Three Ways to Make the Most of Google Chrome
A Fresh List of Tips to Fall in Love with the Beast Again
Dear colleagues, friends, acquaintances, humans. Welcome. Allow me to submit to you my humble collection of tips and tricks that will make your life just that little bit sweeter, just that little bit more productive. The last tip will change your life. 😉
There is a remarkable absence of Chrome tutorials in the browser, so most of us seem to plod along with the pain of disorganised bookmarks, overflowing tabs, and the constant pain of having to open and close the same windows over and over again.
Once you’re done here, my hope is that you have a set of tools, clippers and combs to turn your Chrome browser into something beautiful.
To start you off, let me introduce you to two of your closest companions on your journey to browser wizardry:
- Chrome Extensions ➕, found in the Chrome Web Store
- Chrome Keyboard Shortcuts 🔑; the default ones are available on available on Wikipedia, but the handiest, and most clever shortcuts of them all can be found at chrome://extensions/shortcuts.
I strongly advise you to bookmark these three resources, as they will prove to be invaluable.
Some Oh So Handy Extensions
I present to you, in no particular order, Chrome extensions.
Zoom Scheduler 📆
If you’re a heavy user of both Zoom and Google Calendar, then this is the extension for you. It’s better than the Google Workspace app and can run alongside it if need be.
The extension comes with its own little window on the top right hand corner of your screen, for you to schedule a Zoom meeting at a moment’s notice, but the feature I love the most is the “Make it a Zoom Meeting” button available whenever you book a meeting in Google Calendar.
Zoom Closer 🚧
This extension will automatically close down the Zoom launching tabs, saving you that extra second or two every time you join a Zoom call.
Google Dictionary 📕
This in my opinion is the hands-down best dictionary app out there. It also provides a comprehensive list of synonyms and supports other languages as well! Very handy to have particularly if you set a keyboard shortcut for it.
Vimeo Record and Screencastify
Now there comes a time in everyone’s life where you might need to record your screen, either for a presentation or as a demo. If this is you then you no doubt have heard of Loom. I loved Loom. And yet since its rebrand, it only allows for a very low amount of screen captures before you need to sign up for the pro version.
In need of unlimited screen recording for free? Try Vimeo Record. On the off chance you’d like to save screen captures as a GIF, go for Screencastify. Both are wonderful apps to work with, and completely free. 💸
Notes Anywhere 📄
Like the name suggests, with this extension you can write notes. Anywhere (on Chrome).
Wikipedia Search 🔍
Lastly, this extension embodies the simple elegance of Chrome Extensions.
You may or may not know this, but by typing the first letters of “YouTube” in the browser and hitting the Tab key, you are able to make a search within YouTube. The same principle applies to other websites like Facebook and Google.
Unfortunately, this feature does not exist for Wikipedia. Or so we thought. Wiki Search is a Chrome extension that allows you to do just that.
Why Not Take the Shortcuts?
How about you learn a few shortcuts that will make you feel like a computer whizz.
On this Wikipedia page, mentioned above, you can find the default shortcuts that will make you skip tabs like nobody’s business. Here is a concise list:
- Ctrl or Command +T to open a new tab
- Ctrl or Command +W to close a tab
- Ctrl or Command +F to search for a word within a page (very helpful for long documents)
- Alt or Command + ← (the right arrow) to go to the previous page
- Ctrl or Command +Click (on a link) to open a link in a new tab
Ok that’s the default, but what about activating Chrome extensions? Well for all of your shortcut needs, Google Chrome has a dedicated Settings page for them (chrome://extensions/shortcuts).
This allows you to set a particular keyboard shortcut for each extension. For example Alt+D for Google Dictionary, or Alt+Z for Zoom Scheduler.
But is that enough? No! To unleash your true tab potential, I recommend downloading Shortkeys 🔑, another Chrome extension that will allow you to add an incredible amount of shortcuts to your arsenal. This will allow you to manage your tabs like never before.
Speaking of tabs, why not have an extension that does the heavy lifting for you. Introducing Tab Modifier 📁, an extension that automatically modifies tabs to make your life easier.
In the above picture, notice how the two Gmail icons look slightly different? Tab Modifier recognised the address of my work Gmail account so automatically changed its icon to a modified one I created using paint and Imgur (like Vimeo but for images).
Toby for Chrome
And finally, ladies and gentlemen, the Chrome extension to end them all, nay, to end bookmarks and overflowing tabs, I present to you: Toby for Chrome 🎉. This extension turns your New Tab page into a supercharged bookmarks manager where all of your favourite apps can be sorted into categories and available at a click.
These tips and tricks will, I hope provide the roadmap you have longed for, to fall in love with Chrome all over again.
About this article
This article has been written by a student on the Grenoble Ecole de Management’s Advanced Masters in Digital Strategy Management. As part of a content creation assignment, students are given the task of writing articles based on their digital interests and disseminate the articles online. Articles are marked but we make minimal changes to the content. Thanks for reading! James Barisic, Programme Director, MS DSM.
