Best Chrome Extensions to Improve Your Productivity and Privacy
Are you looking for the best productivity hack? But did you know that the key to getting more of your work done might be within your browser itself? Google Chrome is one of the most popular browsers used by millions of users across the globe. Google’s Chrome Web Store is chock-full of cool ad-ons for your browser. Just like the Chrome browser, the Chrome Web Store has become more popular quite similar to the Apple’s App Store which is overstuffed and pretty much tough to navigate.
Chrome extensions are browser add-ons that can assist streamline your online tasks and aid you get more work done when put to worthy usage. Undoubtedly, Google Chrome is a great web browser and a good choice for both the Windows and Mac users. However, with the addition of a few extensions, a great browsing experience can be transformed into a splendid browsing experience. Chrome extensions can get fascinating to quite essential with savvy use.
Here, I have compiled a massive list of extensions using which you could probably boost your productivity and protect your privacy as well. Despite all these extensions are free of cost, some do allow you to upgrade to a premium service that offers great functionality. You can find your essential Chrome extensions on the Chrome Web Store so that you can download them right from there. I’ve included the best Chrome extensions that will certainly keep you focused and productive during working hours. Take a look!
Sometimes, you find yourself distracted looking at curious articles and it gets to the point that at the end of the day, you’ve read more articles than getting work done. If you don’t want that to happen anymore, you just need to install the Pocket extension so that your problem gets resolved then and there. This is because whenever you wish to open that interesting article, you can simply click on the “pocket” in your toolbar, categorize by selecting a proper tag and build up your reading list. You can enjoy them for later as a reward for a work well done.
Using Pocket, you can easily save articles, videos and more for later. With Pocket, all of your content goes to one place, so you can view it anytime, on any device. One of the most interesting elements is that you don’t even need an Internet connection. You don’t have to lose track of the interesting things you find by emailing yourself links or letting tabs pile up in your browser. Just save them to Pocket. Great idea, isn’t it?
- StayFocusd
StayFocusd is one of the useful extensions for a Google Chrome user. It is a crowd favourite extension which has garnered high rating by 572,000 users and counting. Well, the internet, despite a prodigious tool, has also given us annoyance from to all those times we get side-tracked by much-loved social networking platforms like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.
StayFocusd keeps one disciplined by setting a determined amount of time on these types of sites, and permitting those prone to distraction to essentially get some work done.
All you need to do is simply configure your account to block specific sites or even specific page content like videos and games, and you’re good to go. Once your time limit is finished, StayFocusd blocks your access to these time-wasting sites for the whole day.
- QuickDrop
Dropbox has recognized itself to be tremendously beneficial for all the organization it does for your essential files, and with how easy it is to share the big files with a simple designated link. QuickDrop is an extension which allows the management of Dropbox files in Chrome. You can access your Dropbox files and folders using only a toolbar icon. In the displayed list you have the ability to list the files, navigate through folders. The breadcrumbs bar will let you jump in the navigated folders. Using the search field you can find any file or folder in your Dropbox storage.
QuickDrop takes it up a notch by adding a menu to your browser. With easy access to uploading and downloading files, you may also quickly upload files online with just a single click. You can even create your special upload folder and share or rename your files in Dropbox without having to leave your page.
- AdBlock
AdBlock is one of the most popular Google Chrome extensions available on the web. The extension removes the frustration of irrelevant banner advertisements from your web experience. That may seem like a minor difference, but visiting some sites that tend to be bogged down with such irritating ads can truly enhance your experience.
AdBlock also works with other browser platforms such as Safari, Opera, and Firefox if you don’t have Chrome. AdBlock is another popular extension with a good rating around 169,000 users, this one’s pretty understandable with what it does.
You can finally check out sites without those troublesome ads that keep on popping up on your screen, like mushrooms on a rainy day, when you get this Chrome extension. It’s quite simple to use, and once you download it for your Google Chrome, it activates automatically.
- Grammarly
You might have seen how spell check can be very beneficial, but this particular extension does more than the normal sentence structure, grammar discrepancy and spell check. Grammarly is one of the popular writing-enhancement platforms that have the capability of proofreading and plagiarism-detection. It is an amazing online grammar checking tools that claims to check for over 250 types of spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors in writing.
It brings completeness to your writing with much improvement thus makes your content look exceptional delivering proofreading services. Grammarly supports several document types, and you can categorize each document as a blog post, as an article and as a business document. Grammarly helps you identify a variety of mistakes that includes chaotic prepositions, overuse of the passive voice and verbose sentences.
- OneTab
When your work include online research, you tend to have around 15, 20, maybe more than 30 tabs open. You can’t even close them because you might fail to recall going back to those sites. Now, we all know that keeping a plethora of tabs open is not the finest way to manage multiple things to do, but it just can’t be helped because you know you need all those sites and their information as you are working on those sites.
