Google Chrome: improve its settings


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Google Chrome is an excellent web browser. A fine alternative to Firefox, if you have no problems with the different user interface and with sharing some information with Google.

Installing Chrome is a good idea, if only to have a second web browser in reserve, when you encounter problems on a web page in your primary browser.

Below you'll find some tips to improve your experience with Chrome.

Contents of this page:

Chrome and Chromium: what's the difference?

1. You may ask: what's the difference between Chrome and Chromium? The answer is: they differ very little.

Both Chrome and Chromium can be installed in Linux Mint and Ubuntu. Chrome is based on Chromium: Google develops Chromium as open source, and makes it freely available to open source developers, like those of Linux. But afterwards Google does some extra things to Chromium, and then releases it as Chrome. So one might say that Chromium is the father of Chrome.

Technically the main difference between Chrome and Chromium is, that Chromium has no support by default for several copyright-protected kinds of multimedia, and Chrome does.

In real life that's no big disadvantage for Chromium, because in Linux Mint it integrates automatically with Mints default multimedia support, which is almost complete.

The tips below (with the obvious exception of numbers 2 and 3) are nearly the same for Chrome and Chromium.

Installing Chrome

2. Installing the Chrome web browser is easy, like we're used from Google. Simply download the installer file from the download page of Chrome.

Usually the download page of the Google website automatically recognizes the operating system that you're using, so it should offer you the right .deb installer file straightaway.

For installing Chrome you can simply double-click the downloaded installer file, just as you would do in Windows.

This external repository poses no risk

3. When you install Chrome from the installer file that you get from Google, you automatically add the software repository of Google Chrome to your sources list. Nifty, because now you'll automatically get updates for this web browser in Update Manager.

Normally speaking I'm against adding external repositories, but I make an exception for Google: Google is a very large and reliable party, so that you're running no risks with this repository.

Disable Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Chrome

4. You can disable Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Chrome for the most part like this:

Type the following text into the URL bar (the bar with the website addresses):

chrome://flags

Press Enter.

Then use this query in the configuration screen that has appeared:

ai mode

You'll probably get to see four results. Disable all four of them by setting them to Disabled.

Close Chrome and relaunch it.

Improve Chrome's settings

5. Now you can start improving and securing the default settings of Chrome by means of its settings menu.

a. Click on the settings button (three vertical dots) in the top right corner of the Chrome window. Then select Settings

Section Privacy and security: Launch the Privacy Guide and make your choices.

Section Performance: Disable the following feature to prevent useless network traffic:
Preload pages

d. Make a habit of regularly (manually) deleting stored browsing data, by executing the following feature in the section Privacy and security:
Delete browsing data

Some graphics cards: disable the graphics acceleration

6. A few video cards have trouble because of the graphics acceleration (hardware acceleration) that's on by default in Chrome and Chromium. On most hardware, this browser feature is very useful and boosts performance.

However, when you experience graphics problems in Chrome (delay when typing text, problems with displaying videos), try if it helps when you disable it as follows:

Click on the button with three vertical dots in the top right corner - Settings - section System

Disable the following feature:
Use graphics acceleration when available

Close Chrome and launch it again.

Extensions and add-ons: don't turn Chrome into a Christmas tree

7. Extensions and add-ons for Chrome, can be very useful. You can download them here. You can configure their settings like this:

Click on the settings button - Tools - Extensions

But extensions have a couple of important disadvantages, because they are basically "applications within an application":

- they make Chrome run slower, in particular when there are many;
- they can cause malfunctions, both in each other and in Chrome in general;
- they might contain malicious content. Do not trust them blindly.

So don't turn Chrome into a Christmas tree: don't stuff it with all kinds of extensions. Limit yourself to only a few extensions, that are really important to you.

Strictly speaking, extensions and add-ons pollute the clean code of your browser. It's wise to keep the level of pollution down to a reasonable minimum.

Note: be especially averse to extensions that claim that they make Chrome run faster! Often they do more harm than good: for the sake of a minimal speed gain they can endanger the stability of your browser. Do not use them.

For the sake of privacy enhancement, this particular extension is advisable: Empty New Tab Page.

Solve an occasional update problem caused by Chrome

8. You can solve an occasional update problem caused by Chrome, like this (item 28).

Running Chrome in incognito mode

9. You can run Chrome in full incognito mode, when you launch it with this terminal command:

google-chrome-stable --incognito

If you wish to make incognito mode the default, then you can modify the Exec value of the Chrome launcher accordingly (simply by adding the handle --incognito).

Want to get rid of polluted settings in Chrome or Chromium?

10. Do you have polluted settings in Chrome or Chromium (possibly because of shady add-ons), and do you wish to start anew with a clean browser? Then proceed like this (item 15).

11. Want more tips?

Do you want more tips and tweaks? There's a lot more of them on this website!

For example:

Speed up your Linux Mint!

Clean your Linux Mint safely

Avoid 10 fatal mistakes


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