Best Hidden features of Google Chrome Browser
1 – Create a Incognito Shortcut for Chrome
Google Chrome has long supported a private browsing feature called Incognito Mode. However, to access the incognito mode, user first launch the chrome browser and then from the menu choose “New incognito window” or a keyboard shortcut (Control+Shift+N for Windows and Linux, Command+Shift+N for OS X).
If you find yourself frequently using Incognito mode, you can create a desktop shortcut for Chrome browser which will directly open Chrome in Incognito mode.
Incognito Shortcut for Chrome
Right-click on the Chrome shortcut, select Properties, and make sure you are on the Shortcut tab.
Under the Target option enter ” -incognito”(it is a space followed by a dash and the word incognito) as shown.
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" -incognito
Press OK to save the change and close the shortcut’s Properties window. Now rename the shortcut so that you can distinguish between regular Chrome and your new Incognito Mode shortcuts.
2 – Unwanted Programs affecting Google Chrome Browser?
When malicious programs are using your Chrome browser to collect your data, serve you ads or cause overall sluggishness, there’s a quick way to find out what’s causing the issues.
- All you need to do is navigate to Chrome Cleanup Tool website and click the Download Now button. Accept the Google Chrome Terms of Service to complete the download.
- When the download finishes, click the Run button in the pop-up window.
- Tool will report whether it found any malicious programs or not. If none were found, click on continue button, and it will open your chrome browser and ask you to reset Chrome and clean out all cookies.
Google Chrome Tips and Tricks
The Chrome Cleanup Tool is not an antivirus application for your entire system, it only scans for programs interfering with your Chrome experience.
The Chrome Cleanup Tool will only show the number of malwares detected.
3 – Mute tabs in Chrome Browser
The latest build of Chrome provides user with an option to manually click on the tab and mute the audio. If two web pages are simultaneously playing a video, users had to either pause or mute a video.
- All a user needs to do is right-click on the tab which shows the little speaker icon and select the Mute tab option. The audio icon turns into the one with a slash. You can similarly unmute the page using the same extension.
- There are other ways to mute tabs on Chrome apart from using add-ons and extensions. One way is type chrome://flags/#enable-tab-audio-muting into Chrome’s address bar. Search for “Enable tab audio muting UI control” and enable it, relaunch the chrome browser. Now, click on the little speaker icon and mute that individual tab.
4 – Google Chrome – enable Caret Browsing
Caret Browsing is a kind of keyboard navigation where a caret (also known as a text cursor) is used to navigate within a text document.
- Open Google Chrome Browser.
- Go to the Chrome Web Store.
- Install the Caret Browsing extension
- Now, Enable caret browsing mode with the shortcut F7 key.
5 – Chrome’s Address Bar is a Calculator
Just type in a basic math problem and the correct answer will appear in the suggestions below the omnibox without pressing enter. This trick appears only to work if your default address bar is Google. Your omnibox is also a Unit Converter
6 – Use Momentum to customize your Tab
Momentum is your personal dashboard presenting a Things to Do list, New inspirational photo and quote of day, favourite links and, weather, a beautiful landscape.
7 – Chrome Remote Desktop
Chrome Remote Desktop allows you to remotely access one computer from another over the Internet. For example, you can use the app to securely access your files or applications from another computer.
To install Chrome Remote Desktop extension – All you need to do is navigate to Chrome Web Store and click on Add to Chrome button, and set up a security PIN. to access the machine from mobile or tablet, you will need to download Chrome Remote Desktop app for Android and iOS.
8 – Use ctrl and a number to Browse through Tabs
Hold down the ctrl key (Command on Macs) and a number 1 through 9. Each number is associated with a different tab starting with 1 all the way to the left and moving incrementally through 9 tabs as you move to the right.
9 – Drag Multiple Tabs at Once
Just hold down the Ctrl key and click on all the tabs you wish to move and you can move them as one. If you’re on a Mac, hold the Command key.
10 – Keyboard Shortcuts for Chrome Browser
- Ctrl + T – open a new tab.
- Ctrl + W – close current tab.
- Ctrl + Shift + T – reopen closed tab.
- Ctrl + Tab – switch tab one tab to the right.
- Ctrl + Shift + Tab – switch tab one tab to the left.
- Ctrl + Shift + B – toggle the bookmark bar visibility.
- Ctrl + L or Alt+D – highlights text in the address bar.
- Ctrl+Shift+B – Toggles the bookmarks bar on and off.
- Ctrl+Shift+D – Saves all open pages as bookmarks in a new folder.
- Ctrl + Enter – Adds www. and .com to your input in the address bar.
Here is some more Shortcuts.
Related: Google search Tips and Tricks
