Below I list the top 10 Chrome extensions to get you started.
1. AdBlock - Some claim that ad blocking is killing the free Web, others say that ad blockers are simply killing bad advertisers. Whatever your position, anyone looking for an equivalent of Greasemonkey for Chrome should start with the AdBlock Chrome extension. It strips out most ads from the majority of websites, making for a cleaner, faster (and, thanks to blocked autoplaying video ads, quieter) browsing experience
4. IE Tab- Some sites are optimized to run exclusively in Internet Explorer, especially Microsoft products like Outlook Web Access. Don't give up that native IE Web functionality 99just because you're using Chrome. The IE Tab Chrome Extension creates a virtual IE browser within Chrome, so you get all the Internet Explorer-ness without running two different browsers.
5. Docs PDF/PowerPoint Viewer - If Chrome has one glaring weakness, it's that it doesn't always handle PDF links very well. (I've had to kill more than a few stalled Chrome tabs that unknowingly tried to open PDF online forms.) The Docs PDF/PowerPoint Viewer Chrome extension sends any PDF or PowerPoint Web link to Google Docs, where the document can be read, surfed, printed or saved quickly and easily.
6. FastestChrome - FireFox users will call this Chrome extension FastestFox for Chrome, which is appropriate, since the two plug-ins share the same creator. The FastestChrome extension enhances Web searches. Highlight any word on a page to get a definition of the term, or launch a search for the text. On Google search results, additional results pages are automatically loaded so you can just keep scrolling. Relevant results from other search engines and sites -- like Amazon and Wikipedia -- are interlinked into standard Google search results. On Wikipedia pages, related articles are automatically loaded into the left-hand column. If you perform any amount of web research on a regular basis, the FastestChrome extension gets very addictive, very fast.
7. GooglePreview - The GooglePreview Chrome Extension is simple: It adds a thumbnail to the left of any Google search result showing a snapshot of the listed website. This is very helpful when you're looking for a site you visited but didn't bookmark, as the thumbnail image can help jog your memory. Also, if there are (ahem) unsavory images on the page, you'll know before you open the link
2. Chrome SEO
Current features: show number of Pages Indexed on Google, Yahoo...; show Page Rank by Alexa, Google...; show IP Address, Server Location...; Back-links; Social Bookmarks; Cached Versions.
Displays the number of unread messages in your Gmail and Google Apps inbox. Preview mail, read, delete, archive and mark as spam!
Many users admit it's better than the more-popular Google Mail Checker extension.
Many users admit it's better than the more-popular Google Mail Checker extension.
4. IE Tab- Some sites are optimized to run exclusively in Internet Explorer, especially Microsoft products like Outlook Web Access. Don't give up that native IE Web functionality 99just because you're using Chrome. The IE Tab Chrome Extension creates a virtual IE browser within Chrome, so you get all the Internet Explorer-ness without running two different browsers.
5. Docs PDF/PowerPoint Viewer - If Chrome has one glaring weakness, it's that it doesn't always handle PDF links very well. (I've had to kill more than a few stalled Chrome tabs that unknowingly tried to open PDF online forms.) The Docs PDF/PowerPoint Viewer Chrome extension sends any PDF or PowerPoint Web link to Google Docs, where the document can be read, surfed, printed or saved quickly and easily.
6. FastestChrome - FireFox users will call this Chrome extension FastestFox for Chrome, which is appropriate, since the two plug-ins share the same creator. The FastestChrome extension enhances Web searches. Highlight any word on a page to get a definition of the term, or launch a search for the text. On Google search results, additional results pages are automatically loaded so you can just keep scrolling. Relevant results from other search engines and sites -- like Amazon and Wikipedia -- are interlinked into standard Google search results. On Wikipedia pages, related articles are automatically loaded into the left-hand column. If you perform any amount of web research on a regular basis, the FastestChrome extension gets very addictive, very fast.
7. GooglePreview - The GooglePreview Chrome Extension is simple: It adds a thumbnail to the left of any Google search result showing a snapshot of the listed website. This is very helpful when you're looking for a site you visited but didn't bookmark, as the thumbnail image can help jog your memory. Also, if there are (ahem) unsavory images on the page, you'll know before you open the link
8 . Firebug Light
While it might only really apply to web developers, Firebug Light is nevertheless one of the most essential tools you can think of to have alongside your Chrome installation if editing HTML and CSS is you cup of tea. Why's that? Firebug Light allows you to quickly pull up the full details of a given page, split into sections for easier scanning.
9. Sexy Undo Close Tab
Reopening a closed tab in Chrome is super-easy, right? Just hold down Control, jam Shift, and hit "T." Voila. Up pops the tab you were last viewing.Now, what if you wanted to check out a tab that you were viewing, say, eight tab-closes ago? Would you really want to pull up that many old tabs just to get to the single piece of information you sought? Dare you try to navigate your way through Chrome's history, which can itself be mucked up and confusing based on the browsing you've done through any number of individual tabs?
10 . Xmarks
Xmarks the spot, as the joke goes. In this case, the "spot" is, "your comprehensive collection of bookmarks that you don't want to lose every time you hop to another system or web browser." And you won't, not with this awesome extension. For Xmarks gives you an automatic method for synchronizing your browser bookmarks to a centralized server-the "cloud," as it were-which you can then pull down onto any applicable browser installation… anywhere
Xmarks the spot, as the joke goes. In this case, the "spot" is, "your comprehensive collection of bookmarks that you don't want to lose every time you hop to another system or web browser." And you won't, not with this awesome extension. For Xmarks gives you an automatic method for synchronizing your browser bookmarks to a centralized server-the "cloud," as it were-which you can then pull down onto any applicable browser installation… anywhere
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