5 Chrome tips to organize your browser

It’s spring cleaning season, a time to declutter both our physical and digital spaces. Here are five ways you can organize your Chrome browser to clear up your screen (and your head).

1. Manage your bookmarks

No need to dig through a long list of old bookmarks to find what you need. Clear out your unused bookmarks to save valuable time.

Once you’ve organized your bookmarks, use the address bar to quickly find the right one: Just type @Bookmarks into the address bar, click “Search Bookmarks” or press tab, and type in a keyword to access it right from the search bar.

2. Organize your tabs

It’s hard to let go of all your tabs — especially that article you really want to read or the (many) shoes you’re considering buying. Tidy up those links by organizing them into tab groups. Simply right-click a tab, select “Add Tab to Group” and give the group a custom name and color. Just click its name to easily collapse or expand a tab group.

Need more ways to stay on top of your reading and shopping lists without clogging up your tabs? Add articles to your reading list to easily find and catch up on them later, even if you’re offline. And if you’re looking for online shopping deals, you can track prices in Chrome to receive discount alerts without having to refresh the page.

3. Hide distracting sites

When you’re looking for a distraction, it’s tempting to open all those tabs again. Luckily many Chrome extensions in the productivity category can keep your screen clear, especially when you need to focus. BlockSite, for example, lets you set a time limit for a pre-selected list of sites. Once you hit your limit, just tuck the site back into its tab group — or better yet, close it altogether.

4. Update old passwords

Remember that account you created years ago? It probably needs a new password. Try Password Manager to update all your old passwords at once. While you’re there, you can also run a Password Checkup to see if any of them are weak or compromised.

If you’re on a roll, you can even run a Safety Check on your entire Chrome profile to make sure you don’t have any harmful extensions or software installed.

5. Mute site notifications

Getting overwhelmed by site notifications, like customer service chats or discount alerts? Just right-click a tab and select “mute site.” Chrome also automatically hides a notification’s content while you’re presenting so you can stay focused during important meetings.