It’s no secret that Google Chrome is one of the most popular web browsers in the world, if not the most popular. Still, most people don’t use the browser to its full potential, and they leave so many wasted opportunities to save time and resources on the table. Today, we want to highlight some of these tips, but also a couple of features that perhaps you didn’t know existed for Google Chrome so you can continue to get more value out of it as a business and productivity tool.
Some Helpful Keyboard Shortcuts
A good keyboard shortcut can be a game-changer, especially if you get really good at using it.
Here are some of the more helpful ones you might consider using with Google Chrome:
- Ctrl + [Any Number 1-8]: Move to the corresponding tab
- Ctrl + 9: Switch to the last tab
- Ctrl + H: Show your history
- Ctrl + J: Open your Downloads
- Ctrl + K: Move the cursor to the address bar
- Ctrl + T: Open a new tab
- Ctrl + Shift + T: Undo a closed tab
If you’d like even more keyboard shortcuts, you can use this resource from Google Chrome’s Help Center to learn more.
Better Tab Tricks
Who doesn’t open too many tabs in their web browser?
Chrome offers several ways to help you better manage your tabs. For example, you could click the X on the tab to close one, but you could also click in on the mouse wheel to close the tab more quickly. You can also pin tabs to your taskbar so they take up less space by right-clicking on them and selecting Pin; this will shift them to the left of your active unpinned tabs.
While you’re right-clicking on tabs, it’s worth looking at the other options presented here, including adding tabs to reading groups, moving tabs to new windows, duplicating tabs, closing all other tabs, and closing tabs to the right.
Open the Chrome Task Manager
Did you know that each individual tab in Google Chrome operates as its own individual instance?
Because of this functionality, it’s not always easy to get a bird’s eye view of how many resources Google Chrome is using at any given time. Instead of struggling with your PC’s task manager, you can use Chrome’s built-in task manager to see how much memory and CPU each tab or extension is using. You can easily open the task manager by using Shift + Escape.
We know not everyone will understand what they’re looking at with the Chrome task manager, so if you ever have questions about resource usage (or if you spot something concerning), be sure to contact your IT resource.
Want more tricks to help you stay productive throughout the workday? We recommend you stay close to our blog, where we publish articles weekly on productivity, technology, and other IT-related topics that businesses should know about.
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