If you’ve ever used google chrome, you may know there is an ability to add things called extensions. These are add-ons that increase the features available to you in google chrome on your computer. Many of the extensions I use significantly improve and speed up my day-to-day tasks.
These extensions will be particularly useful for business owners but could are also things I often use for personal work as well.
All the extensions I’ve provided are free. While some have paid options, I use the free version of almost all of them and have only upgraded after a long period of free use for those that I needed to when my team expanded. I have included some affiliate links below for signups to paid services which means I’d get a small commission if you choose a paid plan at no extra cost to you. I only recommend and am an affiliate for services that I truly use and love.
- One-Click Google Doc
If you’re also a google documents user (if you’re not, you should be) then you may find it annoying how many clicks you need to do to create a new google document. I’ve installed the “Create a Google Document” extension to make this a one-click process so I can create documents much faster. You can add your extension by clicking here.
- What font
What Font is an extension that allows me to “spy” on other websites and find out what fonts they use. This is particularly helpful for finding out the names of fonts you’d like to use in your own work. I use this extension very regularly to find fonts for web design projects. You can install it by clicking here.
- What runs
What Runs is an extension that allows you to see details about other websites such as what website platform they use and what hosting provider. I regularly use this extension to find out how visually appealing or feature rich websites are built, and to find out what hosting providers other websites use. You can find this extension by clicking here.
- Lastpass
Lastpass is my favourite password manager. It allows me to not only store my own passwords securely and easily access them via my computer or phone, but it also provides a secure way for clients to share their passwords with me if they also use Lastpass. Lastpass is free but provides paid options if you need more features. You can sign up for an account by clicking here and then add the extension right here.
- Asana
If you’re an asana user like me, you’ll know that it’s a pain to pull up the website every time you need to jot down that task you’ve just remembered. I use the asana extension to add new tasks no matter what website I’m on. You can find it here.
- Grammerly
Grammarly is another one on the list with a paid version but has a fantastic free version. I usually find the free version sufficient. You can sign up for grammarly here.
- Tabs Aside
Tabs Aside is a completely free extension I found after a whole lot of headache. I’m a heavy tab user. My workflow means each project is a new chrome window and then each window will have anywhere from one to a dozen tabs for the different services I need open for that project. While I find this really effective for encouraging deep work, it often means I have a lot of tabs happening and taking up my computer resources. To help with this, for windows that I am not working on, I’ll use Tabs Aside to put the tabs “aside” for later. It allows me to create a little folder of all the tabs I need for a project, and then open them when I’m ready. You can have a look at what it offers by clicking here.
What are your favourite extensions? What’s your favourite from my list? I’d love for you to let me (and others) know in the comments.