Whether you are in school or college, chances are you are spending a lot of time using Google Chrome browser. So, why not go one step ahead and use it effectively. And that’s where Chrome Extension comes in. These are light-weight addons that you can add to your browser to get most out of it. In this article, we take a look at some of the best Chrome extensions for students to get the maximum out of their time while browsing the internet, studying on the web or even sending assignments through mail.
Read: 7 Chrome Extensions to Supercharge Your Netflix Experience
Best Chrome Extensions For Students
1. Google Dictionary
The internet is a great place for learning and more often than not, while reading an article, a post or even a comment, you come across a new word which you have no idea of what it means. While you can look it up on a dictionary or open a new tab and search for the word, Google provides a handle little extension using which you can get the meaning of any word just by double clicking it. Google Dictionary is exceptionally useful when you are trying to learn a new language and even if you aren’t, it’s a quick way to look up the meaning of words.
Link: Google Dictionary for Chrome
2. Grammarly
Grammarly for Chrome is like your personal proof reader which is not only capable of detecting spelling mistakes but also correcting improper grammar. Grammarly works in real time showing all your errors as you write anything and gives suggestions to correct them. Like Google Dictionary, it also provides meanings of words by double clicking on them, although it works only on English. Grammarly is a godsend whether you are composing a mail to your professor or making your resume, as it corrects all those tiny blunders that might be missed by you and making you look a lot more professional.
Quick Tip: Grammarly also comes with a mobile app and supports syncing and backing up of all your work, along with its proof reading.
Price: Free ($11.66/month billed annually for Premium)
Link: Grammarly for Chrome
3. Mercury Reader
Next up on our list is Mercury Reader, an extension that will enhance your reading experience on the web. With just a click, Mercury Reader reformats the page, removing all the intrusive ads and providing you with a smooth reading experience without all the distractions. You also have the option of customising your reader with text size, fonts, themes and also assigning a shortcut for quicker access to Mercury reader. With Readability being discontinued, Mercury reader is a great alternative, if not better, for your clutter-free reading on the internet.
Quick tip: If you have a Kindle, there’s also a feature called “Send to Kindle”, which sends the beautifully formatted article to your Kindle. That’s pretty neat!
Link: Mercury Reader for Chrome
4. Noisli
Noisli is one of those tools which you had never imagined you needed, but after using it you cannot just go back. Noisli is an ambient sound producing tool which offers a dozen of background sounds like rain, leaves murmuring, thunder and white noise among a few, which you can use to boost your productivity or even relax. What’s even cooler is that, you can customize each filter according to your taste and once done, you can save it as your own preset to be used later. Noisli has been a great addition to my arsenal of Chrome extensions and I have never looked back.
Link: Noisli for Chrome
5. Block and Focus
While the internet can be a great learning place, it can be distracting and even more detrimental as well. This is where Block and Focus comes into play. It is a Chrome extension which you can use to block certain websites like social media sites or whichever you prefer and you won’t be able to access them for that period of time. Although nothing can be done if you simply do not have the self control, this extension is a good way to get started
Quick Tip: Using the settings, you can also implement a Pomodoro timer.
Also Read: 5 Extension to Temporary Block Websites on Google Chrome
Link: Block and Focus for Chrome
6. PushBullet
PushBullet is great way to introduce seamless connectivity between your computer and your smartphone. Once you have the app on your phone and the extension on your Chrome browser, you can exchange anything between the devices like links, pictures, files and the universal clipboard lets you copy something on your phone and paste it on your computer or vice versa. PushBullet comes in really handy if you are always juggling between your computer and your phone and increase your productivity by folds.
Read: Pushbullet vs Join | What to Choose?
Price: Free ($4.99/month for Pro)
Link: PushBullet for Chrome
7. Wolfram Alpha
If you are a Science or Engineering student, chances are you have heard of Wolfram Alpha; but did you know, they even have their own Google Chrome extension? Along with the ability to directly search on Wolfram Alpha, having the extension gives you a nifty context menu which you can use to directly highlight queries or equations and search or solve them. Overall, it is a great extension to have and comes in really useful if you are dealing with equations or any kind of computations.
Link: Wolfram Alpha for Chrome
8. Boomerang for Gmail
Boomerang for Gmail is an awesome tool going you various controls like scheduling your mails, snoozing certain mails, automating follow-up replies and a lot more, making it a perfect addition to your Gmail suite. Whether its completing an assignment at 3 am and scheduling it for 8 am, or boomeranging(snoozing) a certain mail to be reminded later, Boomerang has you covered. It also supports read receipts so you know when someone has actually opened or read your mail.
Also Read: 15 Best Gmail Chrome Extensions (2018)
Link: Boomerang for Chrome
9. FireShot
FireShot is a screen capturing utility like no other available on your machine. It is capable of taking screenshots of webpages on your browser; but, how is it different from your system’s screenshot taking tool? Well, for starters, FireShot captures only the webpage omitting your menu bar and opened tabs, providing a cleaner and more professional looking screenshot. The feature I like the most about FireShot is it can also take an extended screenshot of the webpage, by automatically scrolling till it reaches the end. And not to mention the whole host of options available to which you can convert your screenshot directly or share them directly. I use this app whenever I am taking a screenshot on Chrome and cannot recommend it more.
