Chrome tips
Choose not to use Google as the search engine
Want to use something else instead of Google search? What about DuckDuckGo that is more privacy-focused, or Bing, which is a good alternative to Google?
- Go to Chrome Settings and click Search engine.
- Click Google and choose one of the options from the dropdown menu.
Set Chrome appearance according to your liking
Chrome lets you use different themes, font size & type, zoom, and more to offer you an experience you love and enjoy. For this, go to Chrome Settings and click Appearance. From here, you can click individual options and set them as desired.
Autofill passwords, address, etc.
If you make purchases or have to type in your passwords, addresses, email, phone numbers often, it is possible to let Chrome do these automatically for you. Here’s how.
- Click Chrome at the top Menu Bar and choose Preferences.
- You will see various options under Autofill.
- Click Passwords to view and manage your saved login info.
- Click Payment methods and Addresses and more to add and choose optimal settings for these. Extra info: You may click Check Now to perform a safety check that may keep you safe/informed from data breaches, vulnerable extensions, etc.
Keep everything in the cloud
When you sign in to Chrome with your Google account, it lets you have your passwords, bookmarks, history, etc., in the cloud, which can be accessed on multiple devices, including smartphones or other computers. For this, click the profile picture icon at the top-right, sign in, and turn on sync.
Use Apple’s Chrome extension for iCloud Keychain passwords
Apple recently launched the iCloud Passwords extension for Chrome. This lets you fill password stored in iCloud Keychain while using Chrome. You can download the official extension from here and take it for a spin.
Pin tabs just like Safari
- Right-click the top of a tab and choose Pin.
- This tab will be pinned on the top-left corner of Chrome. I love this feature!
Choose what to open when you startup Chrome
If you are like me, you may be happy to have a single clean homescreen when you launch Chrome. But did you know that you can set it to open anything you desire!
- Click Chrome at the top menu bar and choose Preferences.
- Click On startup from the left Sidebar.
- Choose Continue where you left off or Open a specific page or set of pages. If you choose the latter, make sure you add the desired pages to it.
Import bookmarks and settings from Safari, Firefox, etc.
- Click Chrome at the top Menu Bar and choose Preferences.
- Click Import bookmarks and settings.
- Choose the desired browser and click Import. Chrome is a handy multimedia player as it lets you open several files effortlessly. Just drag and drop a PDF, image, movie, or music file into Chrome to open/play it!
Show or hide the bookmarks bar
On my office Mac, I keep the bookmarks bar on the top (just below the URL address bar). While on my personal Mac, I choose to hide it to get more screen while browsing or reading docs. To show the Bookmarks bar, click the three-dots icon at the top-right of Chrome. Next, click Bookmarks and choose Show Bookmarks Bar.
Bookmark all open tabs
To bookmark a single page, click the star icon on the right side of the URL address bar. But what if you have several open tabs that you want to save for the future? Well, in this case, just bookmark them all in a few clicks!
- Click Bookmarks at the top menu bar.
- Choose Bookmark All Tabs.
