Google Chrome is perhaps the easiest browser to use because it has a single menu of options activated by the wrench at the top right. In addition to this, however, just as Firefox has secret menus in the About pages, Chrome has other internet configuration pages that can be viewed by writing, in the address box, the command Chrome: // page_name.
From this page you can activate the experimental functions, use the diagnostic tools and view detailed performance statistics.
So let's see the main advanced configuration pages of Chrome .
1) To see the entire list of Chrome's secret pages, type the command chrome: // chrome-urls / .
From the list of URLs that appears, just click on the various links to access the pages.
Some of them open menus also visible from Chrome options; for example, chrome: // bookmarks opens the bookmarks manager, chrome: // settings opens the classic options and settings menu and chrome: // history / opens the history.
There are also some special addresses for debugging and troubleshooting at the bottom of the About page.
For example, you can write chrome: // kill / in the address bar to close the tab even if it is blocked.
NOTE: You can also restart Chrome with a click with chrome: // restart
2) The most important of the internal pages of Chrome is the chrome: // flags which opens a screen of options that can be activated or deactivated with a click.
This options screen contains all the experimental functions that have not yet been activated on the current version . Google warns that, by activating one or more of these options, Chrome may not work properly but you can always go back and restore the option to the initial value. These experimental functions could be integrated in the browser in the next version, they could remain experimental for a long time or they could disappear. Among these are, for example, hardware acceleration, print preview, automatic compilation, instant search and many other things. For example, you can enable synchronization of open tabs here which can be managed by another page called chrome: // sessions / .
This feature will almost certainly be turned on by default in the next version but you can already use it now.
3) chrome: // memory and chrome: // tasks / are two very important diagnostic pages because they say how much memory Chrome is using and how much, each single open tab and each installed extension, use the resources of the computer. By analyzing these statistics it is possible to find out if an extension is too heavy for your computer. chrome: // memory is useful because it shows the memory consumption of both Chrome and other open browsers, such as Mozilla Firefox or Internet Explorer. This way you can quickly check which one is lighter on your pc. You can reach the same screen on memory usage from the wrench menu by selecting " View pages in background " and then on " statistics for nerds ".
4) chrome: // net-internals / is a network statistics and diagnostics page.
From here you can read data about the use of any proxies, the packets transferred, the DNS and many other information for network experts. Most of the tools here don't serve much to normal users, except for a particularly useful tool that allows you to see why a site isn't loading. You can also enable or disable the Throttle which serves to protect your computer from involvement in Ddos attacks. For the network, the page chrome: // dns / is also interesting to see all the statistics regarding the opening of websites.
The chrome: // net-internals / # bandwidth page shows us the Kbytes downloaded and loaded during a session.
5) Chrome: // crashes is used to see the list of crashes that have occurred.
Logging is only visible if the setting (in Stuff from geeks) "Automatically send Google usage statistics and crash reports" has been activated in the general options menu.
The page does not say much so I recommend consulting the guide with solutions if Chrome crashes often or crashes.
6) chrome: // components is the list of plugins and components installed and integrated in the browser .
It is useful to consult this list both, possibly, to disable the plugins that go into error, and to disable those installed by installed programs that have no use on Chrome and consume only memory.
7) chrome: // tracing is an advanced tool to analyze Chrome's performance.
8) chrome: // sync-internals / finally serves to see the status of the profile synchronization, if it has been activated from the options menu.
9) chrome: // predictors / lists all the URL suggestions that Chrome gives when you start writing on the address bar.
10) chrome: // extensions shows us the installed extensions.
In another article, the other Chrome tricks, hidden commands and options .
