Google Chrome Extensions that will improve your online experience are the best
Stat Counter reports that Google Chrome is the most popular Web browser in the world. However, the best Google Chrome extensions will make your experience even more enjoyable.
Chrome is already fast, simple to use, and syncs with mobile devices easily. Good extensions can provide even more.
Which extensions should you include in your Chrome experience? We’ve compiled a list of the top Chrome extensions to help you sort through all the options. Extensions that help Chromebooks run better are even better.
Goolge Chrome Extensions
Extensions can slow down your browser so be careful. Chrome has new restrictions for extension developers, which should help to reduce the possibility of malicious extensions.
We’re sharing the top Google Chrome extensions that we have found.
CrxMouse Gestures
CrxMouse Gestures provides useful mouse gesture macros that help with web navigation. These include mouse shortcuts for closing and opening new tabs, copying text or navigating backwards and forwards in tab history, and copying hyperlinks and other text.
This is a useful addition to Chrome that speeds up common navigation tasks.
FlowCrypt
FlowCrypt adds PGP encryption to Gmail’s experience by adding a Secure Compose option that allows you to send encrypted emails and attachments directly from the Gmail web application.
Users can save encrypted drafts and generate a Public Key to encrypt or decrypt messages.
They can also create password-encrypted email for those who don’t have FlowCrypt installed.
Print Friendly & PDF
Chrome Extension Print Friendly and PDF automatically removes ads, navigation buttons, and other web junk when you print web pages or articles.
This extension saves you time and paper. You can choose to remove images or reduce or increase the text size.
There are also options to email the printed page or save it as a linked PDF with the URLs of the original content.
AdBlocker Ultimate
AdBlocker Ultimate, a free open-source ad blocking tool, is completely free and has no corporate sponsors.
It won’t allow “acceptable” advertising to be whitelisted. This add-on blocks a number of online tracking tools and removes banner ads, videos, and pop ups. Whitelisting is an option that allows users to block certain websites from which they do not want to support ads.
Gmail Checker Plus
Gmail Checker Plus keeps your messages in easy reach. You can access your inbox and new messages by clicking the omnibar.
View your messages from your current page without leaving your current page. You can also mark a message read, delete it or send it to archive.
Gmail can also be launched to perform more detailed actions. You can set the add-on to display desktop notifications even if a Chrome window doesn’t open. It can also monitor multiple Gmail accounts.
The Great Suspender
Chrome can drain your computer’s memory quickly. The Great Suspender is here to save the day.
It monitors your open tabs, and can automatically (or manually), unload tabs that haven’t been used for a while from your memory. While retaining the tab’s title and favicon in your tab bar,
The tab can be reloaded quickly by clicking on it. This gives you the best of both: you reduce your machine’s memory load and still have a tab at hand.
Pablo
Pablo is a free application that allows you to quickly create captioned images that are social media friendly. You can then add them to social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+.
Pablo was designed by the same people who created the Buffer social media dashboard. It allows you to quickly highlight text snippets from any source and select images from online or local sources.
You can then customize the format with fonts, effects and formatting to match your chosen social media platform.
Papier
Papier converts your New Tab page to a Chrome-based notepad that you can use to quickly write down ideas and then save them locally to your Chrome browser.
Papier is a simple tool that only has some formatting. However, it can be very useful if you don’t want to switch between Chrome and a dedicated notepad/word processing app.
Screencastify
Screencastify is a browser-based tool that allows you to screencast your browser window or tab. It also lets you easily record recordings (completely with microphone narration, browser sound, and even a view of the webcam).
Annotation tools allow you to highlight your mouse cursor and draw with a pen. After you are done recording, the video automatically saves to Google Drive with a shareable URL. Or you can upload it directly to Youtube.
This best Google Chrome extension is free, but it limits video to 10 minutes with a monthly limit of 50 videos and a watermark. A $29 annual subscription gives unlimited video length, video editing and expanded export options.
Wikiwand
Wikiwand makes Wikipedia’s boring, functional interface more visually appealing.
The extensions combine readable, clean text columns with an integrated side-menu that offers the table of contents, improved media gallery, and other useful features that make it easier to read the largest crowd-sourced encyclopedia in the world.
Session Buddy
Instead of focusing on tab management features, Session Buddy joins the top Google Chrome extensions.
It focuses on simple tab management. This extension allows you to quickly launch saved sessions and restore open tabs following a crash.
Users can rename sessions or group tabs into useful groups for topical relaunching. Search tools allow you to find what you are looking for in saved or open tabs.
Export features allow you to export links to email, document, or post-friendly formats.
User-Agent Shifter
The User-Agent Shifter allows you to quickly change the user-agent string, so you can fake your browser’s identity.
This is useful for sites that are not compatible with modern browsers, such as Netscape or Internet Explorer.
It also allows you to switch between mobile and desktop views of the same website.
