right (or in front of) your blinking cursor. 

In contrast, the Backspace key is essentially the Chromebook Delete key and you can use it without any additional keys to delete the character to the left (or behind) your cursor. 

In other instances, such as when you’re dealing with files or even a selected block of text, you can right-click the item you wish to remove, then select Delete from the context menu. 

Other Chromebook Shortcuts

In addition to Delete, there are other keys found on traditional keyboards that may not be available on a standard Chromebook. Thankfully, most of these missing keys can also be mimicked by using the following shortcuts. 

  • Home: Ctrl+Alt+Up Arrow
  • End: Ctrl+Alt+Down Arrow
  • Page Up: Alt or Search+Up Arrow
  • Page Down: Alt or Search+Down Arrow

To see a full list of keyboard shortcuts avaiable in Chrome OS, grouped by category, select the View keyboard shortcuts option found toward the bottom of the Keyboard settings page.

How to Create Custom Keys on Chromebook

While you can’t create a custom Delete key on your Chromebook, you do have the option of mapping some other functions to a number of existing keys.

  1. Log into your Chromebook, if necessary.

  2. Click the Time indicator, located in the lower right-hand corner of the screen.

    screenshot of Chrome OS

  3. When the pop-up window appears, click Settings, represented by a gear icon and found in the upper right-hand corner.

    screenshot of Chrome OS

  4. The Chrome OS Settings interface should now be displayed. Click Device, located in the left menu pane.

    screenshot of Chrome OS Settings

  5. Click Keyboard.

    screenshot of Chrome OS Device Settings

  6. The Chromebook Keyboard settings will now be visible. Toward the top of this screen are Search, Ctrl, Alt, Escape, and Backspace, each accompanied by a drop-down menu. You can modify what these individual keys do when pressed by selecting a different value from the respective key’s menu. So, for example, if you don’t use the Search key often, but miss having a Caps Lock key available on your Chromebook, simply click its drop-down menu, then click Caps Lock.

    screenshot of Chrome OS Keyboard settings

  7. Once satisfied with your updates, click the X in the upper right-hand corner to close the Settings interface. Your new keyboard assignments should take effect immediately.