Google Chrome is quickly gaining speed as the browser of choice among people that aren’t stuck with IE due to corporate restrictions. Not only is it fast, but it’s also expanding quickly due to the vast number of extensions that are already available. If you’re one of “those people” that haven’t made the switch to Chrome, I suggest doing it now before you read this article and become insanely jealous.
Session Manager is an extension that enables you to save a session that contains every tab that is currently open in the browser. So, if you have 3 or 4 websites that you immediately open when you start your day, you can have this extension automatically open these sites for you with just a few clicks. For more information on Session Manager, check out the screencast below:
You can download the Session Manager extension here.
If you’re into social media like Twitter and Facebook, you already know how much time you can save by using the Bit.ly Sidebar. No longer do you have to actually go to a URL shortening site, copy and paste the URL, and then generate the short URL. With this extension, simply go to the site that you want to shorten, click on the Bit.ly Sidebar extension in Chrome, and you’ll automatically have the shortened URL ready for you.
How many clicks and keystrokes will this save you in an average day? Probably a bunch.
You can download the Bit.ly Sidebar extension here.
IE Tab is one of those add-ons that you don’t think about until you run into a website like this:
With Office Outlook Web Access, if you aren’t using IE 6 or later, then you’re stuck with a “light” version of email. Here’s what the same page looks like in Chrome with the IE Tab applied:
Just by opening the website with an IE tab, you have access to the full-blown version instead of the “light” version of the email client.
If using the IE Tab extension doesn’t excite you, then you’re likely not stuck in a corporate environment. For whatever reason, a lot of IT departments require their intranets and other local resources to be accessed with Internet Explorer. This extension will allow you to access those resources without any issues. I highly recommend installing this extension even if you don’t have an immediate use for it. You’ll likely find a website to use it on after installing it.
You can download the IE Tab extension here.
PageShot is an extension that enables you to screen capture a webpage and then crop it as necessary. Before PageShot, I would hit the PrintScreen button on my keyboard, open Microsoft Paint, paste the image, crop it, and then either save it or copy it to my clipboard. With PageShot, I can simply click on the extension, crop the image, and then right-click the resulting image to save it or copy it to my clipboard. This extension saves me a lot of time in a typical day. The only downside to this extension is that the functionality isn’t what I expected. Personally, I would like to see the cropping tool drop onto my current screen instead of opening the page into a new window.
You can download the PageShot extension here.
An un-honorable mention: Roboform
Amongst all of the great extensions available for Chrome, there are a few that shine about as nicely as your toilet. Unfortunately, no matter how clean or white your toilet looks, it’s still a toilet. Out of all of the extensions mentioned in this article, none of them excited me as much as Roboform. I’ve literally been waiting months for Roboform to come out on Chrome so that I can finally get rid of Firefox. To my dismay, Roboform for Chrome is about as intuitive as installing Ubuntu on a PS3 (yes, I said it). To the developers of Roboform, I ask that you take a look at the Bit.ly Sidebar extension & copy it EXACTLY. Until then, Roboform wins my award for the saddest implementation of an extension for Chrome.
You can download the Roboform extension here.
Have a recommendation for a Google Chrome Extension that wasn’t mentioned here? Leave a reply below and I’ll check it out.