You can even set User-Agent switcher to always spoof URLs, saving time on sites you frequent.
Privacy Badger
Privacy Badger, an extension of the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Privacy Badger, was created out of concerns about the business models behind some privacy tools and other ad blocking programs.
Privacy Badger works in a similar way to extensions AdBlock Plus and Ghostery.
It monitors the various tracking tools advertisers and third-party companies might use to track you online and blocks them from executing.
Privacy Badger also has built-in learning algorithms that can adapt to your site and any new tracking tools.
Privacy Badger is not an ad-blocker but it does block some advertising depending on how aggressively you are tracked across different websites.
Sign up for the Private Messenger
Signal Private Messenger by Open Whisper System has been a popular choice for privacy advocates who are looking for an encrypted instant messenger-style chat app. Now, Signal is available as a Google Chrome extension.
Signal Private Messenger allows you to connect with your existing phone number and addressbook, without the need for separate logins, usernames or PINs. You can also send picture, text and group messages with end-to-end encryption.
MailTag
MailTag offers a number of helpful, free modifications to stock Gmail’s web experience.
These include email tracking to see when someone opened your message, real-time desktop alerts, and email scheduling to ensure you can send messages at the right hours (perfect for multilingual communications).
MailTag is ad supported and comes with a Watermark. Premium tiers remove ads and watermarks.
They also provide expanded “ping sequences”, which allow you to automate your email follow-up.
HabitLab
HabitLab is not going to optimize your browser as many of the best Google Chrome extensions, but will challenge you to optimize your online browsing habits.
HabitLab is an open-source project from Stanford HCI. It uses a variety of interface interventions to improve your browsing experience. This includes reducing time spent on Youtube,
Facebook and other productivity sinks. You might see a prompt to play a long video or hide your newsfeed. Or, a card showing how much time you spent on particular services or times.
You can set daily goals to maximize time on a site before intervention begins. Also, you can monitor and save time.
Blur
The Chrome extension includes Abine’s Blur service, which acts as a password manager, credit card masker and email anonymizer. The service allows users to create strong passwords and sync them across iOS and desktop devices.
Blur includes tracker blocking to block a number of web trackers. Premium users can also get anonymized credit cards to hide their online purchases.
Better History
Chrome’s History tab has a built-in Better History extension. It augments the vertical timeline by adding a horizontal calendar that allows for quick jumps to specific dates or hours.
Expanded search tools let you search your history for terms within a page title, in a domain or on the page itself.
OneNote Web Clipper
Microsoft’s OneNote tool is an excellent workplace productivity tool, especially when used with the rest the Office package. Chrome’s OneNote Web Clipper extension allows users to quickly and easily clip web pages for editing in OneNote. This can be done across all your devices.
The web clipper can be used to trim clutter and highlight text. You can also adjust fonts, highlight text and grab images and videos which you can use in OneNote.
Mercury Reader
Although readability is gone, it doesn’t mean you can’t still get clear and easy-to-read versions of your favorite articles, webpages, and news.
Mercury Reader removes all formatting and clutter from webpages, allowing you to see a clear, easily readable view. It also includes social sharing and Send To Kindle functionality.
Unshorten.link
Online link shorteners make it easier to handle clunky URLs. A shortened URL can lead to anyone, so they pose a security risk.
Unshorten.link Chrome extension takes you to an intermediate page when you click on a short link. It displays the URL of the link shortener and warns you about any associated malware or tracking cookies.
Any.do
Any.do is a favorite cross-platform to do list app, and the Chrome extension is one the best Google Chrome extensions.
Any.do allows you to seamlessly sync your tasks, checklists between your mobile devices as well as your desktop. You can easily create and share lists, reminders, and tasks, and even add notes and shares with others, all from your browser.
OneTab
OneTab compresses all your tabs into one page. It also contains links to all the Web pages that you have open. This allows you to clear all tabs and allow you to return to them later.
You can restore tabs individually or all at once. For easy sharing, users can easily export their tabs to a list or web page.
HoverZoom+
HoverZoom was an extension that zoomed in automatically on images when you hovered over them.
However, it was removed from the Chrome Store due to privacy concerns. Hover Zoom+ provides similar functionality but without spyware.
You can zoom in on videos and pictures with the new add-on. Users can also set display delays, hotkeys and whitelist sites that you don’t want Hover Zoom+ to work on.
Cite This for Me: Web Citer
Writing and students can find it difficult to properly attribute online research and articles.
Cite This for Me is a browser extension that lets you quickly create a website citation according to Harvard, Chicago, MLA and MLA citation styles. You can save it or copy it to your clipboard to use in your documents.
Fashionable
Stylish allows you to customize the appearance of different websites and web applications using CSS. You can apply custom themes, change a site’s color scheme to make it more user-friendly, and even tweak fonts and animations.
