Chrome tips

Chrome’s Guest Mode

Chrome allows the users to sync their settings, password, and history etc. to multiple devices. Using this feature, you can automatically log in to Gmail, YouTube and so on. This feature is also useful if you happen to lose your phone or need to move on to a new device. But, in case, if someone wants to use your device, however, you are not comfortable them seeing your data, you can think of setting up a guest mode. To activate this mode, select your icon from the top right corner of the screen followed by choosing Guest. After this, a new window will open indicating that you are now in guest mode. After completion, you can close these windows and all your cookies, history, etc will be deleted.

Screencasting

You might be using Chromecast to stream services such as Netflix from your phone to TV. But, there is another way to do it using the Chrome browser’s in-built cast feature. To access this feature, click right anywhere in Chrome and then choose Cast. This option can also be accessed by navigating to those three dots at the top right corner of the screen. Then, select the Chromecast-enabled device for the pop-up window with which you want the browser window to appear.

Deleting Chrome History

To erase your browser history, navigate to the three dots at the top right of the screen. From there, select More Tools and then Clear Browsing Data. Now, when the pop-up window appears, you can choose to delete everything or make a selection for the data to be deleted. After this, click on Advanced Tab and zap download password, history, and other sign-in data.

Incognito Mode

Sick of the computer reading your browser history? Try Incognito mode! This mode works as a saving grace if you don’t want your browser history to be seen. This mode can be opened via the three dots located at the top right corner of the screen, as shown below. Once you click on these dots, you will see the New Incognito Mode option. Select this option to browse anything you want privately. Choosing this mode doesn’t mean that your behavior is not being observed by the websites, they can still access your IP address. For total privacy, a VPN service is recommended.

Access More Google Drive Options

Developer and beta channel builds of Chrome OS now show an extended set of Drive options in the File Manager menu. Stable you don’t have to wait; press Alt then Click the cog icon in the File Manager to choose whether mobile data is used for syncing, and whether Google Docs files show up.

Password Management

Securing your online accounts using a password manager is indeed a great move, however; if you are still stuck with off-codes, Google Chrome can help you with hard-to-decipher passwords. For this, ensure that synching is enabled on the computer. After this, launch the website and create your account. Then, Chrome will give a drop-down suggestion for the password while you input one. The passwords get saved in the cloud and can be easily accessed via passwords.google.com.

Search Gmail from Omnibar

Chrome’s omnibar is far more powerful and extensible than most realise. By adding a custom search engine for a specific site, you can quickly drill down to what you need from URL bar — no need to visit the site first. One of the most useful ‘custom search engines’ to set up Gmail. With a simple phrase and a tap of the Tab key you can quickly find what you need, cutting out a step or two in the process. To set Gmail  as a custom search engine in Chrome:

  • Right click on the Chrome Omni-bar
  • Select ‘Edit Search Engines’
  • Scroll to the bottom of the window that appears Enter the following info:
  • Name: Gmail
  • Keyword: gms
  • URL: https://mail.google.com/mail/ca/u/0/#search/%s. You can pick any ‘keyword’ you like. The one above is simply an example. When you’re happy you can hit ‘done’. To use, head to the address bar, enter ‘gms’, hit the Tab key and query away! (You can also use the Chrome App Launcher to perform searches using voice commands. In this example you would say “gms” followed by your query, e.g., “gms amazon”.)

Use Google Chrome As Image Viewer

You can use Google Chrome as an image viewer. Just drag & drop that jpeg directly to your Google chrome to have a quick look.

Use Google Chrome For Quick Note

We can open a text editor in our browser. We can take notes in it easily . For that, just type or copy  data:text/html,<html contenteditable> in the address bar and press enter. Then click on the screen to see the cursor. You can take notes on this screen now.

Syncing Chrome

With Chrome’s sign in feature, you no longer need to fret about your bookmarks or apps being stuck on one computer. When you sign in to the Chrome browser or a Chrome device, your bookmarks, extensions, apps, theme and other browser preferences are saved and synced to your Google Account. You can then load these settings any time you use Chrome on other computers and devices. Signing into Chrome also makes using Google services, like Gmail, YouTube and Maps easier since you generally only need to sign in once from your browser.