If you haven’t heard about it yet, Google Chrome is a new browser from search engine giant Google. It offers a lightweight Internet experience and plenty of integration with Google services. There are a number of ways to enhance this experience, and we’ve detailed 50 of them here.

Tabs

Learn how to make better use of Google Chrome’s tabs with these tips.

1. Undo closing a tab: You can reopen a tab by pressing Ctrl+Shift+T.
2. Move a tab to a new window: You can detach a tab and open it in a new window by dragging it outside the active window. Tabs can be moved back in the same way.

Usability

These tricks will make Google Chrome just a bit easier to use for everyone.

3. Zoom in or out: Use+Mousewheel, and you’ll be able to zoom in or out of Chrome pages.
4. Run Java applets: Follow these instructions, and you can run Java applets like Yahoo! Games in Google Chrome.

Omnibar

Use these tricks to take advantage of Google Chrome’s useful Omnibar.

5. Query from your Omnibar: Type ? in front of your search term to use the default search option in your Omnibar.
6. Do calculations: You can perform simple calculations and unit conversions in Google Chrome by typing them in the Omnibar.
7. Get more Omnibar results: Modify your desktop shortcut to give you more results from the Omnibar.

Downloads

Manage your downloads more effectively on Google Chrome with these tips.

8. Copy downloads to the desktop: Drag and drop your downloads into your desktop or a file folder straight from Google Chrome.
9. Download YouTube videos: Using a Javascript bookmarklet, you can download YouTube videos in Google Chrome.

Efficient Tricks

These handy tricks will help you use Google Chrome in a more efficient manner.

10. Use keyboard shortcuts: Google Chrome has a number of keyboard shortcuts that will make navigation and use of the browser faster and more efficient.
11. Quickly find words: Google Chrome’s find feature has lots of details, so you can look for results through the number of found words, and even see where they are on the page based on lines in the scrollbar.
12. Switch tabs with your mouse wheel: Using AutoHotKey, you can turn your mouse wheel in order to change tabs.
13. View recent history: Right click on either the back or forward button to see some of the most recent pages you’ve viewed.
14. Launch a new tab with your keyboard: You can set your Caps Lock key to launch a new tab with TabsLock.
15. Find out what Senator Ted Stevens thinks of the Internet: You can find a tribute to Stevens’ take on the internet by visiting about:internets
16. View Chrome in a dual pane/split window: Using a Javascript bookmarklet, you can split your Google Chrome window.
17. Create your own keybord shortcuts: Use AutoHotKey to set your own custom keyboard shortcuts in Chrome.
18. Paste and visit URLs: When you have a URL on your clipboard, just right click your Omnibar, and you’ll go directly to the destination.

Personal Settings

Make Chrome feel a little more like home by using these tips.

19. Find your most visited websites: Open up a new tab, and you’ll be able to find the websites you view the most.
20. Switch your themes: Switch between Google Chrome themes using the Chrome Theme Switcher.
21. Import your settings and bookmarks: You can get settled into Google Chrome a bit better by importing all of your existing settings and bookmarks over from Internet Explorer or Firefox.
22. Tweak your Google Chrome settings: Use Greasemetal, a userscript runtime for Google Chrome, to do what Greasemonkey does to Firefox.
23. Add site search engines to Google Chrome: If a site’s search engine supports OpenSearch, you can add it to your search box just by visiting it.
24. Back up your profile: Use the free Google Chrome Profile Backup app to backup, restore and manage your Google Chrome profiles.
25. Create a multiple-tabbed home page: You can set several tabs at a time as your homepage and have the browser open them all when you start the browser or click on Home.
26. Create shortcuts: Google Chrome allows you to create Application Shortcuts to any internet page and save them on your desktop and start menu.
27. Disable functionality for speed: You can choose to disable images, javascript, plugins, and more in order to have a faster browsing experience.
28. Set a theme: Chrome has a number of themes that you can apply to it.
29. Define your Downloads save location: Under Options, you can set Chrome’s options to download to a specific location of your choice.

Compatibility

You can make Google Chrome play nice with these tips.

30. Open Firefox sites in Google Chrome: Using an extension, you can open links from Firefox in Google Chrome.
31. Use StumbleUpon: Using this program, you can put the StumbleUpon toolbar in Google Chrome.

Convenience

Follow these tips, and you can make using Google Chrome a bit easier.

32. Take it with you: Create a portable Google Chrome with this package that stores your settings.
33. Post to Twitter: With a bookmarklet, you can update your Twitter through Google Chrome.
34. Get Home back: You can change your options to get the home button on your browser.
35. Create a Gmail Compose bookmark: With a Javascript bookmarklet, you can open up Gmail’s Compose window with one click.
36. Increase a textarea: If you need more space to type in a textarea, just drag the lower right corner to resize it.
37. Find the status bar: Google Chrome’s status bar will disappear when not in use, but to see it, you can just hover over a link or load a page.
38. Save your tabs: You can ask Chrome to automatically restore your tabs from your last browser session.
39. Get a Google Toolbar: Google Chrome does not support the Google Toolbar, but you can get its functionality using a Fakebar.

Privacy

Keep your personal business and activities more private by following these tips.

40. Keep your searches more private: Disable Google Chrome’s auto-suggest feature to keep Google from seeing everything you type into your Omnibar.
41. Log in to separate accounts: With Chrome’s incognito mode, you can use two different sessions in separate accounts.
42. See your saved passwords: ChromePass will display off of the passwords that you have saved in Google Chrome.
43. Avoid spyware: You can use a browser based on Chrome, called Iron, to get the Google Chrome experience without spyware.
44. Block ads: You can block advertisements in Google Chrome by using Privoxy.
45. Surf anonymously: Chrome Anonymizer will make it impossible for anyone to track your Chrome activities.
46. Go incognito: If you’re unsure of the content behind a link, or you just want to keep your browsing more private, open pages in an incognito window.

System Tricks

Get more out of your Google Chrome system using these tricks.

47. Watch web page resources: You can keep an eye on how much resources a web page is using by right clicking and selecting "Inspect element."
48. Stay on top of updates: Sign up for a channel switcher from Google, and you’ll be on the cutting edge of Chrome updates.
49. View your about pages: See your stats, memory, and more by checking out Google Chrome’s about pages in your browser.
50. Change your user agent string: With this hack, you can get into a number of different websites you normally would not be allowed to access.

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