Browse the web as a guest

When possible, browse the web as a guest. Websites load faster for signed out users.

Block ads + cookie prompts

uBlock Origin not only lets you block ads, but also cookie prompts. To enable blocking of cookie prompts, go to the extension’s options > Filter lists and tick these boxes under Annoyances:

- EasyList Cookie
- uBlock filters - Annoyances

Auto discard tabs opened in the background

Auto Tab Discard lets you automatically discard tabs opened in the background. To enable this, go to the extension’s options and tick the box called:

- Discard all newly opened inactive tabs after they get loaded

Use lightweight alternatives of Reddit, Twitter, YouTube and the homepage

Redirector lets you redirect requests from:

reddit.com -> old.reddit.com
youtube.com -> yewtu.be
twitter.com -> nitter.net

To set up these redirects, go to the extension’s options and import these settings:

Redirector.json

(Note I’m writing this from the point of view of someone who visits YouTube and Twitter as a guest. For content creators the original websites will be better.)

For New Tab Page, you can use a minimalistic extension like this one:

https://github.com/mikefsn/new-tab-page

Open in Spotify desktop client lets you open Spotify links in the desktop app instead of separate web instances.

Keep Chrome running as a background process (on Windows)

Lightning Reopen lets Chrome run as a background process on Windows. This makes the browser launch instantaneously.

Disable animation when opening Chrome windows (on MacOS)

In order to disable the animation when opening Chrome windows on MacOS, you can run this command:

defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSAutomaticWindowAnimationsEnabled -bool NO

To enable it again, run this command:

defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSAutomaticWindowAnimationsEnabled -bool YES