7 little known tips and tricks you must know when using Chrome web browser

The web browser is that one application that we seem to use daily. There are several web browsers that one can use such as Internet Explorer, Opera, Safari, Chrome and just like the “Mac vs Windows” debate, at the end of the day, it boils down to personal preference.

I use Chrome a while ago and have picked up some Tips and Tricks that make the Chrome browser really good.

Here are some little known tips and tricks when using Chrome:

Tip 1: Home Button:

Its nice to have a button to click that takes you to a specific website, however, Chrome doesn’t have a  “Home” button by default in the toolbar.

To enable the Home button, click on the Customise icon (top right and looks like three lines) and under Appearance put a tick in the Show Home Button. You can then set the page that Chrome will navigate to when it it clicked. Don’t waste it by setting it to Google as anything you type in the address bar is a direct Google search (see below), so set it to something that you visit daily like your favourite news site or blog.

Tip 2: Multi-Purpose Bar (Omnibox)

The address bar (the place where you enter the website you want to visit) is enhanced in Chrome. Not only can you enter the website URL, but you can enter your search term and it will search the web. But there is more, with Chrome, you can enter a calculation and it will give you the answer immediately.

Works with maths sums:

Conversions:

Tip 3: Incognito

This is Chrome’s secret-agent mode where you can visit any website and Chrome doesn’t store any record of you having been to that site. It even deletes any cookies the site sent you when you close the browser. But NOTE: It is not an anonymous web browsing facility that will encrypt your information so no one else can view it. This mode simply allows Chrome to “forget” that you were ever on those dodgy sites so you are not busted by your other half or boss.

There is a practical usage for this mode too.

Sites like Facebook, YouTube, Gmail, LinkedIN etc. remember your identity to make it easier for you to use their systems. However if you have multiple accounts on those systems then you have to log out of one and into the other. I use Incognito mode to open sites like Gmail, YouTube or Facebook so I can log in with my other accounts as when “incognito” those sites don’t remember your identity. This also allows me to see what the “user” sees if I make a changes to my website or blog.

To access this mode, press Ctrl + Shift + N or right-click on a link and select “open link in incognito window” . Make sure you see the “spy” icon that tells you that you are in this mode.

Tip 4: Reopen Site

When you work with lots of open tabs you inadvertently close the wrong tab by mistake. With Chrome there is no need to go and find that site again as you can  just right click on any open tab and click on “Reopen closed tab”. It will then do exactly that – re-open the last tab you just nuked.

Tip 5: Search inside

If you want to search websites such as Facebook, Amazon, eBay, with Chrome you no longer need to navigate to those sites first before you search. Wit Chrome you can simply type the name of the site and hit the TAB button on your keyboard. Chrome will then change the search bar to search inside that site.

Tip 6: Synch Across Devices

If you have Chrome loaded onto your mobile devices (phones and tablets), and you log into these with your Google account, then you can choose to have items synchronised across the various devices.

This is particularly useful when you have the same search terms and history available to you regardless of which device you are on so you can visit that website that was cumbersome on the mobile, but easier to read on the desktop.

Tip 7: Search the History

If you visited a site a while ago but can’t recall the address, Chrome has a search facility that allow you to  run a search on your past sites that you visited. Including those visited from mobile devices.