Without a browser, we can not imagine working on a computer. However, the basic functionality itself is not enough. In this section you will see the most interesting extensions to popular browsers.
Huge possibilities
Thanks to extensions, browsers can gain additional functions and capabilities that will improve our safety and comfort of work. The extensions presented in this section are appreciated by thousands of users. It’s also worth checking for yourself what add-ons are available for the browser you use. There is a chance that you will find real gems that will help us in everyday use of the browser. My favorite addon is Turn Off the Lights and I use it very often.
We install add-ons in browsers
Here are the best browsers that will be worth using in 2019, and ways to enrich their functionality – to make them even better and work even better.
The most popular: Chrome
The most popular Internet browser from . Distinguishes itself from integrating with Google’s account and services. There are a lot of addons and extensions to it. To add a Chrome extension, click on the three dots in the upper right corner of the browser window, then move the cursor to More tools and click on Extensions. On the left side of the screen, click on three lines and at the bottom, select the Open Chrome Web Store option. Now we can use the add-in search box or select one of the site’s suggestions. After clicking on the add-on you just have to click on Add to Chrome. After a moment, a window will appear asking for confirmation. After clicking on the Add extension, the addon will be installed.
With extensive private mode: Firefox
It enables smooth browsing of websites in many tabs, offers extended private mode with protection against tracking, in which the history of viewed pages is not saved, also has functions that block parts of advertisements and scripts that slow down browsing. There are also many extras to Firefox. To use them, in the upper right corner of Firefox, click on three dashes and select Add-ons from the list. On the left, click on Download add-ons, then on the right on Find more add-ons and just use the search box or browse the catalog. After selecting the add-on, click Add to Firefox and Add.
VPN: Opera 56
In addition to the support of add-ons and graphic themes, through which we can easily customize the features and appearance of the browser to suit your needs, Opera also offers numerous improvements and optimizations. It has a built-in ad block, power saving mode, floating video window and free VPN service.
To add an extension, click on Menu in the upper left corner of the window, move the cursor to Extensions and click Download Extensions. Enter the name of the extension in the search field or search for it in the general catalog. If you decide to add it, click on Add to Opera. The installation is automatic, we do not have to confirm anything. To use the add-on, simply click on its icon to the right of the address bar.
As in the cinema: Turn Off The Lights
Turn Off the Lights is a convenient and useful addon designed to make it easier and more enjoyable to watch movies on websites. Works on all known video sites like YouTube and Vimeo. The add-on is available for many browsers and quickly gained enormous popularity. After clicking on the addon icon, the entire site, apart from the multimedia material, is darkened, so that we can feel like at the cinema and focus on the video being watched. At any time, we can return to the normal mode by clicking on any place in the darkened area. With the shortcuts + ↓ / ↑ we can control the degree of darkening.
Data saving: Data Saver
This is a special add-on that will be especially useful for people with low bandwidth. When this extension is enabled, the browser uses Google’s servers to compress the pages you visit before downloading them (Google does not optimize or see the pages that we connect to via HTTPS or which are viewed on incognito tabs). After clicking on Details, we can see how many transfers are generated by the websites visited. The add-on is also available for the mobile version of Chrome.
In Opera, we can enable a special built-in Turbo mode, the operation of which is very similar to this add-on (that’s why you do not need this add-on in Opera). For Firefox, we can install the Save-Data add-on: which works on a slightly different basis, but also saves transfer.
Checker Plus for Gmail
This is one of the best add-ons to handle your Gmail inbox without having to open it in a new tab. Checker Plus for Gmail makes us receive notifications and allows you to read messages in the field displayed after clicking on the add-on icon in the browser toolbar. Interestingly, we can configure the option of reading messages aloud. The add-on supports multiple accounts at the same time.
If we use the Opera browser, we can try an extension with similar functionality – Simple Checker for Gmail, compared to Checker Plus for Gmail it has slightly lower capabilities.
Saves open pages: Session Buddy
Session Buddy is used to save browser sessions, ie all open windows and tabs. It is useful if we often work with many open websites. When you need to unexpectedly turn off your browser or accidentally close the required tab, and above all, if we do not remember which sites we used some time ago – Session Buddy will allow you to restore your chosen tab layout. The addon automatically saves the sessions, marking them with dates, but we can name the sessions. Saving the current session also allows you to safely close multiple windows with different tabs to clear RAM. Sessions we can export and import. Firefox add-on is MySessions, and for the Opera – V7 Sessions.
Always safe: HTTPS Everywhere
It is a unique addon thanks to which we can improve our security on the web without slowing down the work of the browser. It works by automatically enforcing connection to the encrypted version of the site using HTTPS instead of the unprotected HTTP protocol. This avoids the possibility of intercepting the login and password of the user and prevents the user from viewing the actions performed by the user on the given website. The add-on is created by EEF and the Tor Project group. If the page does not load correctly, we can block the add-on on it.