Google Chrome is the most popular browser on the planet by quite some margin. A massive 64 percent of the world’s online populace uses Google Chrome, with the next most popular browser, Safari, trailing at 18.69 percent at the time of writing.
Why is Google Chrome so popular? Well, it’s fast, it’s customizable, and it’s easy to use, once you know how.
In this guide, we’re going to take a look at how to use Google Chrome. Whether you’re a brand-new user who wants to know everything about Chrome or a veteran looking for some new tricks, we’ve got something for you.
Are you ready to learn more about using Google Chrome? Then read on!
1. Download and Install Google Chrome
The first thing that you need to do is download Google Chrome. There are some fake installers online, so you need to make sure that you grab the official one. To ensure that you have the right installer, make sure that you download it from Google directly.
Once you’ve got the installer downloaded, double click on it to open it. Once the wizard has loaded up, follow the instructions to install Chrome, then load it up.
Now let’s take a look at how to use it!
2. A Brief Tour of Chrome
When compared to some other browsers, Chrome has a slightly different layout. First off, if you’re moving from an old browser, you should know that Google Chrome uses tabs, which means that you can have multiple pages open in one window. You can find your tabs at the top of the screen, above the address bar.
The address bar doubles as a search engine, which means you don’t need to go to Google to search. Just type your query into the address bar and hit enter, and you’ll do a search.
Below the address bar, you’ll find the bookmarks bar. You’ll already see the “apps” button, but let’s ignore that for now.
On the upper-right of the browser, you should see a small user icon. You can sign into the browser with your Google account, which will keep your settings and bookmarks synced up across different devices.
To the right of the user icon, you’ll see three small dots. This is the menu button, where you can find a variety of functions.
3. Sign-in to Chrome
This is a strictly optional step, but if you want to use Chrome across different devices, it’s worth setting up sync so that all your settings are the same on all of them. Signing in is easy, all you need to do is enter your username and password on the user icon and pick what you want to sync across your devices.
Also read: 13 Amazing Chrome Extensions For Digital Marketing And SEO
4. Let’s Install Some Extensions
Google Chrome is a great browser from the get-go but with a few extensions, you can make it even better. Do a search for Chrome extensions and go to the Chrome Web Store
Here, you can find an absolute ton of extensions that you can use to add new functionality to your browser. You should search around the Web Store on your own and find the extensions that you want but we can start by installing some fantastic and useful add-ons.
Installing an extension is a matter of clicking install and agreeing to the specific permissions that it needs.
uBlock Origin
uBlock Origin is the best adblocker around today. It will block almost every ad online without breaking any of the web pages. Skip other adblocking software and stick to uBlock.
Bitwarden
Bitwarden is a free password manager that can keep all of your passwords safe in an encrypted vault, as well as generating strong passwords whenever you need them. It offers a lot of the features of paid password managers for free.
Decentraleyes
Decentraleyes is a little extension that blocks connections to content distribution networks. This keeps you from being tracked across the internet by various companies and keeps your activity a little more private.
5. Tweak Your Settings
Go to the three dots on the upper-right side of your browser and then go to settings. Here, you can tweak your browser’s setup.
If, for instance, you have struggled in the past, wondering “why does my search engine keep changing to Bing,” or similar, you can make sure that never happens again by going to the search engine button on the left-hand side. Here, you can change your default browser in a few clicks.
If you click on the appearance button, you can change your theme, fonts, and more.
Click on the privacy and security button, and you can tweak a range of important settings and lock your browser’s privacy down.
6. Using Incognito Mode
If you want to hide your browsing history from other people, you can go into incognito mode by going to the menu button and hitting “new incognito window.”
You should be aware that using incognito mode doesn’t stop governments, ISPs, and your employer from tracking your internet usage.
7. Some Handy Keyboard Shortcuts
If you’re serious about using Chrome, you should learn some keyboard shortcuts. These can cut down the amount of time you need for different functions and tasks. Here are some of the most useful ones:
- Ctrl + N will open a new window
- Ctrl + Shift + N will open an incognito window
- Ctrl + T will open a new tab
- Alt + Home will open your homepage in a different window
- Alt + Space and then N will minimize your browser
- Alt + Space then X will close your browser
How to Use Google Chrome: Answered
Now you know how to use Google Chrome! There are a lot more layers to this browser than we’ve touched on, but by now you should have a great idea about how the browser works and how to use it.
If you’d like to read more interesting and informative articles like this one, check out the rest of our site.
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