TechTipADay

TechTipADay

Chrome / Browser cheat sheet

A printable browser checklist. Chrome menu names are from the desktop browser. On a Mac, Ctrl in a shortcut usually means Command.

Read the Chrome / Browser tips

  1. Translate a page from the address bar or the right-click menu

    Use the translate icon, or right-click the page and choose Translate. Easy. About 1 min. Chrome on a computer.

    Why it matters. You can read the page without pasting it into another site.

    1. Open the page.
    2. Click the translate icon in the address bar if it is there, and choose your language.
    3. If there is no icon, right-click an empty part of the page and choose Translate to English, or whatever language you have set.
    4. To change the language Chrome offers, go to Settings > Languages.

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  2. Make a QR code for the page you are on

    Chrome menu > Cast, save, and share > Create QR code. The other person scans it. Easy. About 1 min. Chrome on a computer.

    Why it matters. Handing a URL to a phone stops being a matter of reading it aloud.

    1. Open the page you want to share.
    2. Click the three-dot Chrome menu.
    3. Choose Cast, save, and share > Create QR code.
    4. Let the other person scan it, or download the image.

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  3. Let Chrome sleep the tabs you are not looking at

    Settings > Performance > Memory Saver. Inactive tabs reload when you return. Easy. About 2 min. Chrome on a computer.

    Why it matters. A laptop with a lot of tabs stays usable, at the cost of a reload when you go back.

    1. In Chrome, open Settings > Performance. The address chrome://settings/performance opens the same page.
    2. Turn Memory Saver on.
    3. If you see a level, leave it on Balanced unless the machine is genuinely short of memory.
    4. Add mail, music, or a chat site under Always keep these sites active if they get suspended while you still need them.

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  4. See which Chrome tab is using the memory

    Shift + Esc opens Chrome's own task manager. End the process that is the problem. Easy. About 1 min. Chrome on Windows, Mac, and Linux.

    Why it matters. You can close the runaway tab or extension instead of quitting the whole browser.

    1. Click Chrome so it is the focused app.
    2. Press Shift + Esc.
    3. Click the Memory column to sort.
    4. Select the tab or extension and click End process. Ending a tab closes it.

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  5. Search your open Chrome tabs instead of reading the tab strip

    Ctrl + Shift + A on Windows. Command + Shift + A on a Mac. Easy. About 1 min. Chrome on Windows, Mac, and Linux.

    Why it matters. Twenty tabs stop being a visual scan.

    1. In Chrome, press Ctrl + Shift + A. On a Mac, press Command + Shift + A.
    2. Type any part of the page title or the address.
    3. Press Enter to jump to the tab.

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