While Chrome is known as being a fast and reliable internet browser, one of the main reasons users love it is due to the huge variety of extensions and plugins. The Chrome Web Store has the largest variety of add-ons to juice up your browser. The tricky part is that sometimes there are too many to choose from!
Every year, I do a deep dive and pick out my favorite Chrome extensions and add-ons. Read through this list and you’ll get an idea of the massive variety on offer, as well as the sheer power of the Chrome development community.
The Best Chrome Extensions of 2022
ProductivityTab
Among the numerous new tab and startup page extensions, ProductivityTab is simply the best option. Whenever you open a new tab or start a new browsing session, you’ll be greeted with a highly customizable dashboard of widgets that give you an up-to-date glance at what matters the most to you. Make your new tab or start page the way it should be: Fast, customizable, beautiful and productive! This is by far one of the best chrome extensions available.
Find out more about ProductivityTab
BuiltWith Technology Profiler
If you are involved with anything remotely technical on the web as a professional or even as a hobby, this plugin is an essential. At a glance, you’ll get a full run down of all the technology that has been used to build a given site. BuiltWith is intended for developers, designers and researchers find out what technologies are being used on their favorite webpages, so they can go out and replicate or enhance it themselves.
Find out more about BuiltWith
Evernote Web Clipper
For users of the popular Evernote journalling and notetaking application, this ‘web clipper’ is a versatile tool for researching and compiling information from the web. Simply ‘clip’ the web pages you want to keep, save them into your Evernote account, then know you can easily find them across any device. This is a great option to replace your hundreds of bookmarks, and is a great research tool
Find out more about Evernote Web Clipper
Grammarly
Now with millions of satisfied users, Grammarly makes sure your messages, documents, and social media posts are clear, mistake-free, and impactful. Including a fast contextual spell checker, grammar checker and with frequent updates, this is one of the best solutions for making sure you present your best on the web.
Find our more about Grammarly
GDocs Offline
Google Docs Offline extension is a little known plugin that turns the web’s most popular document collaboration tool into a versatile and robustly-featured word processor available to use at any time you need it. Simply install the extension, and you can get to work on your spreadsheets, slides, documents and more all without having to worry about maintaining an internet connection for your changes to be saved. Don’t waste your money on licenses for the outdated Microsoft Office Suite, everything you need to be productive is right here.
Find out more about Google Docs Offline.
HTTPS Everywhere
This handy tool automatically adds high security browsing to every website you visit on the web, using the enhanced HTTPS protocol. As not every site on the web has this in use already, this extension will allow your browsing to stay safe and secure, protecting you against many forms of surveillance and account hijacking, and some forms of censorship. If you want a simple way to browse more safely, this is the easiest option out there.
Find out more about HTTPS Everywhere
It’s often easy to tell yourself that you need to focus more in order to get things done. But sometimes it’s a little bit more complicated, and it can be harder some days than others. I know it is for me.
That’s why I have a collection of tools that help me to stay on task and get things done.
Click here and I’ll send you the resources you need to stay focused and productive.
Instapaper
Save any link on the web for offline reading via this handy and lightweight extension. Don’t have time to read an article that looks like it might be interesting? Simply pressing the Instapaper icon will add it to your queue for later reading, which even works offline.
Find out more about Instapaper
Similar to Instapaper, Pocket allows you to save articles you find on the internet for convenient and uninterrupted reading later in the day.
When you find something in Chrome that you want to view later, put it in Pocket. It automatically syncs to your phone, tablet or computer so you can view it at any time, even without an internet connection. With recommendations and an active user base, Pocket is a popular alternative to the more streamlined Instapaper.
Find out more about Pocket
Momentum
Similar to iChrome (but not as user-customizable), Momentum allows users to replace their default new tab page with a minimal dashboard built for motivvation. Featuring current to-do’s, weather, and inspirational quotes, Momentum is designed to give a moment of calm and inspiration to be more productive by eliminating distractions.
Find out more about Momentum
News Feed Eradicator
Facebook addict? This handy plugin erases your news feed and replaces it with an inspirational quote. In the new version, you can even add your own quotes to keep things interesting. Super simple, yet super effective. This is a fantastic extension for those that find themselves repeatedly drawn into Facebook’s vortex and wasting more time than they should. A simple install fixes a big problem!
Find out more about News Feed Eradicator.
PixelBlock
Sick of people sending you emails and tracking whether you open or not? This is a basic invasion of privacy for some people, so PixelBlock is here to set things straight with a simple plugin that stops all spying from would-be trackers. Regain your basic privacy of being able to read an email someone sends you without them seeing.
Find out more about PixelBlock
PushBullet
Pushbullet is an ingenious way to consolidate all your Android, iOS and desktop notifications into one place. Working at your computer but your phone is in the other room? No problem – with Pushbullet, you’ll be able to read and reply to incoming messages, view push notifactions and more.
Find out more about PushBullet
Highly Highlighter
This fantastic tool allows you to take notes from whatever page you’re reading, and save it to a well organized notebook to refer to later. This plugin now also integrates with the popular ‘Readwise’ that thousands of Amazon Kindle readers use to track their notes as they read.
Lastpass
Lastpass is the premier password manager that prides itself on high security, reliability and ease of use. Instead of endlessly logging in to service after service, you can use Lastpass to help reduce your workflow and get instant access to your online services. Replace your old clunky password spreadsheet or notebook with a high security, highly reliable service that makes forgotten logins a thing of the past.
Ghostery
Ghostery is a powerful privacy tool allowing you to block ads, trackers and other invasive web presences. It also helps speed up ad-heavy websites by removing redundant script. This chrome extension improves your browsing experience in multiple ways.
Boomerang
Boomerang touts itself as the ‘ulimate email productivity tool’, and the claim isn’t unfounded. Boomerang is an extensive email management system built into Gmail which allows you to track responses, schedule mailing times, and block unwanted email interruptions throughout the day.
Find out more about Boomerang.
Intent
This beautiful extension allows you to stay focused on your work and reduce distractions. Be more mindful of your tech usage and internet browsing with unobtrusive weekly check-ins, and soft reminders to help you recognise and take control of your online habits.
Buffer
Buffer allows you to take control of all your social media management from one central hub. Schedule posts for Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram all from one place, with an easy to use interface and advanced features. The buffer chrome extension complements it’s full web service, which has been running for years now and is recognised as the go-to social media management tool.
It’s often easy to tell yourself that you need to focus more in order to get things done. But sometimes it’s a little bit more complicated, and it can be harder some days than others. I know it is for me.
That’s why I have a collection of tools that help me to stay on task and get things done.
Click here and I’ll send you the resources you need to stay focused and productive.