Any way to override Ctrl+N to open a new window in Chrome?

Question

I use a web app for work, and one of the shortcuts I use often is Ctrl+M. However, I'm often typing very quickly and mistakenly hit Ctrl+N by mistake, and instead of triggering an action in my web app, I open up a new window. I would like to be able to prevent that, but I can't seem to figure out how. So far I've tried running this code every time the page loads, but it doesn't seem to do anything. (Ignore the fact that I'm using a switch for just one key, I have a few other custom Ctrl shortcuts that don't override Chrome shortcuts that are working, I just removed them for readability)

document.onkeydown = function(e) 
{
    if(e.ctrlKey === false)
    {
        return;
    }

    switch(e.which) {
        case 78:
            //just to keep from opening a new tab when merging cells
            e.preventDefault();
            e.stopPropagation();
            break;
        default: 
        return;
    }
};

Answer 1

There is no way to override Ctrl+N, Ctrl+T, or Ctrl+W in Google Chrome since version 4 of Chrome (shipped in 2010).

As stated on the Chromium issue tracker:

In Chrome4, certain control key combinations have been reserved for browser usage only and can no longer be intercepted by the client side JavaScript in the web page.

Only known workaround is to open your webpage/extension as a Chrome app where it will again have permission to override these blacklisted key combos

Answer 2

You can find a github issue by the GateOne project discussing the same problem here.

They say the only workaround is to "Create an application shortcut" where you can now override the Ctrl+N key.

Answer 3

Under Linux one can disable the combination by redefining the keyboard mapping at the Xorg level. Then it will be disabled for all applications running under X in the current session. It is often useful to disable various control combinations in a kiosk-type app running in fullscreen mode. For example, your .xinitrc could set the custom keyboard mapping:

#!/usr/bin/env bash
        
test -f ~/.Xkeymap && xkbcomp ~/.Xkeymap $DISPLAY &
        
while :; do
/usr/lib/chromium-55.0.2866.0-16k/chrome-wrapper \
--disable-seccomp-filter-sandbox --user-data-dir=.chromium-55.0.2866.0-16k \
--app="http://1.1.1.1:10001/terminal/start" --start-fullscreen \
--kiosk --window-position=0,0 --window-size=1920,1080 
done

where your modified .Xkeymap would remap <LatN> key to something harmless like <F3> when used in combination with <Ctrl> and other modifier keys:

    type "MYCONTROL" {
        modifiers= Shift+Lock+Control+Alt+LevelThree;
        map[Shift]= Level2;
        map[Lock]= Level2;
        map[Alt]= Level3;
        map[LevelThree]= Level4;
        map[Shift+LevelThree]= Level5;
        map[Control+Alt]= Level6;
        map[Control]= Level7;
        map[Shift+Control]= Level8;
        level_name[Level1]= "Base";
        level_name[Level2]= "Caps";
        level_name[Level3]= "Alt Base";
        level_name[Level4]= "L3 Base";
        level_name[Level5]= "Shift L3";
        level_name[Level6]= "Ctrl+Alt";
        level_name[Level7]= "Ctrl Base";
        level_name[Level8]= "Shift+Ctrl";
    };

...

    key <LatN> {
       type= "MYCONTROL",
       symbols[Group1]= [ n, N, F3, F3, F3, F3, F3, F3 ]
    };