Hey, keyboard warriors! We have five ways for you to do more with your browser. How’s that? Well, we’ve compiled an expert-recommended list of the best Google Chrome extensions that are sure to make your browsing experience better. Why settle for vanilla ice cream when you could have rainbow sprinkles, chocolate syrup and the cherry on top? These plug-ins can even help prevent brain freeze, taking the headache out of everyday tasks.
And extensions can also help with potential internet threats. Research reveals we’re all just a few clicks away from the edge of the dangers lurking in cyberspace. According to a recent survey of 2,000 U.S. adults, a whopping 70 percent of respondents claimed to be knowledgeable about cybersecurity. But here’s the twist: The average person still stumbles upon suspicious online sites or social media accounts 6.5 times a day. That means even the self-proclaimed experts aren’t immune to the cyber threats.
Another survey revealed that the typical American spends approximately 35 hours per year delving into an “Internet wormhole,” or a topic of interest! Maybe losing track of time and space is not just something that happens in sci-fi books after all. Researchers discovered that the average person spends eight minutes, five times a week in one of these “Internet wormholes,” searching for information. Popular wormholes include entertainment news (51 percent), current events (40 percent) and historical people and events (34 percent). Make the most of your time online with Chrome extensions.
If you’re new to Chrome extensions, the World Wide Web is your oyster. Need to take notes while you browse? There’s an extension for that. Want to check your grammar and spelling? There’s an extension for that. Want to save all your important files to the cloud? You guessed it … there’s an extension for that, too! So, to make it easy for you, we’ve found experts’ recommendations for which plug-ins are the best Google Chrome extensions. Keep reading for the results!
The List: Best Google Chrome Extensions, According to Experts
1. LastPass
Despite the name, this Chrome extension is anything but last! It’s the perfect tool for anyone who has more passwords than are possible to remember (so, basically everyone).
ZDNET raves about this handy dandy plug-in, writing, “LastPass is a Chrome extension that securely stores and tracks information like usernames and passwords to make it faster and easier to log into your accounts. It scans your current passwords and offers analysis for strengths and weaknesses, offering to generate strong passwords for new and current accounts. It also offers two factor authentication for further protection against unauthorized access.”
“LastPass is an award-winning password manager. This Chrome extension saves your passwords safely. It also provides you with secure access from every computer and mobile device. Yet, passwords have weaknesses such as hacking, interception, and guesses. Creative Minds has a brilliant solution … a two-factor authentication plugin. The two-step process asks for added unique identification by sending a one-time password (OTP). LastPass saves your passwords, and you use the OTP for extra protection,” CreativeMinds says.
Champ also recommends it: “These days it’s hard to remember what you had for lunch yesterday, never mind the username and password from the last time you logged into your medical insurance website! Add an extension to your Google Chrome Browser, such as LastPass, one of the best password managers out there. LastPass is an award-winning Google Chrome extension that acts as a password manager. It saves all of your passwords and gives you safe and secure access to your information from all of your devices.”
2. Save to Google Drive
This is the ultimate extension for those of us who can’t bear to lose web content or a viral cat picture. You can even access it from anywhere!
Mashable explains how this extension can help you, writing, “Save to Google Drive puts a little icon in the upper right corner of the browser that will send whatever you’re looking at to your Google Drive account for later viewing. There’s also an option in the right-click menu for greater specificity. It works for taking screenshots as well as saving images, audio, or video. It’s a quick and snappy way to send something to cloud storage for anyone who might need to transfer things between devices.”
“Save to Google Drive is quite basic — the name tells you what it does — but we’ve included it under essential extensions for a reason. How often have you come across a webpage, image, video, or file that you wanted to save for later or share with someone? If your answer is often, this extension is for you. Next time you see something you want to save or share, just right-click and select Save to Google Drive, and it’ll be automatically added to Drive. From there, you can either download it for yourself or share the link with anyone you want,” XDA Developers writes.
Hugo recommends this extension if you want to save web content or change Word docs into Google Docs: “This is a Chrome extension for those who want to save hundreds of web pages. Save to Google Drive will assist you in keeping content directly to Google Drive through a context menu or a browser action. In addition, it’s easy to save the most recently viewed page as a PDF from the Chrome Print Menu. Also, this extension allows you to convert Microsoft Office documents to Google Docs automatically.”
3. Evernote
With Evernote, you can take notes, save web content and keep everything in one organized place. It’s almost like having a virtual secretary.
According to Android Police, “Evernote Web Clipper lets you save web pages, articles, and PDFs to your Evernote account. This might be your ideal extension if you leave articles and websites to read later. It syncs across devices, so you can save an article on your desktop, then open it on the Evernote app later. It only takes a couple of clicks and works perfectly.”
“Despite some limitations, Evernote is still the best way to clip and store everything worth keeping online. This extension makes it a breeze, even isolating what it sees as the main content of a page, and storing just that. It has built-in annotation features. When you save a screenshot, tag it — then you can search through it all later using Evernote.com or the offline software and apps,” PCMag says.
TechRadar thinks this extension is great for projects or saving interesting articles for later: “If you’re researching a project, or just find yourself getting distracted by interesting articles while you’re trying to work, Evernote Web Clipper is fantastic. When you find something you want to read, click the elephant icon and Evernote will let you save the entire article, a simplified version of it (with no pictures or formatting), an entire page, a screenshot, or just a bookmark.”
4. Grammarly
This little lifesaver is a godsend for anyone who struggles with grammar and spelling. Software Testing Help recommends Grammarly, and here’s why: “Grammarly is one of the most popular Chrome extensions around. It is a spelling and grammar checker with a clean and simple interface. Users can customize their spell-checking settings easily, and check for plagiarism with just one click. Its premium version offers features for tone adjustment, word choice, and formality levels. Grammarly is the perfect fit for any writer that wants to clean up and optimize their written content.”
“It is a software that possesses the ultimate grammar knowledge, combined with: spell-checking capabilities, advanced suggestions, clarity corrections, and style adjustments. The extension follows you on most sites that have text fields and it’ll start running as soon as you start typing. Grammarly is an excellent accessory for everyone — students, teachers, reporters, and even office workers. It can significantly cut your typing time, affect your overall writing performance, and leave you worry-free when you have to send an important email,” Clockify writes.
PCMag points out, “It even has a dictionary function, so when you double-click a word or phrase on a web page you get a definition, or a link to something related to the term.”
5. Google Mail Checker
Never miss an important email again! Google Mail Checker will keep you in the know about your inbox.
MakeUseOf.com says, “If you keep a close eye on your Gmail inbox, then the Google Mail Checker is the extension for you. This basic button simply shows the number of unread emails in your inbox in your toolbar. You can also click the button to open your Gmail.”
“Google Mail Checker is an extension for Chrome to know the status of the number of unread messages in Google Mail inbox. It is one of the top Chrome extensions which enables you to open your inbox with just one mouse button,” Guru99 claims.
Do you use any of these extensions already? Let us know about the impact they’ve made in the comments below.
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Sources:
- ZDNET
- CreativeMinds
- Champ
- Mashable
- XDA Developers
- Hugo
- Android Police
- PCMag
- TechRadar
- Software Testing Help
- Clockify
- MakeUseOf.com
- Guru99
Note: This article was not paid for nor sponsored. StudyFinds is not connected to nor partnered with any of the brands mentioned and receives no compensation for its recommendations. This post may contain affiliate links.