Similar to the "Labs" section of Gmail, Google has a hidden listing of experimental features that you can enable to enhance Chrome. Head to chrome://flags and you'll discover dozens of potentially upcoming features in many stages of development.

Since they aren't set up to be on by default, it goes without proverb that your mileage may vary when enabling them. Google warns that your browser might delete your data and your security could be compromised. Information technology's non unheard of for flags to cause browser crashes or blueish screens, though some are inevitably riskier than others.

With that said, we've tried to pick a handful of flags that seem relatively safe and however useful to the average Chrome install. If this isn't audacious enough for you or if you don't want to risk your main install, Google also provides a beta build of its browser with some new features as well equally Chrome Canary, which is updated almost every mean solar day.

#enable-fast-unload | Fast tab/window close

When enabled, this characteristic reduces the corporeality of time it takes for a tab to disappear when yous close it. Although it doesn't actually end the process any faster, the tab volition close instantly while the process finishes being shut down in the groundwork, making for a more fluid experience.

Bachelor for: Windows, Mac, Linux, Chrome Os, Android

#automatic-tab-discarding | Automatic tab discarding

Chrome is notorious for its ability to swallow retentivity and fifty-fifty machines with 8GB of RAM might run low with heavy usage. If this is an issue on your PC, you might benefit from automated tab discarding, which removes tabs from the arrangement memory when it starts running low. Discarded tabs are yet shown in-browser and are reloaded when clicked.

Available for: Windows, Mac
Likewise see: Make Chrome Run Faster and Proceed RAM Usage Under Control

#enable-tab-audio-muting | Tab audio muting UI command

Back in 2013 Chrome announced a new feature that displays an audio icon on tabs that are making noise. This flag allows you lot to mute/unmute the sound coming from a tab by clicking on that audio icon.

Available for: Windows, Mac, Linux, Chrome OS

#enable-curl-anchoring | Scroll anchoring In that location are few things more frustrating while browsing than going to click a link and having it motion equally the web page finishes loading. This flag will prevent pages from skipping around as they load then you never misclick on another ad.

Available for: Windows, Mac, Linux, Chrome Bone, Android

#enable-gpu-rasterization | GPU Rasterization Offloads page rendering from your CPU to your GPU, which arguably makes this a higher risk/potentially lower reward feature depending on what you do online. Graphics-heavy content is likely to see a operation heave and you lot can check this for yourself with the in-browser frame counter found in the developer tools: Ctrl + Shift + J > Console Drawer > 3-dot menu > Rendering > FPS meter.

Available for: Windows, Mac, Linux, Chrome Os, Android (#num-raster-threads may too be of interest)

Bonus round: Hidden T-rex dinosaur game

On the bailiwick of hidden features, did you lot know that Chrome has an offline T-rex mini-game? The next fourth dimension y'all see a connection error screen (chrome://network-error/-106), striking the space bar or upward arrow to brainstorm a sidescrolling jump game with a T-rex hurdling cacti and pterodactyls. Your progress and high score is tracked but lost when the window is closed or refreshed.

5 days, 5 killer tech tips is a TechSpot monthly characteristic

On the third week of every calendar month, we'll publish 5 killer tech tips, one for each day of the week for a given app, service, or platform.

This week we are covering great tips and tricks for the Google Chrome browser.

  • Twenty-four hours ane: Customizing Chrome's New Tab page
  • Twenty-four hour period 2: 5 Cracking Chrome Extensions You Should Install + Using Chrome Remote Desktop
  • Day three: Five Experimental Chrome Settings Worth Enabling
  • Mean solar day four: Chrome Tab Management Tips and Extensions
  • Day 5: How to Run Android Apps in Google Chrome