Chrome

Chrome Featuers

Posted on by billman87

Secret Pages in Chrome

If you get bored of surfing the traditional Web, there are a few dozen hidden Chrome pages that you can check out on your browser. All you have to do is type the “Chrome URL” (usually begins with chrome://) into the omnibox. Some of these addresses are pages you find via Settings, but some are only available via a direct link.

Most of these pages are hidden for a reason: because you’ll never need to use them —they’re just under-the-hood info for coders and developers. You can find an official clickable list by typing chrome://chrome-urls into the omnibox. If you’re curious as to what they mean, Ghacks has put together a list of what each is used for.

List of Chrome URLs

  • chrome://appcache-internals
    • Information about appcached sites, including how much space they use.
  • chrome://bookmarks
    • Opens the browser’s bookmarks manager
  • chrome://cache
    • Displays all cached items, websites, images and scripts
  • chrome://chrome-urls
    • Displays this list. Can also be loaded with Chrome://About
  • chrome://credits
    • Technologies that are included in the browser, their licenses, and who has created them
  • chrome://dns
    • If prefetching is enabled, then information about the prefetching is displayed here
  • chrome://downloads 
    • The browser’s download manager listing all past downloads
  • chrome://extensions
    • Displays the installed extensions
  • chrome://flags
    • Displays experimental features that may or may not be integrated into the browser at one time or the other
  • chrome://flash
    • Detailed information about Chrome’s Flash integration
  • chrome://gpu-internals 
    • Information about the video card and supported features, e.g. hardware acceleration
  • chrome://history 
    • Opens the browsing history page with options to clear the browsing history or look through it to find a page that you have opened in the past.
  • chrome://ipc 
    • Information about Chrome’s inter process communication
  • chrome://inspect
    • Option to inspect elements, such as pages or extensions in Chrome
  • chrome://media-internals 
    • Displays media information when you play media
  • chrome://memory
    • Displays the browsers processes, and the memory usage of all web browsers opened on the computer
  • chrome://nacl
    • Information about Chrome’s NaCl plugin (Native Client)
  • chrome://net-internals
    •  Displays detailed network and connection related information, including SPDY connections, sockets or dns lookups
  • chrome://newtab 
    • Displays the new tab page
  • chrome://omnibox
    • Display address bar input results on this page, includes search, shortcuts and history information in the results
  • chrome://plugins
    • Lists all plug-ins and their status
  • chrome://policy 
    • All policies that are currently active in the browser
  • chrome://predictors
    •  A list of auto complete and resource prefetch predictors based on past activities
  • chrome://profiler
    • Statistical Feedback
  • chrome://print 
    • The print preview page
  • chrome://quota-internals
    • Information about free disk space available for the Chrome profile directory, and usage and quota details
  • chrome://signin
    • Sign in to Chrome with your Google Account.
  • chrome://settings
    • Opens the main Chrome Settings’ page.
  • chrome://stats
    • You need to run Chrome with –enable-stats-table for statistics to show up on this page. If you do not, the page is empty
  • chrome://sync-internals
    • Detailed information about the browser’s synchronization feature if enabled.
  • chrome://terms
    • Google Chrome’s Terms of Service
  • chrome://tracing
    • Recording needs to be activated before the page gets filled with information. Once you do, the browser will start to record your browsing activity
  • chrome://version
    • Displays the browsers version and various related information, including command line switches, user agent, JavaScript, Flash and WebKit versions, as well as path variables
  • chrome://view-http-cache
    • Displays web pages that you have accessed, or were accessed while you were browsing on the Internet.

listed for debug purposes only.

 

Create Google Calendar Events from Chrome Omnibox

I really like tips to make Chrome more productive and thought I would share this one as it is nice and easy to setup and is very handy. This tip allows you to quickly and easily add an event to your Google Calendar from within your Chrome Omnibox.

Just follow these steps and you’ll be setup and ready to add events within a couple of minutes.

  • Open Chrome Settings
  • Select Manage Search Engines
  • Scroll to the Add a New Search Engine box
  • Type Add Calendar Event in first box
  • Type Cal in second box
  • Copy and paste following in third box
http://www.google.com/calendar/event?ctext=+%s+&action=TEMPLATE&pprop=HowCreated%3AQUICKADD
  • Select Done

Now when you type cal into the omnibox and then hit tab (possibly twice, depending on your omnibox history) you will see the following.