Stylish has a large community with themes for every social media platform, including Facebook, Gmail, Reddit and Reddit. You can quickly add themes from the community to your favorite sites or create your own themes for other users.
Colorblind – Dalton Chrome
One in 10 people may have color blindness. This can make it difficult for some colors to be seen in photos or on websites’ user interfaces. Colorblind – Dalton for Chrome attachment provides tests for most forms of color blindness.
It can adjust the browser’s color settings dynamically to aid in visualizing colors in photos and websites that may be difficult to see for users, resulting in a significant improvement in accessibility.
The Camelizer
The Camelizer is a simple add-on for Google Chrome that allows you to view product prices history information for items on Amazon, Best Buy, and Newegg.
You can view pricing trends for any item and sign up to receive price drop alerts via Twitter or email.
Honey
Are you tired of searching for and saving coupons codes and discounts? Honey is the Chrome extension you need. Honey detects and validates coupon codes from more than 100 online shops in the US, Canada, and the UK.
Just go about your normal shopping and hit the Find Savings button to have Honey locate and apply coupon codes. This useful add-on will help you save time and money online.
AdBlock Plus
AdBlock Plus (ABP), is one of the most widely used ad blocking tools online. ABP is easy to set up and load preset filters that enable users to block most ads quickly.
Users also have the option of filtering malware and social media buttons. Advanced users have the option to add additional blocks or whitelists, and can also choose from other block lists.
AdBlock Plus permits “non-intrusive advertisement” through filters. This may be annoying to some users.
However, this can be disabled in the settings. You should be aware that not all ad-blockers block ads. Most websites, including this one, rely on these ads to pay their bills.
Google Translate
Google Translate is an excellent Web service that allows you to translate snippets of text between and to different languages.
However, this extension for Google Chrome will allow you to translate entire pages using a toolbar button.
The extension can detect if the site you are on uses a language other than your default Chrome language and offer to translate it for you.
You can also translate small fragments of text and listen to the correct pronunciation of phrases or words.
Instant Dictionary
Instant Dictionary allows you to quickly search for definitions of words and phrases by double-clicking on one word or clicking on an extension button next your Omnibar.
This eliminates the need to enter a search in another tab. It offers a Google search option if the extension doesn’t provide a definition.
Ghostery
Ghostery, a browser privacy extension for Firefox, allows you to quickly and easily identify and block Web trackers that tag your movements on the Internet.
Ghostery also allows you to search for more information about websites and companies that use these tracking methods. This extension provides links to the privacy policies of these companies and offers opt-out options.
LastPass
LastPass is an online password manager that allows you to fill out forms and reduces the stress of managing multiple accounts. It makes browsing easier and more secure.
LastPass allows you to import and export passwords from several password storage services like RoboForm and 1Password.
It also supports Chrome, Firefox, and IE’s built in password managers. LastPass is a great choice for anyone, even if you are on the free tier.
Web of Trust
Web of Trust is a crowd-sourced browser extension that ranks high on Google Chrome’s best extensions.
It rates websites using a color-coded symbol, which is based on trustworthiness, vendor reliability and child safety.
Web of Trust provides an additional layer of protection by allowing users to assess the reliability of a link based on their experience.
You can save up to your pocket
Save to Pocket lets you save articles, web pages, images, and videos for reading or viewing pleasure. It then syncs all of your content across multiple devices, including your smartphone and tablet.
You can also use the Pocket Chrome app to view saved content from your desktop.
Click & Clean
Click&Clean, a handy utility, allows you to protect your browsing privacy by wiping out any trace of your online activity in your local system. You can also scrub your browsing history, cookies, and dump your temp file cache.
Click&Clean allows you to do most of these actions within Chrome’s preferences and settings. Click&Clean consolidates all these features into one place.
This will help reduce hard drive bloat while also reducing malware risk. This extension is perfect for privacy-conscious users or people sharing a computer.
Amazing Screenshot
Awesome Screenshot is a must-have tool for power surfers. It allows you to capture and easily annotate Web pages. Captured screenshots can either be saved directly to the user’s PC or uploaded to awesomescreenshot.com for easy sharing. You can easily record entire Web pages and save images beyond the 2MB limit. This Chrome extension allows you to record your screen and save it as a screencast. It is useful for troubleshooting and how-tos.
TinEye Reverse Image Search
TinEye works in the same way as Search By Image from Google. It finds alternate versions of selected images. Locate higher resolution versions and find out where an image was used elsewhere.
This best Google Chrome extension allows you to perform simple reverse image searches.
HTTPS Available Everywhere
HTTPS Everywhere, a Firefox and Chrome extension developed in collaboration with the Tor Project and Electronic Frontier Foundation, is available for Chrome and Firefox.
HTTPS Everywhere encrypts your online browsing and communications. It rewrites HTTP link requests to HTTPS within a whitelist that supports HTTPS.