Tech

Web Browser Tips and Tricks That Will Make You Smarter

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If you’re self-employed and earn from the Internet, chances are, you spend a lot of time using a web browser. That’s the first thing we do if we wish to surf the Internet. So it makes perfect sense to get the most out of it.

That said, we are going to make your browsing experience better. In fact, after reading this article, you’ll be more productive and become smarter.

On your web browser, you’ll have:

  • Web browser shortcuts that are life-saving.
  • Better settings to improve your experience.
  • and some more tips and tricks to add a cherry on top.
  • More security and privacy with your surfing experience.
  • Productive chrome extension to make your work faster.

The crux: every Internet user must know these things about their web browsers. Note that whether you use Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Brave, Opera, Safari, or any other, all these web browser tips and tricks are still going to work.

Therefore, without any delay, here are 7 web browser tips and tricks that will make you a hackerman.

hackerman meme for how you feel when you read this article

1. Make your browser safer

The majority of popular web browsers are outdated software from the 1990s. Web browsers are also one of the most insecure apps, with a wide range of malicious attacks aimed at them. Not only that, but web browsers are designed to be fast and efficient, and as we all know, performance and security do not always go hand in hand. That is why you must intervene and secure your browser on your own. Here are some solutions.

Install Chrome extensions

Who doesn’t like chrome extensions? They are mostly free and make everything easy and productive. These extensions can help you from blocking access to known malicious websites to enabling HTTPS for everything to blocking cookies and IP addresses. HTTPS everywhere forces your browser to use the HTTP version of the website which is more secure. 

You can download the extensions from here:

Delete Chrome extensions

Of course, this seems to be contradictory, but it isn’t. There are simply too many Chrome extensions written by unethical developers that are designed to spy on you or completely hijack your web browser. Google has recently removed a large number of extensions for the same reason. As a result, before downloading anything suspicious, always check the ratings and read the reviews. You can also refer to this article to know more. And if you want to be extra safe, you can always disable every extension.

Do more if you want

There is some more advice that will ultimately make you a more advanced user. However, most of these settings will also mean that you have to let go of some features that make the overall experience easier. That said, it’s your choice in the end but if you want to know here are some suggestions: 

  • Optimize your cookie settings 
  • Switch to chrome browser. It’s much more secure – Read this
  • Disable autofill. it’s much easier to exploit your data – Read this.

These are some powerful web browser tips and tricks that will make your browser safer – and you smarter. Let’s move forward. 

2. Master these keyboard shortcuts  

Enough with the boring part, it’s time to become a keyboard ninja. Or just a normal person who can work faster with his web browser. Anyway, how can we not mention keyboard shortcuts when talking about web browser tips and tricks. Therefore, here are some of the best ones:

For Windows

  • Ctrl + W to close the tab
  • Ctrl + T to open a new tab
  • Ctrl + Tab to open the next tab
  • Close the window by pressing Alt + F4
  • Activate a previously closed tab: Shift + Ctrl + T
  • Open a private or incognito window: Ctrl + Shift + N 
  • Navigate to a specific tab: Ctrl + + (any number between 1-9)
  • Return to the previous tab: Tab + Ctrl + Shift + Ctrl + Shift + Ctrl + Shift

For Mac

  • Ctrl + Tab to open the next tab
  • Command + T will open a new tab.
  • To close a tab, press Command + W.
  • Ctrl + Shift + Tab to return to the previous tab
  • Close the window by pressing Command + Shift + W.
  • Command + Shift + T will open a previously closed tab.
  • Command + Shift + N will open an incognito or private window.
  • Navigate to a specific tab: + (command) (any number between 1-9)

3. Become an advance Goggler

Whether you’re a content writer or you need to do a lot of research using the Internet’s most popular – Google, you might need some more searching skills. These skills will teach you how to include, exclude or make your search results more specific. Pretty useful for everybody we would say. 

Exclude search results using a minus sign 

Sometimes when you’re trying to search for something, Google will show you some queries or terms you don’t want. These terms might not be related to your search intent or you just don’t want some specific keyword with your results. Well here’s the solution. 

Let’s say you’re looking for more freelancing websites other than the popular ones which are, UpWork, and Fiverr. Now simply add a minus sign with each of these websites.

How Google search works for excluding search results using a minus sign.

Here’s how: “Freelancing websites -upwork -fiverr”

Although these are some of the biggest freelancing websites in the world, they would still not appear because you’ve used minus. Cool right? 

Use quotation marks to search in the exact same manner

What if I tell you that if you put quotation marks around a phrase or couple of words, Google will find the results in the same order. Let’s take an example. 

How Google search works using quotation marks to search in the exact same manner

Say you want to search for something very specific like, “technical content writer in new york”. Now Google will try to include pages that have words in the same specific order. This can be extremely useful for finding jobs, searching for a particular product, or researching deep topics. 

How Google search works if you forgot a specific word and want to search that using asterisk in those quotes

Pro-tip. If you forgot some words a particular webpage has. You can put an asterisk in those quotes to symbolize any word you forgot. For example, if you forgot Michael Jackson’s one of the most popular songs, Billie Jean, you can search for something like this

Michael Jackson “*Jean” 

This will give you the full title of the song. These web browser tips and tricks can be used in so many different ways. It depends on how creative you want to be. 

Search for a specific time period

Sometimes search results will show you old content. And based on your search queries, the content might be outdated or you’re looking for something very recent. Use this Google search trick.

How Google search works if you want to search for a specific time period

Search something you want the answer for and then just below the search bar, you’ll see the “tools’ option. Click that and you’ll see the “Any time” option. This dropdown menu will give you a time period to select. Based on these time periods, you can search for a specific period. These are the time periods you can choose from:

  • Any time
  • Past hour
  • Past 24 hours
  • Past week
  • Past month
  • Past year
  • Custom range…

Is your head spinning already? These tricks sound complicated when you only read them, that’s why you should go and search for something and see the results yourself – you’ll instantly get the idea. But once you learn them, it will make your life less complicated. 

Conclusion

We came up with some of the most useful web browser tips and tricks we could think of. The best part about these hacks is that they can be used by anyone. You don’t have to be a techie to use them.

These web browser tips and tricks should make your life easier. We recommend that you conduct your own research and let us know what we missed. With that, keep working and be productive.

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