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Some important keyboard shortcuts in Google Drive and Google Docs seem not to work on a non-US keyboard, at least on Macs.

For example, I have a French keyboard and in Google Drive, hitting "/" opens the keyboard shortcut help panel, it doens't move the focus to the search bar.

In Google Docs, hitting "Option + /" inserts a backslash instead of opening the "search the menus" item.

This seems to be general to non-US keyboards:

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  • This is an old "known"issue. What's the question?
    – Rubén - Volunteer Moderator - ♦
    Commented Jan 30, 2018 at 12:23
  • @Rubén thanks for the comment. I didn't see anywhere that clearly stated that there is no solution, or that explained the solution. So I guess that's the question
    – Vic Seedoubleyew
    Commented Jan 30, 2018 at 13:33

2 Answers 2

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If you are using Windows 10/11, another option is to use PowerToys > Keyboard Manager. Create the mapping as in the screenshot below: enter image description here

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Update August 2024

According to Keyboard shortcuts for Google Drive on the web, Google Drive Keyboard shortcuts were updated for everyone on August 1st, 2024.

Short answer

From the above link:

Note: Some shortcuts might not work for all languages or keyboards.

For the keyboard shortcut used as example Option + /, if your keyboard has it try the number key / instead of the character key. For the other shortcuts, post a new question.

Extended answer

Google Drive and Google Docs Editors keyboard shortcuts not working on non-US keyboards is a "known" issue. In this answer, the help article didn't mention this, but as of August 2, 2024, it is mentioned.

It's possible to use some alternate keyboard shortcuts but not for all those documented on Keyboard shortcuts for Google Drive on the web. Discussing all will make the post too long for this format so I will write about the example provided by the OP related to the use of /.

First, we should be aware of the different types of keys. The following image was taken from the Wikipedia article for Keyboard layout

ISO keyboard (105) QWERTY UK

Another important thing to be aware of is that there are many keyboard layouts. On some keyboard layouts, a character like / has a character key and a number key. Some others have a shared character key and require the use of a combination key, like pressing shift.

If your keyboard has a number key for / and the related character key doesn't work, try it. If your keyboard doesn't has it making this keyboard shortcut work on your environment will require to apply some hacks like using the OS features to create a custom keyboard shortcut.

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