TIPS + TRICKS GOOGLE CHROME

Google's browser dominates the web, but are you getting the most out of it? Craig Grannell digs through the menus and dishes out the best ways to make it work for you...

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THE BASICS

Sync it up

■ Signed in before? Great! Chrome will remember. If not, set up a profile to sync your browser's brain across devices, including recent tabs. (Find those in:> 'History' on desktop and : or ... > 'Recent tabs' on mobile.) Got a work life? Set up a separate profile to keep it apart.

■ Make it your own

Your Chrome doesn't have to look like everyone else's. On desktop, head to: > 'More tools' > 'Customise Chrome' to shake up the theme. On iPhone, use ... > 'Customise menu'. And on Android, long-press the toolbar shortcut to change it, while wondering why Android's Chrome is the least fun. Tsk.

■ Dig into the desktop

Chrome on desktop lets you poke around the guts of a web page with dev tools. (:> 'More tools' > 'Developer tools' – and also 'View' > 'Developer' on Mac.) For power-ups, go to 'Extensions' and bolt on goodies from ad blockers to Al detectors, while once more wondering why these haven't made their way to Android.

■ Manage your tabs

Tab chaos? Herd all related pages into colour-coded tab groups. On desktop, pin regulars with ctrl/right-click > 'Pin'. On iPhone, tap-hold a tab and choose 'Pin tab'. On Android? Tumbleweeds. Sorry. Got a site you use loads on mobile? Share it to your home screen. If it's a progressive web app (PWA), Android will offer to install it. These act like proper apps, separate from Chrome.

■ Be a cunning linguist