Backstay

Stop Backspace key shortcut taking you back to previous page.

Backstay - An Extension to Disable Backspace Shortcut

"Backstay" is a modern, user-friendly Chrome extension that prevents the backspace key from navigating to the previous webpage. It has been designed to mitigate the frustration of losing important typed data due to an inadvertent backspace press. Furthermore, it retains the conventional role of the backspace key, i.e., to delete the text and does not contain adware, trojans, or viruses. It's an improved solution to the BackStop extension by Matt Cranham, addressing previous user concerns.
Install from Chrome Web Store

Extension stats

By: motaheri
Users: 5,000+
Rating: 3.45
(22)
Version: 3.0.1 (Last updated: 2015-10-01)
Creation date: 2015-10-01
Risk impact: Low risk impact
Risk likelihood:
Manifest version: 2
Size: 187.39K

Other platforms

Not available on Android
Not available on Firefox
Not available on Edge
Want to check extension ranking and stats more quickly for other Chrome extensions? Install Chrome-Stats extension to view Chrome-Stats data as you browse the Chrome Web Store.

Extension summary

Have you ever pressed the "backspace" key only to find that Chrome has taken you to the previous page?

Chrome has a keyboard shortcut for the "Backspace" button which when pressed takes you to the previous web address. Most users don't use this and to their frustration and probably yours, Chrome takes you to the previous page. This often happens when you have spent time to type something lengthy in an online form only to lose all that work.

This extension mediates in those cases and disables the backspace key shortcut from ruining your productivity. It allows the conventional use of the backspace key as a text delete key.

NO ADWARE. NO TROJANS. NO VIRUSES.

This is an update to the BackStop extension developed by Matt Cranham. It fixes the issues brought up in the comments.

User reviews

These summaries are automatically generated weekly using AI based on recent user reviews. Chrome Web Store does not verify user reviews, so some user reviews may be inaccurate, spammy, or outdated.
Pros
  • Restores the backspace functionality in text boxes
  • Works as advertised across different operating systems
  • Easy solution for backspace issues
  • Helps prevent losing written content
  • Compatible with multiple browsers
Cons
  • Does not work in all text fields
  • Still acts as back button in some contexts
  • Issues with functionality on certain setups
  • Some users report it doesn't work at all
  • Inconsistent performance reported by users
Most mentioned
  • Works as expected
  • Doesn't work!
  • Fixed it by restarting
  • Saves typing work
  • Works in address bar
User reviews
by ああああ, 2024-03-31

работает, Vivaldi

I can't stand computers that do what they think is helpful rather than just doing what you tell it to. Losing a page of typing because the browser thought it should go back a page instead of erase a typo, is total garbage. This was not an easy fix to find, as web searches kept showing me results for people that wanted the exact opposite. Apparently there's too many people that think backspace is just a browser button and can't survive the internet with out it. I'm not sure what's so hard about clicking the browser back button with a mouse. This extension does what it's supposed to; make my backspace button do what it's supposed to. BTW works on brave, i'm not on chrome.
by Thomas Bombadillio, 2023-05-20
View all user reviews

Extension safety

Risk impact

Backstay requires very minimum permissions.

Risk likelihood

Backstay has earned a fairly good reputation and likely can be trusted.

Upgrade to see risk analysis details

Promo images

Backstay small promo image
Small promo image

Similar extensions

Here are some Chrome extensions that are similar to Backstay: