The 8 Chromebook extensions AP’s ChromeOS expert can’t live without

Chromebooks have changed from laughable laptops years ago to competitors in the PC space. Chromebooks come in all shapes and sizes to meet the needs of a diverse audience. In addition to flexible designs, getting apps on Chromebooks is adaptable. You can access data through your browser, download Android apps from the Google Play Store, use progressive web apps, or use Google Chrome extensions. That’s a lot of options, and it ensures you can access apps how you want. This list discusses the best Google Chrome extensions for Chromebooks to improve your ChromeOS experience.

1 Save to Pocket

Save articles for later

Save to Pocket makes it easy to save the information you see on the web to access later. You may have read something, thought it was interesting, and noted that you wanted to talk to someone about it later. Then, when you talk to them, you’ve forgotten or lost the article. This is where Pocket comes in.

Pocket allows you to save articles to read later. Pocket is available everywhere. It has an Android app, an iOS app, a website, and a Chrome extension. You can access it from any device. It creates a list of your saved articles and allows you to sort, favorite, and archive them. You can also highlight important information within an article and save it for later. Pocket is a great service that’s useful whether you’re a student, a professional, or a regular person.

2 Keepa – Amazon Price Tracker

Track Amazon pricing

If you’ve ever shopped for a product on Amazon, you know the price can vary from week to week. Keepa can help you manage this with price alerts when the price for an item you want to buy drops. You can look at a graph of the item’s price history and set up an alert if the price drops below a certain price threshold. A premium subscription is available if you want more granular data or more flexibility with the data, but it isn’t required to use the extension.

3 Buffer

Post to multiple social media sites at once

Social media is essential whether you’re an influencer or want to keep your family and friends updated about what you’re up to. The issue is there are so many social media sites where you interact with different groups of people. Posting on each of them separately can be time-consuming and frustrating. Buffer’s goal is to relieve this frustration and make it easier to post everywhere.

Connect your social media accounts to Buffer and you can compose and post to all of them in one place. Buffer also allows you to plan posts or campaigns for the future. Buffer is free for up to three social media accounts and has paid premium tiers depending on how many channels and additional features, such as analytics, you want.

4 Google Keep Chrome Extension

Easily save content and ideas

In addition to saving full articles, saving specific images or text may be useful. This can be done using Google Keep or the Google Keep Chrome Extension. After installing and activating the extension, you can use it to make a note of items on the page. Tap the extension icon or highlight something, right-click it, and select Save selectionto Keep. You can save ideas or images you love and keep everything in one centralized location. Google Keep is free and requires a Google Account, which you have since you use a Chromebook.

5 Office Editing for Docs, Sheets & Slides

Edit Microsoft Office files

One issue with Chromebooks for many users is the lack of Microsoft Office support. You can’t download the Office applications and must use the Office website to access your files and applications. The Office Editing for Docs, Sheets & Slides extension can fix this issue. This extension allows you to edit Office files using Google’s GSuite applications.

It is different from uploading an Office file to Google Drive and editing it from there. Instead of converting items to GSuite formatting, it tries to keep all formatting and properties the same. While this application isn’t perfect, it’s better than the alternative. It’s free to use and requires a Google Account.

6 Tab Resize – split screen layouts

Use tabs like windows

Chromebooks have great multitasking features for managing your windows. While these features are great, they only work for managing windows, not tabs. That’s where the Tab resize – split screen layouts Chrome extension comes in. This extension allows you to arrange tabs similar to how you arrange windows in ChromeOS. It’s better because it allows more customization for how many tabs you want to show at a time and lets you customize the number of rows and columns you see. There are no subscriptions for this application.

7 Momentum

Spruce up new tabs

Chrome is one of the most popular browsers since it works well and has great features. While it’s great, one area where it could do better is the new tab screen. Chrome is better than using MSN as your new tab screen since it can get overwhelming. Chrome’s tab screen is almost too plain and does not have many functions. The Momentum Chrome extension aims to fix that.

Momentum gives you a better new tab screen. It includes a new, calming background, mantra, and quote that changes each day to help you feel calmer and more focused. It also lets you add relevant information like the weather, shortcuts to commonly used websites, and more. It includes a focus mode and a to-do list to help you focus on the task at hand. The extension is free but has a premium tier if you want to add additional features such as AI, unlimited focus mode, habit metrics, and more.

8 View Image

Add a previously removed Chrome feature

It is always unfortunate when an existing feature is removed from a product. One example is the removal of the view image button in Chrome, which allowed you to open an image in a new tab to export or save it. While the feature is officially gone from Chrome, the View Image Chrome extension brings it back. By installing the extension, the button returns to the Chrome UI. It’s a simple extension but a useful one.

Make your Chromebook better with extensions

Chromebooks can get apps from several places, including the Chrome Web Store. The Chrome Web Store offers extensions to improve your Chromebook experience. In addition to these great extensions, some great Android apps from the Play Store can make your Chromebook even better.