We launch into Internet searches through a variety of browsers, but we have to admit that one of the most popular ones is Google’s Chrome. Owing to the fact that it’s useful, fast, easily available and powerful, Chrome has grown in leaps and bounds to become the de facto browser for many users worldwide.
Its usefulness is, in part, thanks to its customisation. Chrome has a feature known as extensions, which add functionality to your experience. These extensions can be found under the tools option inside of the settings tab (three dots on the top right of your browser).
The extensions tab will take you to a list of the options available, though you can also visit the Chrome webstore using a link in the menu for more variety. These are some of the extensions you can make use of.
1. Full Page Screen Capture
The print screen button on your computer’s keyboard can only capture what’s currently showing on your screen. If you want to, for example, capture an article or piece online in full without having to scroll down and send it in bits, that’s where the Full Page Screen Capture extension on your Chrome browser comes in.
Once installed, it can save a single-image screenshot of the entirety of a page – even the parts you’d need to scroll down to see – at one go. You can access it by pressing alt+shift+p. The app then opens a new tab that provides you with several options so you can customise whether you want to save your image as a PDF or regular image.
2. Duckduckgo Privacy Essentials
This extension is a godsend for privacy buffs – which, ideally, should be all of us. In the era of web tracking and the recent Facebook privacy scandal, Duckduckgo is a search engine that doesn’t track your activities. Duckduckgo Privacy Essentials is a Chrome extension that goes further than that, blocking trackers on the Internet.
It also forces encryption on any of the sites that have it available, thus securing your web experience from third-party interference. It also grades various websites on how well they protect your privacy, shows you how many trackers it has detected, and even shows you the bad practices various websites have that threaten your privacy online.
3. Loom Video Recorder
What this extension does is essentially record the activity you carry out on your screen if you choose to allow it, and save it in a publicly shareable site to which you can give others access.
This app gives you the ability to record your entire screen or just a tab, turn sound on/off, record webcam footage and integrate it into a video, or just share the screen or camera only. Launched mid-2016, Loom is especially useful if you need to train students, employees or customers on how to use certain functionalities online.
