Chrome by itself is a very sweet browser. I get a lot more speed out of it than I ever do with anything else, and it fits my needs. But just when you think things can’t get any better, there are some simple issues that are annoying and Google has totally no intention of fixing. Here are some extensions that you can use to reduce or eliminate the annoyance.
1: Always Clear Downloads
When you start a download, a bar pops up at the bottom of the Chrome browser window that indicates that a download is in progress. This allows you to start multiple downloads and see how they advance in a neat interface:
When they’re all done downloading, though, the bar remains. You might find this kind of annoying, even though there’s an “x” on the bottom right part of the screen that allows you to close the bar when you want to. Maybe you want that bar to just disappear when its time is due, right? “Always Clear Downloads” is a Chrome extension that consistently clears your downloads list in your favorite browser. It serves a small, but significant, purpose for those who feel their daily lives simplified by this. If you’re the kind of person who relies heavily on your download history, though, you should not use it.
You can find this extension at the Chrome Web Store at this link.
2: SeenBefore – Search Google Exclusively For Pages You’ve Already Visited
When you browse the web heavily and use sites like Facebook a lot, you probably come to the realization that your browsing history is a total mess. Here’s me looking through used car ads for five minutes:
Now, imagine having to trudge through a list like that, only 100 times larger, to look for a single page you forgot to bookmark. Searching through your list in Chrome isn’t as effective as you’d think. The developers at SeenBefore thought of this and added an extension for Chrome that puts a new option in Google’s left-hand sidebar. It looks something like this:
SeenBefore, as its name implies, is a search engine extension for what you’ve already visited. You can search through months of your history for site results as long as you know what the page was about. They regularly open their extension to new users, found at this site.
3: ClipboardSync – Allowing You To Copy Data From One Device To Another
Have you ever had to send information to yourself via email to open it on another computer? There’s a better way to do this if you use Chrome on both computers. ClipboardSync is an extension that takes advantage of Google Chrome’s new sync feature. To use this extension, you must be signed into your Google account via the Chrome browser on every device you want to sync up. Once you do that, just copy some text and click the extension’s icon. A notification will appear on the browser of every device signed into your account. Add ClipboardSync to Chrome through this link.
Final Thoughts
All of these extensions are productive in one way or another. While you might not find one of them useful, perhaps another one will be. If you have any ideas or questions, please comment. We’d love to hear from you!
Miguel has been a business growth and technology expert for more than a decade and has written software for even longer. From his little castle in Romania, he presents cold and analytical perspectives to things that affect the tech world.
Our latest tutorials delivered straight to your inbox