Create Google Calendar Event from Chrome Omnibox

Then simply type your event into the omnibox e.g. ‘Party at Johns Jan 4th 3pm‘ and hit enter. You will then be taken to your Google Calendar where you can fine tune the details such as adding video calls, add guests, add map location, etc.

Create Custom Keyboard Shortcuts for Extensions

We’ve shown you some hidden keyboard shortcuts, but you can also create your own for all your downloaded extensions. If you go to the Extensions window (chrome://extensions in the omnibox), you will find “Keyboard shortcuts” at the bottom of the window. (Note: you will only see this option if you have downloaded and enabled extensions).

This box will allow you to create keyboard cues to launch any active extension in your library. For example, if you download the Google Hangouts app, you can create a keyboard shortcut to quickly pop out your list of contacts.

Omnibox Search Directly Into Individual Sites

You can automatically search through many websites without actually going to those sites, as long as they’re in your list of search engines (if not, we’ll get to that below).

This is beneficial if you wanted, for example, to go directly to the Wikipedia article on orangutans and skip the stops of going to Google or Wikipedia’s front pages first. If this trick is enabled, you simply start typing “Wikipedia,” and the far right side of the omnibox will prompt you to press tab to search within the site (in this case, Wikipedia). Once you press tab, a solid block will appear in the left side of the omnibox that says “search Wikipedia” after which you can type your search within in that site (in this case, “orangutans”). Hit return, and you’ll be taking in the Internet’s collected knowledge about our fuzzy orange friends.

This function isn’t even just specific to reference or search sites. You can use the omnibox to search directly through nearly any site, even PCMag.com—as long as it’s included in your managed list of search engines.

If a site is not included in your list, right-click on the search box on the site and click the the option: “Add as search engine…” Then you can have direct search access to Twitter, Google Drive, Gmail, CNN—anything with a search box, really. On a Mac, hold down the Control button when you click on the search box.

Drag Multiple Tabs at Once

Most people are familiar with the ability to drag and drop Chrome tabs into their own browser windows, or mix and match them between browser windows, but they may not know that it can be done with more than one tab at a time. Just hold down the Ctrl key and click on all the tabs you wish to move and you can move them as one. If you’re on a Mac, hold the Command key.

Omnibox Is a Calculator

As you may or may not know, Google will calculate basic math in the search bar. However, did you know that you can access a similar math function in your omnibox without ever going to Google.com? Just type in a basic math problem and the correct answer will appear in the suggestions below the omnibox without pressing enter (as you have to do on Google.com).

This handy little trick appears only to work if your default omnibox search is Google—you won’t get an answer if your default is, say Yahoo or Bing. It also doesn’t appear to work if you are typing into an incognito window, no matter what your default browser.

Omnibox Is a Unit Converter

Your omnibox can also perform Google-like unit conversions without going to Google. As with the calculator, the correct answer will appear in the suggestions below without ever hitting enter. As you type, Chrome will automatically convert your number into a unit that you may or may not want. So, if you type “9 inches,” Chrome may automatically suggest conversion rate to centimeters. If you want a different conversion, just type an equals sign with the conversion you do want (e.g. “9 inches = km” or “9 inches = mm” or “9 inches squared = m squared”).

Once again, this particular function only appears to work if Google is your default omnibox search engine and it won’t work in incognito mode.

A Simple Image Browser

Have you ever been organizing your computer and come across some jpeg and you have no idea what it is or how it got on your computer? Well if you just want to see what it is real quick, drag it directly into your Chrome browser window and take a quick gande

Drag to Search

Highlighting a word and performing a drag and drop is fundamentally the same as performing a cut and paste, so it stands to reason that you could just highlight a word or phrase and drag it into the omnibox to perform a Web search. Conversely, you can also just right-click on highlighted word or phrase and you will prompt a pop-up option to conduct a Google search (on a Mac, Control-click on a highlighted word).

Drag a URL to the Bookmarks Bar

If you come across a website you will want continual and easy access to, you can quickly add it to your Bookmarks Bar by highlighting the URL and dragging directly down to the Bar. Boom. You can edit it later if you want to change the name. You can drag a URL in from sources other than Chrome as well.

