In the workplace as well as at home we are so inclined to use Google search, Gmail and Google Chrome browser that it is difficult to imagine life without these products. From powering tasks at work to watching YouTube at home on the Chrome browser google is deeply integrated into our virtual lives. These six Chrome extensions listed below will help improve your productivity while at work and act as a significant time saver:

1) Push Bullet

Pushbullet enables you to receive notifications aimed at your phone right in your browser window. This requires you to install the Pushbullet app from the Google Play store in order to complement the desktop extension. It makes it easy to share pictures, links or files to your devices and with your friends. Another very useful feature in Pushbullet is that it allows you to copy paste something from your desktop Chrome browser to your Android device. It can be downloaded for Google Chrome browser from this URL: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/pushbullet/chlffgpmiacpedhhbkiomidkjlcfhogd and on for Android on Google Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pushbullet.android&hl=en_GB

2) Ginger

While we are busy typing on our keyboards all those emails and all other mundane tasks, we end up committing a lot of grammatical mistakes daily. Much akin to using built-in dictionaries in Word or Google Docs, Ginger is an extension that goes beyond the traditional spell check feature. Ginger features proofreading and learning capabilities not available anywhere else — punctuation, definitions, quick access to a comprehensive dictionary, effective learning and translation. It supports popular websites like Facebook, Gmail and others. It can be installed from this URL: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/spell-checker-and-grammar/kdfieneakcjfaiglcfcgkidlkmlijjnh?hl=en

3) Google Similar Pages

This extension can be extremely useful while researching information online and trying to find material similar to what you are currently reading. It can save you the time and hassle of finding relevant queries on Google search engine and jump straight to the topic of your choice being researched with the use of this nifty extension. It can be installed using the URL: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/google-similar-pages/pjnfggphgdjblhfjaphkjhfpiiekbbej

4) Clearly

Clearly declutters all the annoying ads, banners and provides a clean reading experience by stripping all the irrelevant content from the webpage. This adds the ability to mark up, highlight your article and save to Evernote. It can be installed from this URL: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/clearly/iooicodkiihhpojmmeghjclgihfjdjhj?hl=en

5) Save to Google Drive

The Save to Google Drive Chrome extension enables you save web content or browser screenshots to your Google Drive. You can save documents, images, and HTML5 audio and video all by right clicking and selecting ‘Save to Google Drive’. It can be installed using the URL: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/save-to-google-drive/gmbmikajjgmnabiglmofipeabaddhgne?hl=en

6) Lazarus Form Recovery

Imagine your browser crashing while typing something important in a web form, and everything gets lost in an instant. Worry not! Thanks to Lazarus Form Recovery, you can recover the whole form with an instant click of a menu button. For those working with filling a lot of forms on a daily basis this extension can act as a lifesaver. It can be installed from this URL: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/lazarus-form-recovery/loljledaigphbcpfhfmgopdkppkifgno?hl=en

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, June 28th, 2015

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