8 Hidden And Important Google Chrome Settings You May Want To Change

Google Chrome is by far the most popular browser on the planet. I mean the browser has captured more than 61% of the market share which is something quite phenomenal. While the browser works like a charm in default, there are certain hidden settings and features that can make your experience even better. Let’s take a look at those hidden settings.

Allow Extensions in Incognito

Have you ever browsed the web in “incognito” mode and wondered where all your extensions are? Well, by default, Chrome doesn’t allow extensions to work in incognito mode. However, if there is an extension that you cannot do without, there is a way to allow extensions in incognito mode.

How it’s done

To do that, open “Extensions” manager page and then click on the “Details” button of the extension that you want to use in incognito. Now, find the “Allow in incognito” option and enable it by clicking on the slider button.

Stop Chrome from Running Background Apps When It Is Closed

Not many people know this but by default, Chrome runs all its apps in the background even if you close down the browser. Therefore Chrome keeps on using your memory even if you are not using the broswers. Thankfully, there’s a setting that you can disable to stop this from happening.

How it’s done

Open Chrome and then go to Settings> Advanced, and disable the “Continue running background apps when Google Chrome is closed” option. This will save you both battery and system resources when you are not using Chrome.

Add/Remove Payment Methods

Whenever you use a credit or debit card to make a purchase online using Google Chrome browser, it asks you to save that information so that you won’t have to waste time entering the same details next time. Most of us knowingly or unknowingly agree to save that information in Chrome which is a problem if your device is used by anyone other than you. Even if you are the sole user of your device, you may still want to manage the information Chrome browser has of you.

How it’s done

To manage your payment methods, go to “Settings”>type ‘payments’> “Payment methods” and check out all the saved information. Here you can click on the “Add” button to add new payment methods or disable the “Save and fill payment methods” option to disable the same.

Manage Addresses and details

Similar to payment information, Chrome also saves details so that you won’t have to keep on filling in your details in the future. The saved information include web addresses, phone numbers, and more. However, one may have typed the wrong details initially so Chrome keeps bring up those incorrect details.

How it’s done

If you want to fix this, you can simply head over to Settings> type ‘autofill’> “Addresses and more” and remove the incomplete or incorrect addresses or edit and put the correct and complete addresses so Chrome fills in the correct address next time you are filling out a form.

Enable Guest Profile to Browse the Web More Privately

If you are browsing the internet on a public or friend’s computer and want to maintain your online privacy without losing out on any feature, creating a guest profile is a great option. When you browse the internet using a guest profile, the pages that you view do not appear in the browser history and they don’t leave other traces, like cookies, on the computer after you close all open Guest windows. Moreover, Guest profiles don’t get access to your personal data, so the websites you visit with the Guest profile won’t get any access to any of your personal data either.

How it’s done

To browse Chrome in Guest mode, just click on the profile icon at the top right and click on the “Open Guest Window”. Once you are done browsing the internet, just close all the Guest windows and your browsing information will be removed.

Disable Usage Report Sharing

By default, Chrome sends your usage reports to Google to make the browser better in the future. And while the data won’t have your identity, still you can disable the sharing all together if you want to be even more careful with what data Google can collect from your activities and also save your data package.

How it’s done

To disable usage report sharing with Google, go to Settings> Privacy> “Usage and crash reports” and turn it off.

Turn on Data Saving-For Google Chrome on mobile devices only

Data bundles are expensive for most of use hence it’s necessary to save data wherever it’s possible. Thankfully, Chrome has a data saving setting on smartphones which, when turned on, results in 60% less data consumption.

How it’s done

To enable this setting go to Settings> Data Saver and turn on the toggle.

If there’s an important Chrome setting that I have missed and you would like to share with us, drop it down below in our comment section.