Google Chrome is still unquestionably the world’s most popular browser. At time of writing, Chrome can boast a 65.52% market share, with Apple’s Safari browser coming in a distant second at 18.78%. Other browsers like Firefox and Opera can’t even hope to compete with Chrome, such is its dominance and ubiquity, and there’s a good reason for that; it’s powerful, fast, and convenient, with lots of functionality for both casual users and power users alike. With that said, there are lots of things Chrome can do that many people don’t know about. Here are 10 Google Chrome tricks to try!
1. Tab grouping
Did you know that Chrome can group tabs together? It’s true; using Chrome’s tab feature, you can drag tabs together to create categories, allowing you to organise your work better. For example, you can drag a personal loans tab over to your bank account or other financial planning system in order to create a “Finances” tab, and all of the tabs you’ve grouped will then be visible under that tab. This has great applications for productivity when you’re trying to work, too!
2. Multiple pages on startup
Instead of just opening a Google search page or a specific homepage, it’s possible to tell Google to open a number of pages when it starts up. You can do this through the Settings page; under “On start-up”, you’ll see options either to open a new blank tab, continue your browsing session from last time, or “open a specific page or set of pages”. This is the option you want; you can then tell Google which pages you want it to open when it starts up!
3. Minimising tabs
It’s possible to tell Google to “minimise” certain tabs so that you only see their icons instead of a full tab title. When you’re working hard and you’ve got lots of tabs open for reference, this can be a time-saver, so make sure you take advantage of it. Doing so is really easy, too; all you need to do is right-click whatever tab you want to pin, then click the “Pin tab” option. You’ll see the tab shoot to the left of your window, with only its icon visible.
4. Reopen closed tabs
Have you ever closed a Chrome tab by mistake, only to realise that you really needed whatever was on that tab? Don’t despair; you can reopen closed tabs easily. The keyboard shortcut for doing so is Ctrl + Shift + T, but you can also do it by right-clicking the Chrome title bar and selecting the “Reopen closed tab” option. This will reopen the last tab you closed. Sadly, you can’t tell Chrome to open a tab you closed several tabs ago, so make sure you’re paying attention.
5. Browser task manager
Did you know that Chrome has a built-in task manager that can show you exactly how much CPU and memory each of your tabs is taking up? It’s true; all you need to do is right-click the title bar and select “task manager” (or “browser task manager”) from the list. This will bring up a window showing you exactly what each tab is using, and you can then close tabs based on what you need and don’t need. It’s tricks like this that put Google Chrome at the top.
6. Keyboard shortcuts for tabs
Dragging the mouse over to a Chrome tab each time you want to open it can be, well, a drag. You don’t need to do this every time, though; there are keyboard shortcuts available for when you want to switch between tabs quickly. Just press Ctrl + Tab, and you’ll cycle through all your available tabs. Pressing Ctrl + (a number) will also navigate to that tab’s number in the currently open window, so you can quickly switch between tabs.
7. Sending tabs to your phone
If you have an Android phone, or if you have Google Chrome installed on iOS, then you can send Chrome links to your phone, making it easy to quickly open those links on another device. Just right-click the tab, then you should see an option allowing you to send the page to your device. Fun fact: this also works on the new version of the Microsoft Edge browser, because the new Edge is based on the same architecture as Chrome. Nifty, right?
8. Show your Home button
Okay, so this one isn’t so much a “trick” as it is a bit of functionality Google has hidden for added convenience, but still, there are plenty of people who would really rather have their Chrome home button back. Thankfully, retrieving it is very easy. All you need to do is click the “hamburger menu” in the top-right of Chrome (that’s the three dots), then head to Settings. From there, you should be able to either see or search for the “show home button on toolbar” option.
9. Dinosaur game
When Chrome is offline – that is, when you’ve lost your connection or Chrome can’t find anything to connect to – it will let you play a little animated game. It’s a simple auto-runner starring a dinosaur, but we’ve still lost hours to this productivity-killer, so make sure that you don’t play it when you’re supposed to be doing something else. Still, if there’s downtime in the office and you’ve got nothing better to do, why not compete with your coworkers for the high score?
Read: YouTube Stops Playing When I Switch Tabs In Chrome [Solved]
10. Sync Chrome
You probably already knew that you could do this, but it’s possible to sync Google Chrome across several devices, meaning you can maintain the same settings wherever you log in. You can do this by clicking the account icon in the top-right and signing into your Google account. Doing this on other devices will then prompt you to turn on auto-sync, which you can use to carry settings and preferences over without having to set them manually!