Use Key Commands to Browse Through Tabs

If you ever need to read something quick on another tab, hold down the Control key (Command on Macs) and a number 1 through 9. Each number is associated with a different tab starting with 1 all the way to the left and moving incrementally through 9 tabs as you move to the right.

Navigate Up and Down Using Key Commands

You can use the spacebar to scroll down on any webpage, and you can scroll back up by pressing Shift and the spacebar.

Open Specific Pages at Start

If you use the Web like me, you end up going to the same sites every time you log on. Conveniently, you can set Chrome up to open those same websites every time you start up. In the Settings menu, go to the section “On Startup” (or just type chrome://settings/startup in the omnibox) and click on the option to “Open a specific page or set of pages.” Next to that option is a “Set pages” link, which allows you to choose your starting sites (it will even auto fill from sites in your recent history or you can choose the tabs you currently have open).

Open a Search in New Tab

By default, searching in the omnibox for “taco” and hitting return opens a search for everything “taco” in your current tab. However, sometimes you want to look up information, but don’t want to lose the site you are on. Fortunately there is a key command workaround: Hold down the Alt button and hit return on your search and this will open in a new tab. Mac users, press the Command button instead.

Automatically Download Files to Your Desktop

This tip may not be for everyone. However, if you’re like me, you want quick access to a file you just downloaded and not have to open an additional window to get to it it. One way to achieve this is to have every file automatically download to your desktop for quick access.

To change where files automatically download, go to Settings (chrome://settings/), scroll down and click the Advanced Settings link, and then scroll down to Downloads. There you can alter where files automatically download to (in my case, I prefer the desktop). Alternatively, you can also click the option for Chrome to ask you where documents should go before every download. Use what works best for you.

Open Accidentally Closed Tabs

Have you ever mistakenly closed a tab? We all have. BUT thankfully Chrome is a forgiving browser and makes it possible to get it all back. All you have to do is press Control-Shift-T (Command-Shift-T on a Mac) and Chrome will reopen any recently closed tabs. You can keep hitting it for more closed tabs working your way back through your browsing history.

Translate Anything

Chrome already has built-in Google Translate for entire webpages. But if you just want information on a select phrase or passage, you can get it with just two clicks. First, install the official Google Translate extension. Then you can highlight any unfamiliar text (that’s one click) and click the little Google Translate icon that sits in the top-right side of your browser screen (that’s two). Look at you, Mr./Ms. polyglot-by-proxy!

Zoom In and Zoom Out

On a PC, you can zoom in or out on a page by pressing Control while rolling your scroll wheel up or down (or by pressing Control-Plus or Control-Minus). Once you zoom in or out from the default, a magnifying glass icon will appear in the right side of the omnibox. You can click the magnifying glass to manually zoom in or out or hit “Reset to default” to return to the normal 100 percent view. Conversely, you can also click Control-0 to return to the default.

On a Mac, you can zoom in and out by pressing Command-plus or Command-minus. Pressing the Command-0 function will still bring you back to default.

Easy Key Command to Delete Browsing History

If you ever want to delete your browsing history, including past URLs, cached images, passwords, and cookies, you can do that all through the clear browsing window in Settings. You can access it quickly by pressing Control-Shift-Delete and a “Clear browsing data” window will open. (Press shift-Command-Delete to access this function on a Mac.)

A Lot of Information Hidden in That Omnibox

If you didn’t know, clicking the little star in the far right side of the omnibox will prompt a bookmark list, which allows you to easily add a site to your list of favorites (I honestly didn’t know this until recently).

You may have also noticed on the far left of your omnibar a little icon that resembles a folded piece of paper or lock (to signify a secured site). If you click on it, it will prompt a window with all sorts of information about the site, as well as permissions particular to that site, which you can then manipulate.

Drag Links Directly to Your Desktop

There are numerous ways to store and organize links you want to click on later. However, one method you may not be utilizing—or even aware of—is the ability to create a link icon directly on your desktop. All you have to do is highlight a URL from the omnibox and drag and drop it on the desktop. Chrome automatically creates a clickable icon that you can use later, or organize as you would like.

