Find Google Chrome
There are lots of ways to get more out of Chrome. Below, we put together nine of our favorites.
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We’ll also include how to open Chrome’s experimental settings, known as Flags, and how to reset Chrome to default if you want to start over.
Finding Chrome Settings
To find Chrome settings, go to the Chrome menu (the three dots next to your profile picture) and select Settings, or type chrome://settings into the omnibar.
Here, you’ll find a centralized set of controls that manages tabs, search engines, privacy, how content is displayed, how cookies and site data are used, and lots of other settings.
1. No More Notification Requests
Chrome notifications can be useful but they can also create too much noise. Since nearly every website now supports Chrome notifications, you’re likely to get way too many requests. Constantly clicking “no” can get distracting.
The good news is, you can turn them these notification requests in your Chrome settings.
Start here: chrome://settings/content/notifications
You’ll see a list of websites with their associated permissions. Right at the top is a toggle switch. By default, it’s set to “Ask before sending,” which means you’ll see the “site.com wants to send you notifications” popup on websites.
Toggle that switch over to “Blocked” and you shouldn’t see any notification requests. Some still do get through, but not nearly as many.
2. Get Around Ad Blocker Blocking
Are you using a Chrome ad blocker to save on bandwidth, speed up browsing, and generally get all those poorly targeted reminders ads off your screen?
Some sites have gotten more aggressive by blocking ad blockers. They’ll either lock access until you turn your adblocker off or they’ll hit you with a bunch of ads asking you to turn ads back on.
Here’s how to take back control. All you have to do is disable JavaScript on the sites that harass you about your ad blocker.
Go here: chrome://settings/content/javascript
The default setting is “Allowed” for all sites. You can block JavaScript for all sites, or add sites to a block list which cuts off JavaScript just for those sites.
If you block it across all sites, pretty much the whole internet will stop working. So it’s best to do it on a site-by-site basis. I recommend blocking JavaScript on a few sites that you use regularly. News sites are perfect examples.
3. Font and Sizing
Sometimes extensions can mess with the default fonts that Chrome uses to display content. Other times you might just prefer a larger font or a clearer one.
Whatever your reasons, you can easily adjust fonts across Chrome in Settings.
Start here: chrome://settings/fonts
You can adjust normal and minimum font sizes as well as customizing the font itself.
4. Review your Passwords
If you’re using Chrome Password Manager, you’re probably accumulating a massive pile of auto-remembered, auto-generated passwords. That’s better than using the same password for everything but it comes with some issues too.
One is that you could lose them if you reset Chrome to its default settings, though there are recovery options. Another is that anyone who sits down at a device with a synced Chrome account on it can see all your passwords by going here:
chrome://settings/passwords
We recommend getting a more secure password manager.
If you’re going to keep the Chrome password manager, I suggest you review your passwords for these items:
- Repetitive use of the same password. Sooner or later, a password will leak. That could be a serious problem is you use the same password across multiple accounts.
- Old emails for logins. Keep accounts updated with current email addresses so you can reset them quickly during a security break.
- Weak passwords. I’d use a password generation tool that creates really complicated passwords, that will make it harder for someone to get access to your account.
5. Customize Your Startup Pages
By default, Chrome opens a new, blank search page when you start up the browser. But you can set it to open on any page (or pages) you like. That way, if you need the same sites open when you sit down to work, you can set Chrome to display them automatically every time you relaunch the browser.
Here’s where to find the option: chrome://settings/onStartup
You can use an extension to control the New Tab page. But you can also set Chrome to:
- Continue where you left off by reopening all the pages you had open when you shut down the browser
- Open with a specific set of pages. You can choose these manually or have Chrome open the pages you have open now.
6. Send a Do Not Track Request
You can set Chrome to automatically send requests to websites to not track you.
How much this actually reduces tracking is open to question. Google doesn’t provide information on which websites respect this request. If privacy is a major concern, you should look into privacy-positive extensions that actually do prevent tracking. Sending a request is better than nothing.
Find it here: chrome://settings/privacy
Enable “Do Not Track” and click “Confirm.”
7. Set Flash to Ask First
By default, Flash player is blocked completely in Chrome. That’s because it’s an absolutesecurity and privacydumpsterfire. Which is why Chrome is removing support for Flash entirely.
You might be stuck using Flash for something. If you can’t get around it, you can have Chrome ask you if you want to use Flash instead of blocking it entirely. This is a much better option than turning on Flash by default.
Start here: chrome://settings/content
Select Flash and toggle the switch to “Ask first.” There are also Block and Allow lists. You can add sites to these lists to default to one option or the other every time you visit.
8. Mic and Camera Access
If you want to use video-calling tools like Skype, you’ll need to hand over control of your microphone and camera.
By default, Chrome sets camera and mic permissions to “Ask before using.” Just like in other Chrome settings, there’s a Block list and an Allow list. Adding apps that you use regularly to the Allow list will make sure your mic and camera always work.
Also, it’s good to check what you’ve given access to. No one wants a rogue site accessing their mic and camera.
Go here: chrome://settings/content
Open Camera, then check that you recognize and are OK with all the apps that have camera access. Go back and do the same with Microphone. To remove an app from the Allow list, just click the trashcan next to it.
9. Send Reports to Google
The Send reports to Google setting is off by default, but it makes sense to enable it. You’re not handing Google the keys to the kingdom by enabling this, but you are making it more likely that Chrome’s automated detection of suspicious websites will improve and eventually protect you better.
Enable it here: chrome://settings/syncSetup
While you’re in there, it also makes sense to enable Safe browsing. You can always disable it later if it seems to be getting in the way.
Bonus: Flags and Extensions
There are ways to access more advanced Chrome features. Chrome Flags allow you to control experimental features which can significantly alter the way Chrome works. The full list of Flags can be accessed at:
chrome://flags
Here, you’ll find tools to change the way Chrome looks, feels, interacts with websites, and more.
We especially love these:
- Tab freeze and discard (#proactive-tab-freeze-and-discard), which keeps tabs open but stops them running, so they don’t use memory
- Parallel downloading (#enable-parallel-downloading), which splits large files to accelerate downloads
- Lazy image loading (#enable-lazy-image-loading) which speeds up browsing by forcing images on web pages to load only as you scroll down to them
Here’s a full list of Chrome Flags you should consider.
There’s also a huge library of Chrome extensions. Some replicate functionality Chrome already has, while others offer really useful additions to what Chrome can do.
Resetting Chrome to Default Settings
If you ever break Chrome by accident and want to reset everything, it’s super easy. Scroll to the bottom of settings and click Advanced. Then:
- On Mac, Chromebook, or Linux: Under Reset Settings, click Restore settings to their original defaults > Reset Settings.
- On Windows: Under Reset and cleanup, click Reset Settings > Reset Settings.
You can do this at any time. But this won’t do a complete reset. Settings like fonts and accessibility might stay the same. To start over completely, you can always create a new user profile in Chrome. Or uninstall and reinstall.
The remarkable absence of a Google Chrome desktop icon appears to be a common situation among Windows 10 users (and Windows 8 users as well for that matter). If you’re sure you have Chrome on your computer but your Google Chrome icon is missing, you’re not alone. Question is: how do you create one so you can launch Google Chrome from your Windows desktop?
Luckily the answer is easy and in this article I’m going to show you step by step how to create your desktop icon for Google Chrome. While I’m at it I’ll also explain how to add your own Google Chrome icon to your start menu and your taskbar, so you know how to get a Chrome icon there as well should you be interested.
Furthermore, I’ll also be dealing with creating a Chrome desktop shortcut that takes you directly to a specific website or web page when you click it.
Creating Your Google Chrome Desktop Icon
To get started and create your Google Chrome desktop icon you first need locate where the executable file (the actual program) is situated on your computer. If the words “executable file” or “program” sound complicated to you, don’t worry. Admittedly, if you need to navigate with File Explorer through folders named “program files” and “program files (x86)”, it can get a little confusing at times.
But you don't need to work through all that. It's going to get boiled down for you. I'm going to drip-drip-drip the steps in do-able, um, drips.
To get started creating your Google Chrome desktop icon, click on the Windows 10 start button in the left-hand side corner at the bottom of your screen. That will open up your Windows 10 start menu, which may resemble the start menu in this image here.
With this start menu open and before doing or clicking anything else, start typing the word “chrome” (without the quotes). Many people don’t know that they can actually start typing at this point, because there’s no blinking cursor in some kind of input field. With the Windows 10 start menu on your screen like that it doesn’t look like Windows is expecting any kind of keyboard input, but indeed you can start typing to invoke the search function.
After entering the word “chrome”, your Windows search function should kick in and show you its best match for your search command. That should result in the Google Chrome program or app to appear on top of the “best match” results, like illustrated here.
(Note: if Google Chrome does not show up in your search results like that you probably don’t have Chrome installed on your computer, in which case I would recommend you to read my article on how to download and install Google Chrome).
