1) Built-in task manager
Everyone knows Ctrl+Alt+Delete brings up Windows task manager. But did you know Google Chrome has its own?
Chrome treats each tab as a separate process so if just one of them starts causing a problem, instead of closing the entire browser, you can just kill the offending tab.
You can access it through Tools > Task Manager or by pressing Shift+Esc.
2) Paste and go/paste and search
Google Chrome has a useful shortcut if you want to copy a URL from another browser which you want to look at in Chrome, or if you want to search a piece of text, for example from a word document.
Instead of doing Ctfl+V and Enter in the address bar, instead you can just right click in the URL bar and choose “Paste and go”, or “Paste and search”, saving you valuable seconds.
3) Pin tab
The Pin tab feature is ideal for those tabs which you never close when browsing, such as email, or Twitter.
The tab you select will be locked to the extreme left, and will be converted to a smaller favicon.
4) iPad interface
Intrigued as to how your favourite sites look on iPad? Well you don’t need an iPad to find out.
Right click on the chrome shortcut on your desktop and select properties. Go to the “Shortcut” tab, and in the “Target” field you will find this text written (where “username” is your windows username): “C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe”
Replace the text with the text below, but make sure you have your own windows username after C: \Users\...
“C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe -user-agent=”Mozilla/5.0(iPad; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_2 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/531.21.10 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.4 Mobile/7B314 Safari/531.21.10″
Press OK, and now when you open your Chrome browser for sites which have iPad versions such as Gmail, Twitter and YouTube, it will look as it does on an iPad.
5) About:memory
This feature is one of the geekier ones, but Chrome’s “About memory” page – which can be accessed by typing “about:memory” into the address bar – gives details on how different processes in the browser are consuming memory.
6) Generate passwords
This is just one of the many things you can do by delving into Chrome Flags - Google Chrome’s experimental laboratory of new features.
Chrome even warns that you should be careful because “these experiments may bite”. It goes on: “These experimental features may change, break, or disappear at any time.
“We make absolutely no guarantees about what may happen if you turn one of these experiments on, and your browser may even spontaneously combust.”
One of those experimental features includes filling in passwords for you when you open an account creation page. You have to be signed into your Chrome account and have your password manager enabled for this handy shortcut to work.
Simply type “about:flags” into the Chrome address bar and find “Enable Password Generation”.
7) Tab overview
Sadly this one is only available on Mac, but it enables you to view all the tabs you have open in a simple tile display, in a similar way to all your windows on a MacBook desktop.
In “about:flags”, enable tab overview, and then swipe down with three fingers on your trackpad.
8) Stack tabs
Bored of all your tabs squeezing into the top of your screen until they become so small that you struggle to identify them?
This time, for Windows, try stacking your tabs.
Go to “about:flags” as previously, and find “Stacked Tabs”. Once it is enabled, the tabs won’t shrink and will stack on top of each other when space runs out.
9) Incognito mode
Perhaps Incognito mode is not exactly hidden, but it still amazes me how many people do not know about this brilliant feature.
Google says it is “for times when you want to browse in stealth mode” (I will leave you to decide what they might be suggesting), but if you are concerned about privacy and the amount of information collected by Google when you are browsing, incognito mode stops Chrome from storing information about the websites you have visited.
It still has your bookmarks but the sites you visit will not be stored in your browser history.
Amusingly, when you open an incognito window, Google advices you to be wary of “malicious software”, “surveillance by secret agents”, and, best of all, “people standing behind you”.
10) Quick calculations
Google Chrome’s address bar has many uses, including doubling up as a Google search bar.
But if your maths is a bit rusty, it also can be used to make simple calculations. If you want to know 250 divided by 15, simply type in “250/15” into the address bar and it will show you the answer below.
