How to Customize Google Chrome

How to Customize Google Chrome.

One way to enjoy the Internet is to customize your web browser. If you use Google Chrome, you have several ways to customize your favorite browser to suit your style, mood, or preferences.

From using a theme to automatically changing your background every day to organizing your New Tab page, here’s how to customize Google Chrome and make it yours.

1. Use a Google Chrome Theme

One of the quickest and easiest ways to customize Google Chrome is to use a theme. This applies to the entire Chrome window, including tabs and the New Tab page.

You can view themes by visiting the Chrome Web Store and selecting Themes below the search box on the left.

You can also go directly to the Theme section of the Store from your Chrome browser settings.

Click on the three dots in the top right corner of Chrome and select Settings. Select Appearance on the left. Select a theme at the top to go to the Chrome Web Store.

You can choose any theme. From dark and black to bright colors, cool cars, and pretty colors, you’ll see plenty of options.

Choose a theme, select “Add to Chrome” and enjoy your new scenery.

2. Pick a Color Scheme

If you choose not to use the Chrome theme, you can still change the color of the browser window. You have two places to access this feature.

Choose a scheme in Chrome settings

Open settings using the three dots in the top right corner. Select “You and Google” on the left. Choose Customize Profile. Select a color scheme below “Select a Theme Color”.

Select scheme on new tab page

Open a new tab. Choose Customize Chrome or the Customize This Page icon (pencil). Select a color and theme. Select a color scheme and click Done.

Each color scheme includes two colors. The window and tabs are colored darker, while the active tab is colored lighter.

3. Choose Your Fonts

To customize fonts, you can choose not only sizes, but also styles.

Open settings using the three dots in the top right corner. Select Appearance on the left. On the right you will see an option to select the font size. The recommended size is medium, but you can also choose from extra small, small, large, and extra large.

Under this option, select Customize Fonts. You can then use the sliders at the top to set the exact font and minimum font sizes. Under these settings, you can choose the font style for standard font, serif font, sans-serif font, and fixed width font.

As you make changes, you’ll see examples in the Customize Fonts section.

4. Adjust the Page Zoom

By default, all pages are displayed at 100 percent scale. This is another setting you can change and is useful if you find it difficult to read web pages.

Open settings using the three dots in the top right corner. Select Appearance on the left. Use the drop-down list to the right of Page Scale to select the zoom level.

5. Select an Avatar

If you sign in to Chrome with your Google account, you’ll see your avatar in the top right corner of the window. With it, you can manage syncing, access or sign out of your Google account.

If you want to use a different avatar than the one assigned to your Google account, that’s doable.

Open settings using the three dots in the top right corner. Select “You and Google” on the left. Choose Customize Profile. Select an avatar in the Choose Avatar section.

6. Customize the New Tab Page

Along with personalizing the Chrome window, fonts, and page zoom, you can customize the New Tab page.

To see the options, open the New Tab page and select Customize Chrome or the Customize This Page icon (pencil) in the lower right corner.

Select a background

The New Tab page in Chrome is handy for quick searches on Google or your favorite websites. With that comes background customization.

In the pop-up window, select Background on the left. You can upload your photo or choose a category like earth, art or geometric shapes.

If you select a category, you can select a specific background image from that collection. To change the background automatically every day, turn on the Refresh daily switch. You will then see a new image from that category every day when you open Chrome.

When you’re done, select Done. Select labels

You can create your own shortcuts, view your most visited sites, or hide shortcuts.

In the pop-up window, select “Shortcuts” on the left. Select the option on the right that you want to use for labels. Select Done when you’re done.

Adding, reordering, or removing labels

You can easily add, modify or remove shortcuts from the New Tab page.

If you selected “My Shortcuts” above, use the “Add Shortcut” icon below the search field to enter the website’s name and URL.

To reorder sites, simply drag and drop them. To delete one, use the three dots in the top right corner to select Delete.

If you select “Most Visited Sites” above, you will see that the websites you visit regularly automatically appear below the search box. You cannot change the order of these sites, but to remove one of them, click the X in the top right corner.

Card View

Google Chrome offers so-called cards that appear at the bottom of the New Tab page. As long as you’re signed into your Google account, you can choose to view recent recipes or shopping carts.

In the pop-up window, select Maps on the left. Select Customize Cards and then use the radio buttons to display the card types you want. If you later change your mind, return to this location and select “Hide All Maps”. Select Done when you’re done.

Recipe cards are displayed for recipes that you have searched on Google and have recently viewed. Cart cards are displayed for merchants that you have visited and added items to your cart but have not completed the checkout process.

Cards give you a quick and easy way to get back to those recipes or shopping carts.

These features and options can help you personalize Chrome. To learn more, check out how to make Chrome the default browser on Mac and iOS, or how to enable dark mode in Chrome for use in apps like Google Docs.