Chrome for Android It's a highly customizable tool thanks to its hidden flags menu. One of those flags makes it possible to... add a shortcut Add bookmarks and downloads directly to the Chrome home screen, so everything you check most often is just a tap away without having to navigate through menus.
Chrome Flags: The worst-kept secret for improving the Android browser
If we regularly talk about how Android It stands out for being a system highly customizable And while it offers its users the possibility of choosing their own experience, it is no less true that Chrome offers its own serving of this same idea, whether with the powerful desktop and desktop version, Chrome OS, or the smartphone app. And he succeeds, of course, thanks to the menu of flags, an advanced area where Google activates features in testing.
If in any version of Chrome you access chrome :/ / flagsYou will find yourself in a special menu where you can activate hidden features, under development or experimental. In many cases, future browser features can be tested here without problems, allowing you to get ahead of what will later be available to other users.
This flags menu is Chrome's worst-kept secret, and a site worth revisiting from time to time to discover more. new functions These features can improve usability, change appearance, or speed up certain tasks. Among them is the ability to display shortcuts to bookmarks and downloads on the New Tab page, which is especially useful if you frequently use these two sections.
That's why today we're showing you add a shortcut to bookmarks and downloads in chrome And, in addition, we explain how to manage those bookmarks, how to organize them or move them between browsers, and what other New Tab customization options can complement this improvement.
How to add a shortcut to bookmarks and downloads in Chrome for Android
Using the flag we're showing you today, you'll be able to have shortcuts on the home page from the app to both your bookmarks and your google chrome downloadsThis way you avoid having to open the three-dot menu and search for these options every time you want to open a saved link or check a downloaded file.
Depending on the version of Chrome you use, the flag name It will vary. Specifically, it is divided as follows:
- Up to Chrome 67: chrome: // flags / # ntp-shortcuts
- Chrome 68 Beta onwards: chrome: // flags / # simplified-ntp
That way, you can directly paste those addresses into your address bar Chrome for Android will take you to the corresponding flag to enable it. There you will see the option NTP Shortcutswhich you will need to configure as Enabled. Then you will need to restart the browser by clicking on Relaunch now so that the changes are applied correctly on the New Tab page.
Does the resultThe one in the following image:
As you can see, they are added two new blue buttons Just below the most visited bookmarks. With a single tap, you can directly access the corresponding categories, reaching both the saved bookmarks As the downloads madeThis way you will improve the interface of Chrome for Android By simply adding a couple of small details, you'll avoid unnecessary touches and make all your static content and recent files much more accessible.
Both the stable and beta versions are available to you at the Play Store:
Download Google Chrome: fast and secure, free from the Play Store
Download Chrome Beta for free from the Play Store
Manage and import bookmarks to make better use of shortcuts
To get the most out of the direct access to bookmarks in the New Tab, it's important to have your well-organized favorites And if you're coming from another browser, you can import everything you were already using so you don't have to start from scratch. Chrome lets you bring your history, homepage, bookmarks, default search engine, and even saved passwords with you.
If you use other browsers like Firefox or Safari, you can first export your bookmarks as HTML file From that browser, and then import them into Chrome from the Bookmarks and Lists menu in its desktop version. This way, when you activate the shortcuts on Android, you'll also see that entire folder and link structure you were already using on your computer.
When you import bookmarks in Chrome, if you've never saved any, they're added directly to the bookmarks. marker barIf you already had some, the new ones are placed inside the folder. "Other bookmarks" located at the end of that bar. This organization is respected on all your devices where you have your Google account synced, so the Android shortcuts will also reflect that structure.
From the Bookmark manager On desktop, you can rearrange, edit, and delete bookmarks, create new folders, and group links by topic. Later, when you use Chrome on your mobile device, the Bookmarks shortcut in the New Tab page will take you to that same organization, making it easy to find any saved page in seconds.
Other ways to quickly access your pages and downloads in Chrome
In addition to shortcuts to bookmarks and downloads in Chrome's New Tab for Android, the browser offers other quick access routes both on mobile and on computer, which can complement this function.
On desktop, from the three-dot menu you can use the option to More tools > Create shortcut To create a desktop icon for any website you frequently visit, such as Gmail, Google Calendar, or your task manager. These shortcuts behave like small applications that open in their own Chrome window.
It is also possible to add shortcuts to favorite pages directly in the New tab page from the desktop browser. Chrome can automatically create these shortcuts based on the websites you visit most often, or you can manually configure them to set exactly which sites you want to see first.
If you work only with bookmarks, the procedure is just as simple: when visiting a website, simply tap the icon of the star in the address bar to save it. Then you can edit the name or choose another folder to better organize it, for example, one for email, another for work, another for leisure, etc.
In case you accidentally close a tab on your computer, Chrome also offers a very useful keyboard shortcut to recover the last one you closed (or several): Ctrl + Shift + T on Windows, Chrome OS and Linux, and Command + Shift + T on Mac. Although not directly related to bookmark and download shortcuts, it is part of these tools designed for save time while browsing.
By combining the shortcuts on the Android New Tab page, a well-organized bookmarks system, and desktop shortcut options, Chrome becomes a much more convenient and faster browser for everyday use, with your favorite websites and downloaded files always at your fingertips. a few touches or clicks away.