Now, with the Google Chrome app at the top of the search results list in your Windows 10 start menu, right-click the Google Chrome app and select “Open file location” from the menu.
This simple action will open File Explorer directly in the right folder where your Google Chrome shortcut is located so you don’t have to navigate confusing folder structures. Your file explorer window will look similar to the one in the image right below here and you’ll notice that the Google Chrome shortcut is already selected (indicated by the blue selection bar).
Now right-click the Google Chrome item in your file explorer, then click “Send to” and select “Desktop (create shortcut)” to create your Google Chrome desktop icon.
As soon as you’ve finished this step you can take a look at your desktop and verify if your new Chrome icon is there.
Find Google Chrome Bookmarks
(Quick tip: to easily and quickly go to your desktop, simply press and hold the Windows logo key on your keyboard and press the letter d simultaneously. You can also check my Windows 10 desktop article to discover more ways to quickly show your desktop or to create your own “show desktop” icon.)
From now on you’ll be able to launch Chrome with your Google Chrome desktop icon.
Adding A Google Chrome Start Menu Icon
If you like working with the Windows 10 start menu, you may want to add a Google Chrome icon right there on your start menu as well. To do so, you can repeat the same first steps as described above: click your Windows start button in the bottom left corner and type “chrome” (again, without the quotes).
Then, with Google Chrome at the top of the “Best match” list, right-click the Google Chrome app and select “Pin to Start”.
That’s all there is to it to add a Google Chrome icon to your start menu. The next time you click your Windows start button you’ll find the Google Chrome icon there.
Please note: you may have to scroll down in your windows start menu to actually see the Google Chrome icon as Windows tends to add new icons at the bottom of the start menu. You can easily drag and drop this new start menu icon to a higher place in your start menu, but if you’re not sure how to effectively organize your start menu items I invite you to read my Windows 10 start menu article.
Your Google Chrome Taskbar Icon
Now that you have a Google Chrome desktop icon and a start menu icon you may be wondering whether it’s just as easy to create a taskbar icon. To add Google Chrome on your taskbar, you have several options.
The first option is to get started as described in the previous examples above, so click your Windows 10 start button and type “chrome” (without the quotes), which will bring up Google Chrome in the “Best match” list.
Then right-click the Google Chrome app and select “Pin to taskbar”.
A different approach is to start Google Chrome (for instance by double-clicking your Google Chrome desktop icon that you just created) and working with the icon that will then automatically appear on your taskbar.
You can right-click the Google Chrome program icon on your taskbar and select “Pin to taskbar” from the menu in order to, um, pin the icon to your taskbar.
A Desktop Icon To Go Directly To A Specific Web Page
Now if you want to create a Google Chrome desktop icon that immediately takes you to a desired web page you need to take a slightly different approach. Imagine for instance that you like working with Google Drive and you would like to have a Google Chrome desktop icon that immediately takes you to your Google Drive rather than to your Google Chrome start page.
To do so, simply launch Google Chrome and navigate to your Google Drive the way you usually do this and then click on the “restore down” icon in the top right corner of your Chrome window (next to the “x” to close the window).
The restore icon looks like a representation of 2 pages one right behind the other and will display “restore down” if you hover over it with your mouse pointer.
(If your “restore down” icon looks like only a single page and displays “maximize” when you hover over it, it means that your Chrome window is already “restored down”.)
So with your Google Chrome window in “restore down” mode, you can click and drag and side border or corner to resize the window and you can click and drag the title bar to move it around on your screen.
If you manage to position your Chrome window so that next to it you have a view on your desktop background, like in the image below.
Then you can simply drag and drop the item in your Chrome address bar to your desktop and voilà, there is your Google Chrome desktop icon that will take you directly to your Google Drive page when you click it. (Or any other page that you had open at the moment for that matter).
Of course this isn’t limited to the Google Drive example from above, you can also do this with any specific section or category of your favorite shopping website or any other web page.
Find Google Chrome Icon
Also good to know is that you can create as many of these Google Chrome desktop icons as you want, all with their own specific web destination.
Of course if you’re working with a whole bunch of specific web addresses that you want to “remember” like this, you might be better of creating Google Chrome favorites, which you can read more about by following the link.
Oh, and you can find other things to do with Chrome in my Google Chrome tutorial articles.
Enjoy your Chrome shortcuts and please take a brief moment to leave a short comment in the section below. I’d appreciate it, thanks :-)
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