The Google Chrome toolbar is a feature that, in the right hands, is extremely useful. It acts as a shortcut for the various functions we can perform in the browser. From it, we have access to a wide range of different functions: managing passwords, translation, browsing history, bookmarks, and more.
Don’t worry if you haven’t heard of this tool, as we’re talking about a fairly new feature. At first glance, you might be confused or even mistake it for the bookmarks bar. But fear not, because here we’ll guide you through configuring the toolbar yourself and deciding what to activate and what not. Either way, it’s a golden opportunity to add valuable features to the interface of the most downloaded browser in the world. So, I’m going to recommend the buttons I’ve activated and found most useful.
The first thing we need to do is find the toolbar. Be careful not to confuse it with the bookmarks bar that appears just below the browser’s address bar. If we want to access the toolbar, the procedure is quite simple:
Go to the three vertical dots in Google Chrome at the top right, where the different browser options will appear. Now go to “More tools,” which you’ll find at the bottom of the list. And from the menu that appears, select “Customize Chrome.”
You’ll see a sidebar appear on the right, where you’ll see the “Appearance” box and the “Toolbar (New)” box. So, access the latter. Now we’re ready to configure the toolbar.
Best Chrome Toolbar Options
As you may have seen, a list of features will appear, divided into several sections: Navigation, Your Chrome, Tools & Actions…
While it’s true that we can activate practically anything, the key here isn’t quantity, but quality. So, I’ll tell you which ones I found most useful.
Translate
When we see this tool appear in our browser, we’ll save ourselves the trouble of right-clicking and starting to search for a translation of a page in another language. Clicking on this icon will immediately open a small menu that will detect the source language of a page and ask us what language to translate it into.
Send to your devices
If you’re one of those who maintains active sessions across devices, this will please you. With the “send to your devices” button, we can open the current page directly from our mobile phone or tablet, or even on another PC. A list of the devices linked to our account will appear, and we can send the current website directly to open there.
Record
You can access your Chrome history directly with a single click. Clicking on it will open a right sidebar that won’t interrupt your current tab. From there, you’ll see your most recently visited pages and can also search for any page you’ve visited using the built-in search engine.
Bookmarks
You may have experienced the experience of suddenly not seeing your bookmarks right below the toolbar. This could be due to an accidental click or an update that upset your plans. If you activate “Bookmarks” within the toolbar, you’ll be able to expand them when you click on it, so you’ll never lose sight of them.
