Google Chrome It's the most widely used web browser, but it's beautiful. There are some other browsers that offer additional features to stand out in today's world. However, Google is always testing new features in Chrome. While they're not yet fully ready, enabling some Chrome flags can greatly improve your browsing experience.
What are Chrome Flags?
Although Chrome may seem simple and almost too easy, Google is always working on new things and adding features. These may not always be features you can see. Google has found a good way to manage all the different features it is working on. They do this via Chrome Flags. These are hidden experimental features that are disabled by default. The reason is that they are not fully functional and are intended only for the developers who are working on them.
Some flags may not work even after they're enabled, some don't actually do anything, and some may even cause Chrome to crash. However, Chrome also has beta, dev, and canary channels where more experimental features are tested. Therefore, flags for Chrome make it to the stable version of Chrome fairly stable.
Also, keep in mind that Google can remove any flags with any update without any notice or explanation. Therefore, it's best not to worry about any of the flags in Chrome.
How to enable or disable Chrome Flags?
Chrome Flags are hidden, so you probably won't stumble upon them by accident. But if you're on the right track, you can easily find the treasure. So, launch Chrome on your desktop or Android and enter the following address in the URL bar.
chrome :/ / flags
On the page you're taken to, you'll find a warning about instability flags and tons of Chrome flags. If you've enabled any flags, those flags will appear at the top. Each flag contains details about what it does and which operating system it's running: Linux, Windows, Mac, Android, or all three. This is important because if a flag isn't meant to work on your operating system, enabling it is pointless.
Once you see the flags you want to enable, tap the drop-down menu next to them (or below them if you're on Android) and select Enable. Once the flags are enabled, you'll see a prompt at the bottom asking you to restart the browser.
If you want to enable more flags, you can continue searching for and enabling them. When you're done, click the Restart Now button and let the browser restart.
Even if you're using Chrome on Android, the process remains the same.
1. Search for images on Chrome using Google Lens
One feature that makes using Google Chrome truly convenient is its integration with Google Image Search. You can right-click on any image and select "Search Google for image" to perform a reverse image search on Google.
This has fortunately been added to the open source Chromium project, which benefits all other Chromium-based browsers like Brave, Vivaldi, etc. Google is now testing integration with Google Lens built into Chrome. This feature will only be available on Android, if and when it officially launches.
If you have an Android device, you can enable this via Chrome flags for now. We've covered this in more detail in Image search on Chrome using Google Lens.
Copy and paste the following code or type it into the address bar in Chrome to go directly to flags.
chrome://flags/#context-menu-search-with-google-lens
2. Chrome flags enable toolbar button in Chrome
These other Chrome flags are only available on Android devices. Chrome typically displays a tab button and a three-dot overflow menu button at the top, next to the address bar. But as smartphones, especially Android smartphones, become more common, the design doesn't make much sense.
When phones had 4.7-inch screens, it was fine because reaching the top with one hand wasn't difficult. With smartphones like the OnePlus 7 Pro and its 6.67-inch screen, reaching those controls at the top is a hassle. The ability to control the browser from the bottom would really improve the browsing experience.
Fortunately, you can enable the Chrome Duet flag and bring the controls to the bottom. This doesn't add an additional bar to the bottom, though. We've explained this in more detail in "Bring the Chrome toolbar to the bottom of Android."
Copy and paste the following code or type it into the address bar in Chrome to go directly to flags.
chrome: // flags / # enable-chrome-duet
3. Use gestures to navigate through your Chrome history.
One of the great things about using Safari on your iPhone or iPad is the ability to quickly navigate between web pages by swiping left or right. On Android, you simply use the Android back button to go back. There's no forward button.
You won't get a back and forward button even if you enable the bottom toolbar. Tapping back or forward from the menu is a bit tedious. However, with the help of Chrome flags, you can enable gesture navigation in Chrome. Keep in mind that this only works on Android. As long as you don't use Android 10's gesture navigation, this will improve your browsing experience.
Once enabled, you can swipe left to go back or right to go forward. Chrome will also display visual cues in the form of blue arrows.
Copy and paste the following code or type it into the address bar in Chrome to go directly to flags.
chrome://flags/#overscroll-history-navigation
We've already explained this in detail as well, but things have changed a bit since then.
4. Turn on Chrome flags for smooth scrolling
These Chrome flags have been around for years, and for some reason, they've never changed or been added to Chrome by default. It seems Google has forgotten all about these awesome Chrome flags.
However, as users, we haven't improved your browsing experience. If you have a keen eye, you may have noticed that scrolling animations for long web pages on Chrome are a bit jerky and stutter a lot. This is available for Windows, Linux, Chrome OS, and Android.
The Smooth Scrolling flag makes Chrome's animations more fluid. Why doesn't Google use this as the default? We have no idea, as it seems fairly stable.
