Shortcut to open new Chrome window

Assign a keyboard shortcut to open a new browser window on macOS

If you’re like me — someone who likes to manage different tasks on different windows and spaces instead of opening 50 tabs on the same window until the tabs get so tiny that you can't even see the favicon 🤮. You might find it a pain, sometimes, to open a new window in Chrome or any browser that you prefer. First, you have to switch to Chrome / *your browser* application using your Application Switcher,( ⌘ + Tab ). Then, open a new window ( ⌘ + N ). I know there are other ways to do this, such as with the dock, etc. All of which I consider slower than this. As I usually rock a dual monitor setup, there is also the additional step of moving the window to the secondary monitor, if required. Maybe AppleScript could solve this issue?

The problem

For the love of God Apple needs to update AppleScript. They don’t support spaces yet and multi-monitor support is subpar too. So I could only achieve one of the tasks. I will update this post if I get the time to figure out any hacky way to open a new Chrome window on display where the mouse pointer is (if anyone knows how to do this then please do comment). Note: Safari opens windows on the active display/monitor, unlike Chrome. Rejoice Safari users.

The solution

Open Automator , choose Quick Action as your type of document.

Search for the action Run AppleScript , drag it on to the workflow builder or double-click on it.

You should have something like this

You can see the space provided to insert your script.

Replace {* Your script goes here *} with the following:

tell application "System Events"

tell application "Google Chrome"

make new window

activate

end tell

end tell

If you’re a Safari user you’ll have to use something like this instead:

tell application "System Events"

tell application "Safari"

make new document

activate

end tell

end tell

Save the document. Name it whatever you like. I called mine Open Chrome Window.

Finally, go into your System Preferences → Keyboard → Shortcuts tab. Select the Services option from the left, scroll all the way down to the General section and you should see your shiny new service ✨. You can now assign any key combination you like.

The end game

Shortcut away, my friend! ✌️