Nyxt: Keyboard-oriented Web Browser Inspired by Emacs & Vim (2024)

You get plenty ofweb browsers available for Linux. Not just limited to Chrome-based options, butChrome alternativesas well.

Most of the options available focus on a pretty user experience while offering privacy features.

However, the Nyxt browser may not be built for the best user experience in mind, but is something that power users love.

Nyxt Browser: Open-Source Browser That Focuses on Keyboard Shortcuts and Commands

Nyxtis a keyboard-oriented open-source web browser available for Linux and macOS and Windows, while the later two are still in development.

Of course, not every power user utilizes keyboard shortcuts, but this aims to cater to the needs of users who prefer to navigate via the keyboard.

It is inspired by how the keyboard shortcuts in Vim and Emacs work — so if you are comfortable with those editors, the shortcuts will feel familiar to you.

Unlike mainstream web browsers, you do not have to navigate your way inside multiple settings and menus, you will get all the functionality that you need to access with a quick shortcut or a command.

In case you were wondering, it is web engine agnostic, but it currently supports WebEngine and WebKit.

So, it saves time and improves your browsing experience if you are a fan of navigating around using the keyboard.

It offers a fair share of useful features, which I shall highlight below.

Features of Nyxt Browser

You will find many non-conventional features offered here. Before exploring each of the key highlights mentioned here, you might want to go through the official documentation (pressF1 + rto find it). It is also linked on the welcome screen:

• Lossless tree-based history (track the exact hierarchy of your history and easily recall what you navigated to)
• Clipboard history to help you quickly find what you copied earlier
• Keyboard shortcut to start entering commands (CTRL+ Space)
• Navigate your way through lengthy documents using keyboard shortcuts to jump to a specific heading
• Buffers instead of tabs, which isolates behaviour and settings of every tab from one another
• Ability to close multiple tabs by mapping them with a common element
• Mouseless navigation
• Link hinting for hyperlinks
• In-built adblocker
• Customizable autofill feature with which you can also have the current date filled in automatically in a form
• Ability to run short scripts as per your workflow
• Quickly find a buffer using search instead of looking for it among many tabs

In addition to the features highlighted above, you will get the ability to toggle adark mode,HTTPS mode, and a ton of options from the command menu.

Moreover, it is completely customizable and programmable. So, you can choose to tailor it for yourself.

Install Nyxt Browser in Linux

For Arch Linux users, it is available in the Extra repositories. To install, open a terminal and run:

sudo pacman -S nyxt

Also, for other systems, Nyxt is available as a Flatpak application. If your system has Flatpak support enabled, run the following command:

flatpak install flathub engineer.atlas.Nyxt

You should also find the source in theGitHub pageif you need to compile it.

Wrapping Up

While Nyxt browser may not be the most user-friendly browsing experience out there, it is certainly a special option for users who can make the most out of keyboard shortcuts and commands.

If you want a mouseless navigation experience, this is the browser to try. I’d suggest you to try it anyway – but if you do not generally use keyboard shortcuts to navigate, this would be a complicated experience for you.

Have you tried Nyxt browser ever before? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

Suggested Read 📖

Here are some light-weight web browsers for Linux.

Or, want to try some lesser known browsers?

Have a look at these terminal-based web browsers for command line fans.