Get Experimental With Chrome

Chrome recently celebrated the 1000th “Chrome experiment” submission. These experiments are user-submitted projects that take advantage of Chrome’s capabilities, and you can check them out at the aptly named chromeexperiments.com (though most of them seem to work just fine in other browsers as well). (Image)

Add Some Color With Themes

Tired of the default look on Chrome? You can download some (mostly free) “themes” from the Chrome store. Just click over to the Theme section and click to install; no need to re-start.

These themes mostly just change the edge of your browser, unless you go to the default apps page (chrome://apps), in which case it becomes your background, as you can see in the image above. (in this case, I used the free “Night Time In New York” theme.)

Create a Profile for Your Kid (That You Control)

You wouldn’t let the tiny little people in your world run free without supervision, and you shouldn’t let them run wild in the digital world unsupervised either. Chrome allows you to set up a separate profile for your kid, which YOU monitor and control.

First, create a new profile by going to Settings > People > Add person. Make sure to click the box next to “Control and view the websites this person visits from [your log-on account] and click Add. These supervised identities will not be set up with their own Google identity (which means they are theoretically not being tracked and targeted by Google’s ad business).

A few minutes later (in my experience, it may be up to 10 minutes later), you’ll receive an email link leading you to the supervised user’s page. Once there, you’ll have the ability to block certain sites, keep SafeSearch on lock, and view that user’s Web activities.

You can then log your kid into Chrome under their own identity by clicking the identity tag up in the top-right corner of the browser window. You also have the ability to set up multiple identities for multiple kids.

Hidden T-Rex Game

Did you know that Chrome has a hidden game featuring a monochromatic T-Rex? You can access it by manually disconnecting your device from the Internet and then opening a new tab. This will prompt a page that says “Unable to connect to the Internet,” and will feature a little 8-bit style T-Rex at the top (if you watch, you’ll notice he/she blinks every few seconds).

To play, just hit the space bar and you’ll enter a forever-runner game in which the T-Rex runs along a desert landscape. Press the spacebar to make it hop over the various cacti and vultures it encounters. It’s great fun for like 40 seconds.

Enable Cloud Printing

As you might expect, Chrome plays nicely with Google Cloud Printing (the default printing method for Chromebooks). Cloud printing allows users to print to any connected printer from anywhere. It’s easy to set up any “Cloud Ready” printer, just follow your manufacturer’s provided instructions (or click here).

But if you have a “classic printer,” you can still hook it up to Cloud Printing—as long as it’s connected to a computer on which Chrome is installed and any remote printers are logged in to the same Google account. To set up your printer, on the associated computer’s Chrome browser go to Settings > Show advanced settings… > add new printers Google Cloud Print.

Update Autofill For Easier Shopping

With everything going on in the world right now, I feel like a jerk complaining about the need to retrieve a physical credit card from my wallet in order to purchase something online. But yet here I am.

Thankfully Chrome has a little trick to mitigate this first-world annoyance. Just go to Settings > Show advanced settings… > Manage Autofill settings (under “Passwords and forms”). Here, you’ll be able add /edit addresses and credit card numbers.

You have the ability to store numerous credit cards. When Chrome identifies a form to purchase something, the credit cards you’ve saved will automatically show up in a drop-down list (you’ll still have to enter the CVC number). This feature is particularly handy on mobile as Google has linked the desktop autofill to the Chrome mobile apps.

One-Tap Mobile Search (for Android)

As we went over earlier, you can search any term in Chrome for Desktop just by right-clicking it, but there’s a handy equivalent for the Android mobile version. Just highlight any word or phrase via a long tap and Chrome will create a search for that term via a pull-up menu—just slide up once you see the prompt at the bottom of your screen.

How to Opt Out of Flash Muting (Don’t Do This)

Flash is dying (finally). That’s a good thing—it’s a huge resource hog. So, to that end, Team Chrome has wisely decided to place Flash in a special category where it will “intelligently pause” content (like Flash animations) that “aren’t central to the webpage” in order to spare battery life.

If you really wanted to opt out of this default feature (you don’t want to), go to Settings > Show advanced settings > Content settings… (under Privacy) > Manage individual plugins… > check the box next to Adobe Flash Player.

Source