10 hidden Google Chrome settings that you need to turn on
There are more ways to tweak and customize
Chrome than you might have realized.
1. Force dark mode
When it comes to dark mode, Google Chrome will
follow the lead of the operating system you’re running it on by default: If
Windows or macOS is set in its dark mode configuration, then Chrome will adapt
accordingly.
[Related: How
to turn on ‘dark mode’ for all your gadgets and apps]
If you’d rather use Chrome in dark mode all the
time, find the #enable-force-dark
flag and set it to Enabled. Every
site you visit from then on will get the message to show its contents in dark
mode, no matter what the rest of your software is doing.
2. Search images with Google Lens
Google Lens is a visual search tool: It can
identify landmarks, animals, storefronts, and much more. It’s available in
various places, including as a mobile app, and with the right flag enabled you
can take advantage of it in Chrome as well.
The flag you need to switch on is #enable-lens-region-search. Once
that’s done, right-click on a blank part of any webpage, choose Search Images with Google Lens, and
select the image you want to search with.
3. See quick previews of open tabs
Enable the #tab-hover-card-images flag
in the list and navigating between large numbers of tabs will suddenly become
much easier.
As you hover the cursor over the tab, you’ll
not only see the title of the webpage contained within it, but you’ll also see
a pop-up thumbnail of the content it’s showing as well.
4. Keep more webpages in the cache
Locate the #back-forward-cache flag, set it
to Enabled, and
Chrome will keep more pages cached locally on your computer as you make use of
the forward and backward buttons in the browser.
This improves browsing speed on slower or less
stable internet connections (if you’re going forward and backward a lot, at
least), because pages won’t have to be loaded from the web each time.
5. Freeze tabs you’re not using
Chrome supports the grouping of tabs now, to
help you manage them better. When you hide a group of tabs under the group
header to tidy up your tab bar, that’s known as collapsing a tab group.
When enabled, the #tab-groups-collapse-freezing flag will
freeze the tabs in a group when you collapse them. That means they’ll be in a
hibernated state and not taking up any system resources until you open them
again.
6. Import your passwords
There’s a password manager built right into
Google Chrome, which you can find by clicking on the three dots in the top
right corner, then choosing Settings, Auto-fill, and Passwords.
Click on the three dots on the right just above
the password list and you’ll find an option to export your passwords—if you
want to be able to import passwords into Chrome too, enable the #password-import flag.
7. Speed up downloads
Parallel downloading is where an application
requests a download several times, which should speed up transfer times in a
lot of cases. If you don’t mind the extra bandwidth this can take up, you can
switch on the feature by finding the #enable-parallel-downloading flag
and switching it to Enabled.
8. Enable Reader Mode
The #enable-reader-mode flag
will turn on Chrome’s hidden Reader Mode—a stripped-down, easy-on-the-eye page
layout that cuts out adverts and a lot of page furniture to just leave the text
and the images of the article you’re looking at.
When this flag is turned on, and you’re on a
page that can be converted to Reader Mode, you’ll see a little book icon on the
right of the address bar. Click it to turn the more straightforward reading
experience on or off.
9. Reduce video data usage
If you’re on an unstable internet connection,
or away from home tethered to the data connection on your phone, you might want
to minimize the amount of data you’re using through Chrome.
[Related: Stop
your streaming apps from eating all your data]
Enable the Chrome flag #enable-lite-video and
the browser will request low-resolution versions of videos from the sites that
you visit. You’ll lose some visual clarity along the way, but you’ll also be
using much less data while you watch.
10. Fill out forms faster
To save you time when filling out forms and
making payments on the web, Chrome will keep information such as addresses and
credit card details stored for you if you want. By default, it will suggest
details as you move through a form, giving you the option to select suggestions
as you go.
But if you switch the #show-autofill-type-predictions flag
to Enabled then
these suggestions will automatically be put in for you, no typing required.
Assuming Chrome identifies the form fields correctly, it should save you more
time.