Supermium

Supermium is a drop-in replacement for Google Chrome with privacy and usability enhancements, optimized for legacy and modern Windows systems.

https://win32subsystem.live/supermium/

Safety check within Google Chrome

Google Chrome offers a safety check feature under settings or via chrome://settings/privacy.  This checks for updates as well as malicious extensions.

Keyboard shortcut to access the Bookmark Manager within Google Chrome

To access the Bookmark Manager within Google Chrome, one method is to use the keyboard shortcut combination below.

Ctrl+Shift+O

A direct URL would be:

chrome://bookmarks/

How to check the sync process within Chrome

To check the sync process within Chrome, use the following URL:

chrome://sync-internals/

https://sites.google.com/a/chromium.org/dev/developers/sync-diagnostics

Temporarily disable extensions within Google Chrome

To temporarily disable all extensions within Google Chrome, use the command line switch of --disable-extensions.  So the entire path on a Windows client would be via Windows key + R:

"C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" --disable-extensions

Enable Microsoft spell-checker within Chrome

Microsoft has released a new browser spell-checker edition.  It is enabled by default on Microsoft Edge version 83 or later but Google has not enabled the feature on Chrome. To enable within Google Chrome:

Type "chrome://flags" in the address bar.

Type "Use the Windows OS spell checker" in the search bar.

Click on the drop-down menu and select Enable.

Google Chrome "Guest Mode"

Google Chrome within ChromeOS has had a "Guest Mode" for some time.  But the same feature is now available for other platforms such as Windows.  Using this option,  Chrome will delete all browsing activity from the computer after exiting the browser.

To use this option, launch Chrome with the command line switch --guest.

How to enable dark mode for all sites with Chrome

Starting with Chrome version 78, a flag is available to enable dark mode for all web sites.  Enter "chrome:flags" in an URL window and search for dark mode.  Enable the parameter for "Force Dark Mode for Web Contents.

https://www.howtogeek.com/446198/how-to-force-dark-mode-on-every-website-in-google-chrome/

How to disable web site notifications within Google Chrome

To disable the dialog box that appears when a web site asks for permission for notifications, enter the following URL:

chrome://settings/content/notifications

Toggle the parameter so the text displayed is "Block".

One method to install Google Chrome with Linux Mint

One method to install Google Chrome within Linux Mint is to use the following commands:

sudo wget -q -O - https://dl.google.com/linux/linux_signing_key.pub | sudo apt-key add -

sudo echo "deb [arch=amd64] http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/ stable main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list

sudo apt update

sudo apt install -y google-chrome-stable

https://www.itzgeek.com/how-tos/linux/linux-mint-how-tos/how-to-install-google-chrome-on-linux-mint-19-tara.html

Block being automatically being logged into Chrome

With the release of Chrome 69, it was discovered that logging into a Google account will also automatically log the user into Chrome.  To disable this feature, use the following URL:

chrome://flags/#account-consistency

Set the "Identity consistency between browser and cookie jar" flag to Disabled.

With Chrome 70, a menu option is now available to turn off this default parameter.  Access Settings –> Advanced, and then disable “Allow Chrome sign-in.”

Hidden game in Chrome

To access a hidden game within Google Chrome, use the following URL:

chrome://dino

At this screen, hit the space bar.

Use the Up arrow to jump the dinosaur over the cactus.

Ungoogled-Chromium

ungoogled-chromium is Google Chromium with some Google integration removed. It also features some changes to enhance privacy, control, and transparency.

https://github.com/Eloston/ungoogled-chromium

Chrome Cleanup URL

Google Chrome includes a “software_reporter_tool.exe” application created by ESET https://www.eset.com/int/google-chrome-cleanup/ to periodically scan for unwanted software on the Windows platform.  If you wish to manually execute a scan, use the URL:

chrome://settings/cleanup

Once the page is displayed, click on the Find link.

More details can be found below.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tips/web-browsers/using-chrome-settings-cleanup-to-scan-for-unwanted-software-using-chrome/

https://www.howtogeek.com/fyi/chrome-has-a-built-in-malware-scanner-heres-how-to-use-it/

https://blog.google/products/chrome/cleaner-safer-web-chrome-cleanup/

Disable SSDP traffic within Google Chrome

By default, Google Chrome sends SSDP network broadcast traffic on the local subnet.

M-SEARCH * HTTP/1.1
HOST: 239.255.255.250:1900
MAN: "ssdp:discover"
MX: 1
ST: urn:dial-multiscreen-org:service:dial:1
USER-AGENT: Google Chrome/65.0.3325.162 Windows

To disable the media router feature, launch Chrome and enter chrome://flags/

Search for “media router” and disable the feature.

How to disable auto-playing videos within Chrome

To disable the auto-playing of videos within Chrome, enter the following URL:

chrome://flags/#autoplay-policy

Use the dropdown to choose “Document user activation required” and restart the browser.

Extensity

Extensity is an extension manager for Google Chrome.

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/extensity/jjmflmamggggndanpgfnpelongoepncg

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/review/gaming/using-extensity-to-manage-your-extensions-and-optimize-chrome/

Strict Site Isolation with Google Chrome

Starting with version 63, Chrome has a new security feature named Strict Site Isolation.  Below is an explanation of this feature:

Google’s site isolation feature improves security for Chrome browser users. When you enable site isolation, content for each open website in the Chrome browser is always rendered in a dedicated process, isolated from other sites. This creates an additional security boundary between websites.

To enable this option, use the URL chrome://flags/#enable-site-per-process and click the enable button.

To use a command-line shortcut, use the switch "--site-per-process".

Chrome Connectivity Diagnostics

Chrome Connectivity Diagnostics is an extension that performs several network-based tests.  The tool tests a computer's network connection for common issues, port blocking, and network latency by establishing connections to network and Internet services via UDP, TCP, HTTP and HTTPS.

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/chrome-connectivity-diagn/eemlkeanncmjljgehlbplemhmdmalhdc

Google Chrome URL shortcuts

Below are some Google Chrome URL shortcuts.

chrome://version

Show version information

chrome://system

Show system information

chrome://policy

Show policy information

chrome://flags

Show advanced configuration settings