Chrome's New Tab is useful, but a little boring. Whether you're looking for a nice background for your New Tab or want to easily create your own visual bookmarks, add custom widgets, and view live information like the weather or updates on your social networks, we've got a list of ways to make a Chrome New Tab your own.
Unfortunately, many of the new tab page replacements don't have the useful "Recently Closed" and "Other Devices" options that appear at the bottom of a new tab page by default in Chrome, allowing you to reopen closed tabs and open tabs from other devices you use . logged into Chrome. To open a closed tab without using this menu, you can always press Ctrl + Shift + T
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Install Chrome Themes
If you just want a new background, install one of the Google Chrome themes from the Chrome Web Store. Themes can add backgrounds to your new tab page, giving it more color and personality. We've previously looked at some beautiful Chrome themes
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How to install the chrome home page
To change the start tab, you must first open the settings.
In Google Chrome, the start page is set in the settings
Move the cursor over the three dots located in the upper right part of the browser and press the left mouse button. A context menu will open in which you select Settings.
The Google Chrome home page is set in the settings.
In the settings, in the section called Open at startup, you need to check the box for Specified pages and then click Add.
Google Chrome opens the tabs you specify when starting
A context window will open in which you need to enter the address of the page that should open when you start the browser and do not forget to click OK. You can enter multiple addresses. When setting up the home page in Google Chrome is completed, when you start the browser, the pages that you specified will immediately open.
Currently
Currently stands out among the new tab replacements. Most new tab page replacements are chock full of options and flashy website links. Currently going in a different direction, offering a more minimal experience. Currently shows the current time and weather in a new tab - that's all it does. You can customize colors, but you cannot add website links. If you want to see links to your favorite websites, you can click the button at the bottom right corner of the New Tab page Now to open the standard New Tab page.
How to download the required extension to your computer or laptop?
If you have already decided which plugin you want to install on your device, then it’s time to start downloading. The process itself is the same for all extensions and is very simple, so even for a person who is not very technically savvy, it will not be difficult. Here's how to do it:
- Open the Google Chrome browser.
- Place the cursor over the settings icon located in the upper right corner and click on it with the mouse button.
- From the list that appears, select “Additional tools”.
- Now find the word “Extensions” among the proposed options and click on it.
- You will be taken to a page where the plugins you already have are listed. On the left, click on the three horizontal stripes and select “Open an online store”
- You are now on the main page of the Google Chrome Plugin Store. Find the search bar at the top of the screen and enter the name of the application you need, for example, Speed Dial 2 or Yandex Visual Bookmarks.
- The system will offer you a selection of applications that match your search query. Select what you need and click on the “Add for free” button.
- Wait for the plugin to load and open a new window in your browser. If everything is done correctly, you will see a new start page with the ability to make tabs in Google Chrome on the start page.
Google Now style New Tab page [no longer available]
This new tab replacement copies Google Now's style
Enabled by default in Android 4.1 and above and available on Apple's iOS. Google Now is coming to Chrome soon, but for now you can replace this new tab page.
This extension doesn't actually work like Google Now and doesn't display the same information. Instead, it mimics the Google Now interface and provides an easy way to perform voice searches, display up-to-date weather and news information, and offer shortcuts to installed web apps.
Visual bookmarks panel from Yandex
Every new tab you launch has a default search bar and ten frequently visited resources. This panel changes dynamically. But you can install the Yandex extension “Visual Bookmarks” and add your favorite sites there to open them in one click.
- Go to the download page for visual bookmarks in the chrome online store and click the “ Install ” button.
- In the confirmation window, click “ Install extension ”.
- A characteristic icon in the form of a yellow-red flag will appear on the extension panel.
- Now, when you launch your browser or open a new tab, a visual bookmarks window will appear where you can customize your sites and pin them.
, you can use the hotkeys Ctrl + Shift + T.
OneFeed
OneFeed turns your New Tab into a "great social dashboard." It pulls content from sites like Gmail, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Dropbox, Google Drive and news sites, showing you relevant information. Like other New Tabs, it also allows you to launch recently visited websites and bookmarks.
Unlike some other new tabs, OneFeed is very polished and is almost a full web service. Your OneFeed settings will even follow you across computers if you're logged in.
How to add bookmarks to Google Chrome's quick access panel?
- After downloading the plugin, open a new page in Google Chrome. If you downloaded Speed Dial 2, then it will first contain brief instructions for use. It can be removed by clicking on the cancel icon.