Link: FireShot for Chrome
10. Session Buddy
We all have been there when we are researching for a project or studying for a particular topic, and the whole browser gets overwhelmed by all the tabs that are opened and if we want to work on it next day, we have to either open them from history or bookmark them; overall, it’s a hassle. Session Buddy is a simple session manager using which you can save a “session” of your browser, i.e. all the tabs that were open and later open them just by a single click. This extension has saved me time and inconvenience on multiple occasions and is a must have for any student.
Link: Session Buddy for Chrome
11. Pocket
Pocket is an easy way to store and organise various articles, pictures, videos and webpages from anywhere on the internet. Once you have the extension installed on your Google Chrome browser, and click on the extension to save the whole web page or right-click on images and videos and Save them to Pocket. You also get the option of adding tags and thus keeping your saved items more organised. There are also smartphone apps which sync all your data, so that you can access them from anywhere.
Quick Tip: For saved articles, Pocket reformats them to a more readable format, similar to that of Mercury reader.
Link: Pocket for Chrome
12. Momentum
Momentum for Chrome is another must have extension to enhance your Chrome experience and get the more out of it. Momentum is a replacement for the new tab page in Chrome and does so much more. First off, it displays a new beautiful picture everyday along with an inspirational quote, to-do lists, reminders, weather report in a customisable dashboard. And the best part is that you do not lose any functionality of the new tab page, as you can also keep your bookmarks and other links in Momentum. While there is a plus version which offers deeper to-do list integration and greater customisation, we felt the basic version should be perfect for most students.
Price: Free ($2.50/month for Plus)
Link: Momentum for Chrome
13. Cite This For Me: Web Citer
If you have ever written a science report for your project or an article for a journal, you know how painful it is to format and manage citations for all the sources which you have used in that writing. Enter “Cite This For Me”. Simply go to the webpage which you want to cite and click the extension icon. The extension then creates a properly formatted citation of that webpage which you can then copy and paste in your assignment. It also supports a handful of citation referencing styles like Chicago, Harvard, APA or MLA.
Link: Cite This For Me for Chrome
14. Buffer
This extension is for all the social media active students out there. Buffer in its core is very simple; it allows you to schedule all your posts much ahead of time on all your favourite social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. The extension allows you to share or schedule anything including webpages, images and videos directly to your social media handles. Buffer also provides you with analytics of all your posts and how well they are doing.
Price: Free ($15/month for Pro)
Link: Buffer for Chrome
15. Spreed
Spreed is an extension that helps you speed read through any article or website or even text that you have copied and pasted into the Spreed reader. The reader also allows a bunch of configuration options such as setting the word speed, font size and text colour. If you have not ever tried speed reading, I’d highly recommend you to at least give it a try and see how much you like it. It will increase your efficiency to process information at a greater speed and is a great fundamental skill to have.
Quick Tip: If you are just starting out, decrease the speed to the one you feel comfortable at and then gradually work your way up.
Link: Spreed for Chrome
16. Selection Reader (Text to Speech)
If you are lazy like me, then the previous extension for reading is probably isn’t for you. With Selection reader, we have got you covered too, as it essentially converts any text you throw at it to speech and reads out the whole text to you. Now that’s convenient! It is also extremely useful for students having difficulties in reading or just listening to something while doing any other work. While we wish the voice and reading were a little less robotic, it does get the job done pretty well.
Read: 10 Best Text-to-Speech Apps for Android
Link: Selection reader for Chrome
17. LastPass
Another extension you might find useful is a password manager and LastPass tops our recommendation list. It is a robust password manager that lets you securely store passwords, credit card info and syncs through all your devices. It also helps improve online security by automatically generating strong and secure passwords that you do not have to remember them as LastPass does the job for you. Of course, you can see and access all your stored passwords through a “master password” which is the only password you will have to remember.
Also Read: Top Google Chrome Extensions for Privacy
Price: Free ($2/month for Premium)
Link: LastPass for Chrome
18. Imagus
Imagus is another one of those simple tools you never thought you needed, but after using it you cannot go back. Being a Mac user, I was always baffled by the fact that Google Chrome didn’t have Safari’s force touch to preview a image, video or link. Well with Imagus you can view or preview image or video links just by hovering your cursor over the link. This comes in really really handy and you do not anymore have to open another tab just to view a single image.
Link: Imagus for Chrome
19. Ears: Bass Boost, EQ Any Audio!
If you are an audiophile or just listen to a lot of music, this next extension might fancy you. Ears is a volume booster and equaliser with ample frequency adjusters to customise the audio coming out of Chrome. The interface is graphical and very easy to use and you can save all your presets to use them later. You can even customise each tab with a different preset or different configuration, which is pretty cool.
Price: Free ($0.99/month for Pro)
Link: Ears for Chrome
20. Honey
Only a student knows how tight money can be during those times at school and college. So for the last one, we decided to include an extension that can potentially save you a lot of money if you tend to shop online. In primitive terms, Honey is a coupon code provider for various online retailers but what makes it smart is that it intelligently applies all of the coupons available on the website and automatically selects the most discounted or best one for you. While outside the US, Honey is more of a hit or miss with most online retailers; but if you are a student in the US and not using Honey, you are losing out on a lot of free savings!
Link: Honey for Chrome
Wrapping Up: Best Chrome Extensions For Students
So this was our list of the best Chrome extensions for students. How many of these do you use daily and did we miss Amy of your favourites? Let us know in the comments below.
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