That’s where OneTab comes into picture. With just a single click on its icon, it will turn all your tabs into a list. When you need to check up on the site again, you can simply restore it individually or all at once. This Chrome extension is the most beneficial extension that can help you de-clutter your tabs and reduce the CPU load, as having a lot of tabs open means a load of scripts which can slow down your PC or Laptop.
- LastPass
LastPass is the best password managers that helps you save your passwords and provides you secure access from every PC and mobile device. It is a secure and easy to sue extension. It is quite arduous to memorize all your passwords for various websites and devices. So, here is a solution in the form of LastPass. All you need to do is just remember one password which is your LastPass master password.
That’s enough! LastPass will save all your usernames and passwords to this Chrome extension so that you can auto login to your sites and sync your passwords everywhere you need them. LastPass is a robust password manager which is a must-use free tool that supports multiple operating systems and browsers.
- Privacy Badger
Privacy Badger is a browser add-on that stops advertisers and other third-party trackers from covertly tracking what pages you look around at on the internet. If it notices that an advertiser looks to be tracking you across multiple websites without your permission, Privacy Badger will automatically block that advertiser from loading any more content in your browser.
The extension is especially designed to automatically protect your privacy from third party trackers that load invisibly when you browse the web. They send the Do Not Track header with each request so that the extension assesses the probability that you are still being tracked. If the algorithm considers the possibility is quite high, it automatically blocks your request from being sent to the domain.
- DayBoard
Sometimes, what one needs to be more productive is just a constant reminder of their task priorities for that particular day. You can use DayBoard to type in your five most important tasks so that it will display your list every time you open a new tab in your browser. DayBoard is an extension that is actually referred to as to do list that emphasis on just 5 items each day.
Begin your day by writing down the most vital tasks you want to accomplish. Every time you open a new tab, you’ll be reminded of your priorities to help avert you from visiting distracting sites (e.g. Facebook, Twitter and Reddit) and stay focused on the task at hand.
DayBoard also features a history to show you your progress for the day, and a focus mode that displays you one task at a time. This Chrome extension will help you get through your work for the day with appropriate planning, and serves as a visual reminder of your priorities to stay dedicated on the task at hand.
- Click&Clean
Click&Clean is a one-click solution that helps you clean your browser and protect your privacy. With Click&Clean you can do the following tasks:
- Scan your PC for Malware
- Delete your browsing history
- Clear cookies and Empty cache
- Remove download history
- Remove Flash Cookies
- Erase temporary files
- Delete client-side Web SQL Database
- Chrome Remote Desktop
Chrome Remote Desktop isn’t technically an extension, but it gives you the supernatural ability to access other devices from your own and vice versa. Chrome Remote Desktop let users remotely access another computer through Chrome browser or a Chromebook.
Computers can be made available on a short-term basis for situations such as ad hoc remote support, or on a more long-term basis for remote access to your applications and files. All connections are completely secured. Did you left a file at work? Connect up via Remote Desk and grab it. It’s also an easy way to share your screen with someone else if there’s a difficult.
- Google Mail Checker
Google Mail Checker is a no-brainer for everyone who sends and receives email on a regular basis.
It is a great extension which is brilliant in its simplicity, displays you how many unread messages are in your inbox without your having to open your Gmail and click/tab over and check. Like many Chrome extensions, Google Mail Checker saves you valuable time you could be using productively.
- MightyText
MightyText is another best Chrome extension which does what iMessage has been allowing Mac users do for a while. You can send texts from a computer to other phones. Similar to iMessage, the extension gives you a pleasant notification when you receive a message.
Until MightyText there was no easy way to communicate from your computer to Android phones. Now you need not worry about what kind of smartphone your colleague has.
- Nimbus Screenshot
Nimbus Screenshot is an awesome tool for Windows users everywhere. The extension allows you to take quick and easy screengrabs. The Mac users have an Apple command for taking a screenshot.
Likewise the Chrome Remote Desktop, Nimbus Chrome extension can be a great tool for communicating with colleagues or showing someone exactly what you’re looking at, when words just don’t express it.
- Page Monitor
Page Monitor is an amazing Chrome extension that allows your browser to monitor web pages for changes automatically.
It can inform you whenever a specific page changes without you having to go and check every time, and it can even display you what the modifications are. If you have a long list of websites then you can just take a look at this tool and you can do your work flawlessly.
Other Useful Chrome Extensions
Quickly and easily switch between Google accounts and services.
Using this Chrome extension, you can browse web pages without distraction. No images, no videos, no animation. It also desaturates colours for a more relaxed experience.
HTTPS Everywhere is an extension that encrypts your communications with many major websites, making your browsing more secure.
Disconnect Search is a service that uses a specialized VPN to allow you to search privately using your favourite search engine. The reason to use this is that they claim they don’t log searches, IP addresses, or any other personal info.
These are the various beneficial Chrome extensions that help you boost your productivity and privacy. Hope this list helps you in the best way to increase your productivity and privacy.
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