- Now, to pin a tab in Google Chrome on the main page, you need to click “Add a new bookmark” and select “Custom URL”
- A pop-up window will open in which you can copy the URL of the page you need and confirm your choice.
By the way, all unnecessary bookmarks (including built-in ones) can be deleted by hovering the mouse cursor over each one and then clicking on the cross in the upper right corner of the rectangle.
You may be wondering, is it possible to set up the same function on an Android or iPhone? Unfortunately, this is impossible, because for phones and tablets a slightly different version of this browser is used, smaller both in size (due to the small amount of memory of mobile devices) and in the number of built-in functions.
This is why plugins that work well on a computer or laptop will be useless on phones.
New MetroTab
If you're looking for a new tab that tries to replicate the Microsoft Modern interface as closely as possible, try New MetroTab. The awesome New Tab page looks loosely inspired by Windows 8, but New MetroTab looks like an attempt to replicate the Windows 8 Start screen in Chrome as closely as possible.
The new MetroTab shows your installed apps and recently visited sites. Some apps can even display information as live tiles right on the new tab page, just like how live tiles work in Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8.
What it is
A tab in Chrome and other browsers is an element of the application interface in which the page is open. Allows you to run several sites simultaneously and quickly switch between them, but Chrome cannot simultaneously display the contents of a pair of sites.
How many can you open at once?
Each window is a separate process that consumes RAM. Theoretically, their number in Chrome is unlimited. You can enable unloading of unused pages to make your computer's work easier, for example, through OneTab.
Blank new tab page
Blank New Tab Page is a simple extension that allows you to disable the New Tab page completely. Once you install this extension, your New Tab page will always be blank—no more apps, bookmarks, or recently viewed websites cluttering your browser.
Express Tab Bar
If you don't want to remember different keyboard shortcuts for certain browser tools, you can open a new tab from the Express Tab Bar.
- Right-click any open tab above the address bar.
- In the context menu that opens, select “ New Tab ”.
The action is similar to a hotkey combination.
Add your own icons
If you like Chrome's standard New Tab page but want larger icons on your favorite websites, there's a way to get them. Just follow our guide on how to create custom Chrome web apps.
These web apps become large shortcuts on your New Tab page, allowing you to get direct links to websites that don't have Chrome web apps. For example, you could create a large shortcut that takes you to your bank's website or even MakeUseOf.
Do you have a favorite New Tab page replacement for Chrome? Leave a comment below and let us know, especially if we didn't mention it above!
Adding a bookmark folder
One of the interesting features in the browser is the creation of bookmarks, as well as folders with bookmarks. In this case, you can create a special folder to place frequently visited sites or pages with which you regularly work in it and launch them in one click.
Creating a folder with bookmarks is very simple, but first you need to adjust the visibility of the bookmarks bar if you have it hidden by default.
- Open " Menu " and hover your mouse over the " Bookmarks " section.
- In the pop-up window, select " Show bookmarks bar ".
A panel will appear below the address bar. If there are already some bookmarks here, they will be displayed as small icons and the name of the site.
- To add frequently visited sites to a folder, open them all.
- Let's say you need to add 10 different pages, using one of the methods described above, add a new tab and launch the page in it.
- Now open "Menu" and go to the section in "Bookmarks» or press the key combination Ctrl+Shift+D.
- In the pop-up window that opens, enter the name of the new folder, select the section where you want to place the folder with saved pages, or create a new one.
- Click "Save».
- You can then drag this folder onto the panel under the address bar to a convenient location to launch all your saved bookmarks in one click.
- To simultaneously launch all saved links to pages, right-click on the folder and select “Open all()"—the number of saved pages in a specific folder will be indicated in brackets.
Browser settings
Another approach to accomplishing this task is to use Internet browser settings. This option is used extremely rarely in practice. But it’s still better to know about it.
The algorithm of actions will be as follows:
- Open Chrome on your computer.
- Press the button with three stripes or dots.
- Select the “Add...” option.
At this stage the actions end. A new item will open in the tab bar. This is not the most convenient example of implementing the task.
How to change the tab size?
Unfortunately, there are no explicit options for changing the length of the panel field under the URL in Chrome. But you can zoom in/out on the open page. Zooming is performed in 2 ways:
1. While holding CTRL, turn the mouse wheel: forward - zoom in; back - reduce size.
2. Click the “lens” button on the far right side of the address bar and set the required scale using mouse clicks. To reset the size adjustment, click the Default Scale button.
