Google Chrome offers both apps and extensions to simplify your Internet browsing experience. Consider them tools that allow you to be more productive and efficient when searching, learning and networking online. Apps are standalone programs and are often available outside of your browser while extensions specifically enhance Google Chrome’s capabilities. There are over 11,000 extensions available for Google Chrome, but we’ve chosen the best of them to help you take full advantage of your browser.
Learn more about different kinds of extensions and what they can do for Google Chrome in the video clip from Google Chrome UK below:
Here are the top four free Google Chrome extensions to optimize your browser for your career:
- Awesome Screenshot
- Google Dictionary
- AddThis
- Tab Menu
This extension speeds up the screenshot capturing, editing and sharing process. After installation, you have easy access to Awesome Screenshot with a button on your browser’s toolbar. It allows you take a screenshot of the entire web page you’re currently visiting or just what you see on the screen. As soon as you’ve captured an area, a simple toolbar appears at the top of your browser with options for editing, including cropping, drawing shapes, adding text and blurring private information. At this point, you can save the image to your desktop or upload it to Awesome Screenshot’s server; the website will pop out a temporary URL, so you can quickly and easily share the image with a friend.
The Google Dictionary saves you time by defining and translating words directly in your browser. All you need to do is double-click a word in any page presented in Google Chrome. A pop-up box will provide a quick definition or translation of the word. By clicking on the extension’s button, you can easily search for words to give you a more complete definition, including definitions from text found in Google searches.
You may already be using AddThis on your website because it’s one of the largest content-sharing platforms in the business, but an important part of online networking is sharing and promoting others’ content as well. What do you do when you can’t find your preferred sharing buttons on someone’s blog or website? By clicking on the AddThis button, you’ll have easy access to over 300 social networking websites, including the options to translate, print, send via email and create a PDF.
Choose up to 11 websites that you use most often, which will show up when you click on the button. For example, some of the links I currently have on my top 11 list are StumbleUpon, Digg, Reddit and Delicious. Underneath your choices, you’ll see the “More…” button, which gives you access to all the rest.
Have you ever had too many tabs open in one window that you couldn’t even see each tab’s icon anymore? The Tab Menu extension installs a simple button on your Google Chrome toolbar. When you click on it, a drop-down menu vertically displays all of your tabs with their icons and at least 40 characters of each title. Hover your mouse over one of the tabs to see a pop-up of the full title. You can easily find the tab you’re looking for with the search box at the top of the menu and rearrange the tabs by dragging and dropping them within the list.
You might also be interested in the four best Google Chrome extensions for getting things done faster.
If you’re looking for Google Chrome apps, check out the following articles:
- 3 Best Google Chrome Apps for Successful Social Networking
- 3 Best Google Chrome Apps for Productivity
- 4 Best Google Chrome Apps for Sharing and Collaborating
- 4 Best Google Chrome Apps for Organizing Your Life
Do you have a favorite Google Chrome extension that helps you optimize your browser?
