How to use the new Chrome actions to boost your productivity

Chrome 87 brings a very handy new feature: Chrome Actions. Essentially, it turns your browser’s address bar (or omnibox) in a command prompt, you can access various tools and functions without having to dive into menus and navigate dialog boxes.

The trick is to know which actions are Chrome actions, although you will see suggestions for some pop-ups as you type. Google says the feature is rolling out slowly, so you might not see it yet, but you can at least make sure you’re upgraded to the latest version of Chrome first by selecting Help me then About Google Chrome in the browser menu. (We describe the currently available Chrome actions below, but there are apparently more. on my way.)

Once you’ve typed in a phrase, you should see the corresponding action button below, which you’ll need to click to confirm (in our version of Chrome, at least it is not enough to type the phrase and then press Enter). As XDA Developers points out that each action can be initiated in different ways.

Try them in the omnibox with Chrome actions enabled.

“Clear browsing data”

As you might expect, this one takes you straight to the browsing data pop-up, where you can clear your browsing history, cookies, hosted data, and more. You can choose what types of data to erase and you can choose how far you want to go in Chrome history using the drop-down menu at the top.

You will be automatically redirected to the Advanced of the dialog box, which gives you a little more control over what information you are clearing. Note that if the data is synced between devices (like your browsing history), it will be erased from all of your devices at once, so check what you’re deleting before clicking Erase data.

Individual Chrome actions can be worded in different ways, but they all lead to the same shortcut. You can also type “clear cache,“ “erase data,“ “Delete history,“ “Info clears,“ “Clear story,“And” delete history “to trigger that action, but they all lead to the same place in Chrome.

“Manage passwords”

Chrome has become a capable password manager in recent years, and you can use this text shortcut to quickly view any passwords that the browser has saved. You will be taken to your main password list, where you can search for passwords you stored (using the box in the upper right corner) and check if any of your passwords may have been compromised.

Click the eye symbol next to any password to view login information, or click the three dots next to any password to copy or delete it. Whenever you try to reveal or interact with a password, you must enter the password of the user account on your computer to prove you are who you say you are for an added layer of security.

Other phrases you can deploy here include “change password,“ “Change credentials,“ “Show passwords,“ “Password view,“ or “show credentials” – they will all show the same action button and lead to the same screen.

“Manage payment methods”

Chrome can store your card details and auto-fill them if needed, and this shortcut gives you direct access to the list of saved cards. You can change your current payment methods, add new ones, and more. Basically iIt’s the same as choosing Settings then Payment methods in the Chrome menu.

Changing any of your saved payment methods involves launching the Google Pay site, but it only takes a few clicks. You can also tell Chrome not to save your payment information after entering it on the web, and to completely delete the cards and accounts listed if you no longer want to store them.

You can view the same Chrome Actions field along with a variety of other commands, including “change credit card,“ “Cards modify,“ “Update payments,“ “Modify browser payments,“ “Manage the cards,“ and ‘save cards.“

“Incognito”

One word is enough to bring up this particular Chrome action, although there are other options. You probably know how incognito mode works by this point: no part of your browsing history is saved while you’re incognito, and Chrome won’t permanently store cookies on your computer either.

Also remember the limitations of incognito mode, in that you will always be followed whether you log into Facebook, Google, Amazon or elsewhere. Downloads are always kept and your ISP will always know everything about the different sites you visit (unless you have used the services of a VPN).

You can launch it in several ways: Type “Private window,“ “Enter incognito,“ “Start incognito,“ “Start private mode,“ “Open private browsing mode,“ “Launch of the private tab,“And” private tab “(although you cannot have a single private tab – it must always be a separate window).

“Translate this”

Google Chrome usually does a good job of translating pages into a foreign language on the fly, but you can also show the translate on demand pop-up with this phrase. Chrome will attempt to detect the language the website is written in and gives you the choice to convert it to your default language.

If the languages ​​on the screen have not been correctly identified, you can click the three dots to the right of the pop-up dialog to specify the language to use. It is also possible to completely disable translation for the page you are currently on.

You can also bring up this Chrome action button by typing “Change webpage language,“ “Translate the page,“ “Change the language page,“ “Browser translation page,“ “Web page translation,” and Chrome page translate.“

“Update Chrome”

Earlier we mentioned how to check to be sure you are running the latest version of Google browser, but this Chrome action makes the process even simpler. This is a good example of how these actions can save you time.

ANDyou can see which version of Chrome you are currently using and update it if necessary. Chromium is generally good to keep up to date, but it is a practical safeguard.

The other commands that will work here are “update browser,“ “VSchrome upgrade,“ “Install the browser,“ “Update the browser,“ and “install Google Chrome.“ As long as your sentence is close to that, the action will appear.