Top 8 ‘secret’ features of Google Chrome to make your life simpler

June 14, 2021

Top 8 ‘secret’ features of Google Chrome to make your life simpler

Google Chrome is by far the most popular internet browser in the world. One of the reasons it is popular is ease of use and the amount of features it packs. Having said that, there are many features that people might not know about or may have never used. Here we list out Top 8 such features:

Play audio/video files directly in Chrome

Did you know that Chrome can play audio/video files as well? All you need to do is drag an audio file or a video file into a new tab. It’s a very basic media player but can come in handy if you are in a rush to open an audio/video file.

In-built malware scanner to keep your data safe

Did you know that there’s an in-built malware scanner in Chrome? Just head to Settings and go to the Advanced option. Here you can choose Reset and clean up and then Clean up Computer — this will scan the computer properly and if anything suspicious is found, Chrome will report and clean it immediately.

Guest mode to keep your browsing data private

There might be an occasion or two when your friend/colleague may want to use your computer for a while. You might not be comfortable sharing what all your browse on the internet. Here’s where Guest mode comes in useful. All you need to do is click on your Google account avatar in the top right corner, choose the Guest mode and your data remains private.

If you want to read something at leisure and don’t want all the images/ads in an article, just turn on the reader mode. To enable reader mode, open a new tab in Chrome and type chrome://flags/#enable-reader-mode and enable the reader mode option. Once it’s enabled, in the Chrome menu you will see a Enter Reader Mode option on pages compatible with it.

Use same tabs on smartphone, tablets

You can open the same tabs that are open on your computer on a tablet or smartphone. Simply right-click on the URL in the address bar and choose “Send to your Devices option”. Do note that Chrome should be installed on other device with the same Google account and sync has been turned on. If that’s the case then the same URL will be sent to your other device.

Streaming made easy by casting a screen

By clicking on the three dots in the top right corner of Chrome, you can see a Cast option. Choose that if you want to cast your browser tabs or entire desktop to a Chromecast device. If you are using YouTube or some compatible OTT app, you can stream video content as well.

‘Save’ your tabs when Chrome is shut down

There might be times when you abruptly have to shut down Chrome and rue the fact that some tabs were closed when you didn’t want to. There’s a way out. Open the Menu and go to Settings. You will see an On start-up option and choose Continue where you left off — you will be back where you started from.