Copy and paste the following code or type it into the address bar in Chrome to go directly to flags.
chrome://flags/#smooth-scroll
5. Autofill and password generation
We tend to have so many online accounts these days that it's sometimes impossible to count them on one hand. And if you're someone who takes online privacy and security seriously, you'll likely have multiple hard-to-guess passwords for multiple accounts. Obviously, you can't remember them all.
There are many paid solutions and services for managing this aspect of your password life. However, coming up with unique passwords is not easy and takes at least a few seconds. Chrome can help here by generating a random, acceptable password that's difficult for you to remember.
This won't be a problem if you allow Chrome or another third-party service to manage your passwords. Furthermore, these same flags will also autofill any forms for you, so all you have to do is make the corrections.
Copy and paste the following code or type it into the address bar in Chrome to go directly to flags.
chrome://flags/#enable-show-autofill-signatures
The autofill and password generator used to be associated with two different brands but have since been merged into one.
6. Freeze unused tabs
Over the years, Chrome has gained a reputation for hogging system resources. This becomes even more of a nuisance if you have a lot of tabs open in the background. A new Chrome flag can help freeze unused tabs and prevent them from eating up your RAM.
When you're ready to view your tabs, they'll be frozen, and this all happens automatically. With fewer tabs consuming your RAM and CPU, your browser will obviously run more smoothly, as will your entire operating system. Of course, this certainly leads to a better browsing experience.
Unused tags automatically freeze after 5 minutes of inactivity. The tag is available on Windows, macOS, Linux, and Chrome OS.
Copy and paste the following code or type it into the address bar in Chrome to go directly to flags.
chrome: // flags / # proactive-tab-freeze
7. Group tabs together
For most people, managing tabs isn't a problem. However, there are also many people who want to open or have multiple tabs open in Chrome. For them, managing tabs usually requires the use of third-party extensions.
Chrome, by itself, doesn't offer any tab management features. However, there are hidden Chrome flags that can greatly enhance your browsing experience by allowing for better tab management. This certainly doesn't compare to any of the advanced tab management extensions, but it may be enough for many people.
Once enabled, Chrome will automatically group all tabs from a website together. You can right-click tabs and add or remove them to groups, or create new groups. Clicking Color lets you name the group and/or change its color.
Copy and paste the following code or type it into the address bar in Chrome to go directly to Chrome flags.
chrome: // flags / # tab-groups
8. Decode extensions from the Chrome toolbar
The Chrome toolbar provides easy access to all your extensions. But if you use a lot of extensions, they're easy to get around. Chrome lets you hide extensions in the menu instead.
However, the way extensions are displayed in the menu isn't intuitive. They still look cluttered at the top of the menu. A new extensions menu appears to be in the works that will hide all extensions. This will be separate from the Chrome menu, changing the toolbar and Chrome menu.
The Chrome flag menu is available on all desktop operating systems – Mac, Windows, Linux, and Chrome OS.
Copy and paste the following code or type it into the address bar in Chrome to go directly to flags.
chrome: // flags / # extensions-toolbar-menu
9. Add a play/pause button to the Chrome toolbar
Another problem with having too many tabs open is that it can be difficult to know which tab is playing audio. This is even more of a problem with autoplay videos on some news sites. While some other browsers block videos from autoplaying, Chrome doesn't.
Although Google may be working on a solution to the problem, the extension menu above adds a media menu of sorts. You can also simply call it a play/pause button or a media control.
Once this flag is enabled, you'll see a play/pause button in the Chrome toolbar. Clicking it displays all web media currently playing or paused.
Copy and paste the following code or type it into the address bar in Chrome to go directly to flags.
chrome://flags/#global-media-controls
10. Improve browsing with faster navigation
When smartphones were nonexistent and mobile browsing was poor, Opera Mini was the preferred browser for many. One of its great features was the ability to quickly scroll through your history. Pressing the back or forward buttons would load the previous or next page as if that page had been completely closed.
Moving on to Chrome, this version of Opera Mini, which later debuted on Android, meant people opted to reload pages every time they clicked forward. But Chrome 79 brings new flags that offer similar functionality to Chrome. When enabled, Chrome will load these pages from the cache, theoretically resulting in a better and faster browsing experience.
Before you go ahead and enable it, we must warn you that this is an "experimental" feature and is not intended for anyone other than those working on it. This could result in potential user data loss.
Copy and paste the following code or type it into the address bar in Chrome to go directly to flags.
chrome: // flags / # back-forward-cache
Although we're only mentioning the instability issue associated with the last Chrome flag on this list, we should reiterate that all of these flags are actually experimental features. If not, Google likely added them to Chrome by default because they help improve the browsing experience. Therefore, you should be careful when enabling many of these flags.
The chances of something going wrong are essentially multiplying. Some may be completely stable, and Google may not be sure it wants to move forward with them. This could mean flags being removed in a future update.
