Google Chrome is not yet the most used browser in the world according to statistics (where Internet Explorer still dominates) but it is certainly the most used in home computers, winning the competition with Firefox. Chrome is terrific as a program for surfing the internet when integrated with extensions, some of which are so essential and indispensable that they would always be installed, and perhaps become one with the Google browser.
Among the tens of thousands of Chrome extensions available on the Chrome Web Store, we can say that at least 15 or 20 of these are truly indispensable and useful, to be always installed, to strengthen browser security, improve CHrome speed, add functions and facilitate them use .
1) HTTPS Everywhere is a security extension to force websites to use secure https connection if supported.
This extension, installed by almost one million users, really manages to give more security to navigation.
2) Web of Trust, more commonly known as WOT, is that service that uses colors to evaluate websites based on their reputation.
With this extension installed it becomes easy to avoid clicking dangerous links and going to suspicious sites
3) Sticky Notes is the extension to put a small notebook in Chrome, which is easy to access and where to write notes.
It becomes very convenient to copy and paste, for example, Name and surname, telephone number, credit card number or other information that often happens to have to write on websites.
4) Pushbullet allows you to create a communication channel between PC and mobile phone.
Whether you have an Android smartphone or an iPhone, to integrate PC and smartphone you need this application, perfect for passing images, files, links and simple text notes from one to the other.
Pushbullet is also great for reading cell phone notifications on your PC and for replying to Whatsapp messages from PC and Mac.
5) Speed Dial 2 replaces the initial Chrome tab, the one that appears on startup with the most frequently visited sites.
After installing this extension it becomes easier to access bookmarks, history and most visited pages.
speed Dial 2 is one of the extensions to improve the Chrome tab
6) crxMouse Chrome Gestures is an exceptional extension to add gestures with the mouse and move Chrome more quickly, for example to go to the previous page or to update or to pass another tab.
You can then hold down the right mouse button and move the mouse to the right or left to load the previous or next page, or up or down to scroll the page up and down.
There are many options for customizing gestures that are worth trying.
7) Hola Better Internet or ZenMate are extensions that have a dual purpose: VPN to simulate the connection from another country and open sites blocked due to geographical restrictions or censorships and Internet Accelerator to load web pages faster.
8) Click & Clean is a button for cleaning Chrome with a single click and, therefore, clearing cache, cookies, history and all the rest.
9) Imagus (and not HoverZoom which turned out to be malware) is the extension to enlarge images to their maximum size when you hover the cursor over them, saving you the trouble of clicking and opening them in a new tab.
This is especially useful on Facebook, on Google's image search, on Twitter and other image sites.
10) Turn Off Lights is a very simple extension that allows you to dim the screen when viewing a video on Youtube or other streaming video sites.
The button is a light bulb that appears on the right of the favorites bar.
11) LastPass is the easiest to use and free password manager.
A password manager generates ultra-complex and impossible to remember or discover passwords for web accounts and automatically populates them.
The user only has to remember the main password, the master password, which is used to recognize himself in Lastpass.
See also the article on how to manage website passwords securely.
12) Pocket, Evernote Web Clipper, Instapaper or Send To Kindle are those extensions that save articles and web pages to read them later, perhaps in the evening, from the Kindle eBook reader or from the Tablet or iPad (via the Pocket and Instapaper apps ).
13) Checker Plus for Gmail is the indispensable extension to receive immediate notifications of new messages received in Gmail and to respond quickly from Chrome, without opening the Google Mai site.
14) Freshstart is that essential and indispensable extension that can save sites and open tabs so that you can reopen them later, at another time.
The nice thing is that this extension synchronizes with your favorites and therefore allows you to review the sites opened by another computet, on Chrome (by logging in with the Google account).
15) Data Saver for data compression in Chrome, in order to save network bandwidth and traffic.
This extension is essential and mandatory to use when surfing with consumer internet connections.
16) Google Quick Scroll is used in searches with Google.
If you search for a word or phrase, after clicking on a result, this extension will be able to tell us where that word or phrase actually is, saving us the time to search for it.
17) Downloads is the extension that adds a button to open the tab of downloaded or being downloaded files.
Other extensions allow instead to have a download manager in Chrome
18) Panic Button to immediately close all open tabs with a button, which is always better to have.
19) The Great Suspender, to suspend the cards after a certain period of inactivity, in order to free the memory occupied by them, without however closing them.
When you return to a suspended tab, the site is reloaded.
READ ALSO: Suspend inactive Chrome cards to save memory
20) Print Friendly, to print web pages without wasting ink, deciding what to include and what to exclude.
These extensions of Chrome are only 20 of the many that are there so if you have others to recommend, leave a comment.
Remember, however, that it is not convenient to install more than 20 or 30 extensions if you do not want to make Chrome a monster sucks resources and memory.
It is therefore appropriate to check, depending on the use that is made of Chrome, which of these is really indispensable and which instead can be sacrificed.
READ ALSO: 30 Most useful Google Chrome extensions to add to the browser
