Chrome with the right extensions becomes way more useful than vanilla Chrome. The extension store has 100,000+ options, most are junk. After installing hundreds over the years, these 10 free extensions are the ones that earn permanent installs.
1. uBlock Origin
The best free ad blocker. Period. Way more capable than free AdBlock Plus, lighter on resources, fully open source. Blocks ads, trackers, malware domains.
Critical install before you do anything else. Pages load faster, look cleaner, and the privacy benefits are real.
Note, Google has been deprecating Manifest V2 which limits older ad blockers. uBlock Origin Lite is the V3 compatible version, less powerful but still better than alternatives.
2. Bitwarden
The best free password manager has a Chrome extension. Auto fills logins, generates strong passwords, syncs across devices. Free for unlimited passwords and devices.
Way better than Chrome's built in password manager because it works in every browser, not just Chrome.
3. Dark Reader
Applies dark mode to any website. The dark mode is configurable, brightness, contrast, sepia. Way better than Chrome's native auto dark mode flag.
Specifically useful for sites with no native dark mode. News sites, Wikipedia, documentation pages all become readable at night.
4. Grammarly
Real time grammar and spelling checker that works in every text field. Email, Twitter, Google Docs, comments. Catches typos before you embarrass yourself.
Free version covers basics. Premium adds advanced rewrites and tone analysis at $30/month, optional.
5. OneTab
One click to collapse all open tabs into a list of links. Frees up massive memory. Restore individual tabs or all at once when you need them.
Anyone who keeps 30+ tabs open should install this. Saves 1+ GB of RAM regularly.
6. SponsorBlock
Automatically skips sponsored sections in YouTube videos. Crowdsourced database of timestamps. Click play, watch the actual content, sponsor segments skip automatically.
Saves 10 to 20 percent of total YouTube watch time. Huge over a year.
7. Wayback Machine
Official Internet Archive extension. When you hit a broken link or paywall, click the extension. See archived versions of the page. Genuinely useful for research and avoiding paywalls.
8. LastPass alternative for one time use
For situations where you need to log in but do not want browser to save the password, use the Honey extension or DuckDuckGo Email Protection. Both create temporary or alias inputs.
Honey is also a coupon code finder for shopping but the temporary password feature is underrated.
9. Vimium
Adds Vim style keyboard navigation to Chrome. Move around web pages, follow links, switch tabs, all without mouse. Steep learning curve but power users swear by it.
Skip this if you are not the kind of person who likes keyboard everything. For programmers and writers used to vim, it is fantastic.
10. Tab Suspender
Auto suspends tabs you have not used in a while. Frees memory without you having to manually OneTab. Resume tabs with a click when needed.
Chrome 124+ has Memory Saver built in which does similar thing. Tab Suspender adds more control if you want it.
Privacy bonus extensions
For privacy focused users, add these too:
- Privacy Badger, blocks trackers EFF identifies
- HTTPS Everywhere, forces secure connections (mostly built into Chrome now)
- ClearURLs, removes tracking parameters from links you share
- Decentraleyes, blocks Google Fonts and CDN tracking
Combined with uBlock Origin, this stack stops most tracking online. Performance impact is minimal.
Extensions to avoid
Some categories are full of risky or low value extensions:
- Most VPN extensions, the free ones often log your data
- Theme extensions that change browser look, often contain trackers
- Currency converters, screenshot tools, anything from unknown developers
- Anything that asks for unusual permissions like reading every page
Always check before installing, who developed it, how many users, recent reviews, what permissions it requests. Skip anything sketchy.
Manage installed extensions
Type chrome://extensions in address bar. See every installed extension. Toggle off ones you do not use. Remove ones you have not used in 6 months.
Fewer extensions equals less attack surface and better performance. Audit once a year.
What Chrome extension changed how you use the browser? Drop the name in comments, always looking for new ones.