Top 10 Hidden features to activate on Google Chrome

Since its launch in 2008, Google Chrome has become (one of the) world’s most popular web browser on PCs, thanks to its speed and integration with Google services among other things. Google keeps on pushing updates to Chrome, rectifying bugs and adding features while keeping the UI minimalistic.

Among these added features, some are not ready to be enabled by default and users are given the opportunity to enable them individually. All such untested features are available for toggling at the url chrome://flags. I am having Google Chrome v33.0.1750.22 which was the latest beta version at the time of download. As of at the time of writing, the latest beta is v33.0.1750.46 and can be downloaded here. Here are some of the interesting and useful experimental features I found hidden among the huge pile.

One added perk you will enjoy when you install the updated version of Google Chrome is that you no longer have to worry about people snooping around your saved passwords. A new feature automatically enabled on the newer versions of Google Chrome require you to reauthenticate yourself by entering your machine's password before you can view your saved passwords in plain text.

Before you Begin:

• Depending on the version of Chrome you have installed, some of the experimental features mentioned below might not be available on your PC. That’s why it is recommended to have installed the latest beta version of Google Chrome from here.
  
• Google’s warning over the use of experimental features:

These experimental features may change, break, or disappear at any time. We make absolutely no guarantees about what may happen if you turn one of these experiments on, and your browser may even spontaneously combust. Jokes aside, your browser may delete all your data, or your security and privacy could be compromised in unexpected ways. Any experiments you enable will be enabled for all users of this browser. Please proceed with caution.

• If you feel the browser is not working as expected and want to roll back all the changes you have made, click the Reset all to default button present on the top right of the Flags page.
  
• If you are reading this article on Google Chrome on your PC, you can right click on the feature name and select Copy link address. Then open a new tab and paste the copied link in the new tab and press Enter. Otherwise, go to the url chrome://flags on Chrome, press Ctrl + F and search for one fo the features mentioned below and activate it.

10 Hidden Features you always craved for on Google Chrome:

• Enable Download Resumption:
  I had been looking forward to this personally since I had started using Chrome four years back. So, obviously, I jumped at the opportunity to enable it and you might want to too. Until you enable this option, Google Chrome downloads a file from the beginning once the download is interrupted (due to, say, loss in internet connectivity) no matter whether the server that is hosting the file supported resuming downloads or not. Not only the restarted download caused annoyance, it also lead to wastage of your data. This feature has been present in Firefox since ages.
  
• Enable Offline Cache Mode:
  If you are not connected to the internet 24x7 or want to go back to a page you read a few minutes back but disconnected from the internet just now, enabling offline cache mode will complete read requests from available stale cache entries.
  
• Ignore autocomplete=’off’:
  Some websites request the browser to not autofill the form on that page. Enabling this option will ignore a web page’s request to turn autocomplete off and thus save you the hassle of filling it manually, if you have enabled Autocomplete on Chrome, that is.
  
• Enable new Translate UX:
  If you disliked the infobar that slid down below the Omnibox (or bookmarks bar) offering you to translate the web page when you were on one with foreign language, enabling this option will activate a new UX which is more visually appealing (at least to me).
  
• Enable new profile management system:
  If your PC isn’t that personal and you share your Google Chrome with your family/friend, enabling this new profile management system brings new features such as profile sign-out and new avatar menu UI.
  
• Google Now:
  If you love Google Now notifications on your Android/iPhone, enabling this option will turn on Google Now notifications support on your Google Chrome.
  
• Enable experimental UI for Notifications:
  As Google states it, this option enables “various Notification Center features under construction/polish”.
  
• Stacked Tabs:
  If you don’t like the way the tabs shrink when you open a couple of dozens of them, this option will change the way the tabs are arranged. The image below will  make the situation crystal clear.

• Enable scroll prediction:
  According to the mini-description given below this option, Chrome will predict your finger’s future position thus giving it time to load that frame before you finger actually reaches there. As scrolling wasn’t that bad already on my PC, I didn't notice anything significant on enabling this but this sure sounds cool!
• Enable Tab Browser Dragging:
  If you are accustomed to the way you are allowed to drag an open tab to create a new window containing that tab only on Internet Explorer, Firefox or Opera, enabling this option on Google Chrome will let you do the same.

I hope you didn’t face any problem while enabling/disabling any of these features. If the descriptions I gave for any of these features wasn’t clear, google that term for a better understanding. As I stated in the Before you Begin section above, if Chrome starts behaving abnormally for you, you can reset all the changes you made by a single press of the Reset all to Default button. If the changes you made above sound cool, share this story with your friends who happen to be Chrome users to spread the knowledge.