Command palette

The command palette is a fast, keyboard-driven overlay that appears on the current page. From one search box you can run slash commands, search the web, ask the AI, switch tabs, open bookmarks, and jump to Chrome's own pages — without reaching for the mouse.

Overview

Because it draws on the page, the palette is an in-page feature and needs site access. It's separate from the / command menu inside the side-panel composer (which is covered in Chat) — the palette is the full-page launcher, the composer menu is a quick inline helper.

Opening it

Platform	Shortcut
Windows / Linux	Ctrl + Shift + P
macOS	Cmd + Shift + P

The shortcut is managed by Chrome; remap it at chrome://extensions/shortcuts if it clashes with something else. Press Esc to dismiss the palette.

How it's organized

Start typing and the palette figures out what you mean. A few prefixes steer it:

• / — command mode. Type / to browse and filter slash commands.
• @tab, @history, @bookmark (or @t / @h / @b) — focus results to a single source.
• ? — help mode, listing what's available.
• Anything else is treated as a search — across your open tabs, bookmarks, history, Chrome pages, plus web-search and ask-AI options.

Slash commands

All commands accept short aliases (for example, /summarize also responds to /sum). Destructive commands (/clear, /clean) ask you to confirm by selecting them twice.

Conversation

Command	What it does
/clear	Start a fresh chat and archive the previous one to History
/new	Open a new conversation tab in parallel, leaving the current one untouched
/compact	Fold earlier turns into a summary to free up context (undoable)
/export [--tree] [filename]	Export the current conversation to Markdown (--tree includes all branches)

Text & page

Command	What it does
/translate <text>	Translate the text you type
/explain <text>	Explain the text you type
/summarize [question]	Summarize the current web page
/quote [question]	Answer a question grounded in the current web page
/web-search <query>	Search the web with your default engine (aliases /search, /s, /ws)

Browser & data

Command	What it does
/newtab [url]	Open a new browser tab (optionally at a URL)
/closetab	Close the current browser tab
/clean <site-url>	Clear cache, cookies, and local storage for a site (destructive)

Chrome pages

Jump straight to a built-in Chrome page: /settings, /extensions, /history, /downloads, /bookmarks, /flags. You can also reach these by typing part of the name (for example, "ext" surfaces Extensions).

Searching and navigating

With no slash prefix, the palette becomes a universal launcher:

• Web search — "Search the web for '…'" opens your default search engine.
• Ask AI — "Ask AI: '…'" sends your query straight to the side-panel chat and submits it.
• Switch tabs — lists your open tabs; pick one to jump to it.
• Open bookmarks — search your bookmarks, or see your most recent when the box is empty.
• Search history — find pages you've visited.
• Open Chrome pages — the same six pages as the slash shortcuts.

When the query is empty, the palette offers quick shortcuts: Search History, Search Open Tabs, Search Bookmarks, and New Tab.

Working with a selection

If you have text selected on the page when you open the palette, three extra entries appear at the top:

• Translate selection
• Explain selection
• Quote selection — sends the selected text into chat as a quote.

Requirements and tips

• Site access is required for the palette to appear, since it runs on the page. Enable In-Page Features in Settings → General — see Installation.
• Some actions need the side panel open. Anything that talks to your conversation — Ask AI, /clear, /new, /compact, /export, and translate/explain into chat — needs the panel open first. The palette shows an inline hint (and the extension can prompt you to open it) when it doesn't.
• Destructive actions are two-step. /clear and /clean require a second confirmation so you never wipe data by reflex.

Related

• Chat — the in-composer / menu and conversation commands.
• Mentions — grounding chat in browser context with @.
• Bookmarks · Privacy & permissions