Top 10 tips and tricks for Google Chrome on the desktop

Fast and simple, Google Chrome checks all the right boxes for a good web browser. Over time, it’s grown to host a slew of features like extensions, themes and even serve as the foundation for an operating system — Chrome OS. But what about those features that aren’t advertised? Chrome is packed to the brim of nifty features to help you get the most out of your browser. We’ve collected the 10 best tips and tricks together into this article.

Shortcuts

Shortcuts are the simplest way to boost your browsing productivity. They’re easy to learn and can speed up your browsing even if you just open Chrome to watch cat videos (completely understandable). Here we have some must-have shortcuts, but there’s a full list of Chrome shortcuts over at Google’s support page.

Google Chrome tips & tricks

Omnibox

That funky little box at the top is called the Omnibox and it isn’t just for website addresses; this guy is also a calculator, currency converter, and more. You don’t even need to hit enter to see results, the Omnibox will immediately provide you with a result.

• Simple math problems
• Convert currency
• Convert units

You can of course always use it as a search engine, and more complicated commands can be run by hitting Enter (e.g. setting a timer)

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Bookmark commands

Plenty of Chrome’s features are run by typing “Chrome://…” into your browser bar. However, you can also bookmark these commands for ease of use later.

1. Open up Bookmark manager by pressing Ctrl + Shift + O.
2. Click the bottommost three-button-menu in the top right (.
3. Click Add bookmark.
4. Type in the name for the bookmark under Name.
5. Type in the command under URL.
6. Click Save.

Restart Chrome

Type “Chrome://restart” into your Omnibox and Chrome will immediately restart. This closes and reopens all Chrome windows and tabs, except for incognito tabs. It will also close any other profiles you had open

Custom search engine

Using the Omnibox to search isn’t limited to Google. It’s simple to add any website you want instead. For example, this is a great way to quickly search your emails without opening up Gmail first.

1. Type chrome://settings/searchEngines into the Omnibox.
2. Click Add under the Default Search Engines section.
3. Type in the name.
4. Type in the keyword (This is what you’ll type in to search).
5. Copy the URL of the website.
6. Click Save.
7. To search, type your keyword in the address bar and press Tab on your keyboard.

Tab groups

A recent addition to Chrome, Tab groups help you manage your clutter of tabs.

1. Left-click on a tab, then shift-click on another tab to select a group (Any tabs between these two will also be selected).
2. Right-click on any of these tabs.
3. Click Add tab to new group.
4. Name your group to finish adding the tab group.

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Once you’ve created a tab, simply left-click on the group name to close and open the group.

Adding a tab to an existing group:

1. Right-click on the tab.
2. Click Add tab to group.
3. Select the group you wish to add to.

Experimental Features

To try out the latest features of Chrome before they’re released, you’ll want to try out Experimental Features. You’ll need to download the Beta version of Chrome for this.

1. Download Google Chrome Beta.
2. Open Google Chrome Beta Click the Experiments button.
3. Click the drop down menu underneath the feature you wish to try.
4. Click Enable.

Chrome task manager

Those familiar with Windows’ task manager will be right at home here. An easy way to check what webpage is causing problems, Task Manager lets you see how memory and CPU usage is used by Chrome.

To open task manager, press Shift + Esc.

Save files directly to Google Drive

Rather than downloading files and immediately uploading them to Google Drive, you can skip out the middleman with this nifty extension from Google. Once installed, you’ll have the option to save the file to Google Drive instead.

After setup, you’ll see an extra option when saving a file. To use the extension, click Save to Google Drive when downloading a file.

File Explorer for Windows

Chrome can be used as a basic file explorer for Windows machines. Simply type “C:” into your address bar and press Enter on your keyboard. You’ll be presented with a basic version of Windows File Explorer.

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Block third-party cookies

When you’re asked to enable cookies, those are First-party cookies. They are provided by the website you’re visiting and can be allowed or denied when visiting that site for the first time. Third-party cookies are provided by other sites that provide content for the site you’re visiting (e.g. ads or images) and blocking those require a little more work.

1. Click the three-button menu in the top right of Chrome.
2. Click Settings.
3. Click Security and Privacy.
4. Click Cookies and other site data.
5. Select Block third-party cookies.

These are our favorite Chrome extensions, and we’ll be adding to this list as we learn more.

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