Google Chrome undoubtedly dominates the internet browsing market for both computers and smartphones. One of the key factors contributing to its popularity is the vast library of extensions that enhance the browsing experience. Many Chrome users install multiple extensions to maximize their use of the browser. If you are one of these users, you may have grown tired of the cluttered appearance of the small icons at the top of the Chrome window, making the toolbar messy and difficult to access the desired extension. The solution lies in the “Extensions Menu” feature, which we will explain how to activate below.
Because every new extension you install creates a space for itself next to the other extensions on the toolbar, Google has provided a solution through the “Extensions Menu” feature, which simply gathers all installed extension icons in one menu that can be easily accessed through a built-in button on the toolbar. This feature will be enabled by default in the coming days, but currently you can activate it manually, or try it, in the browser if it is running on Chrome version 76 or higher. Let me tell you how to do it in the following lines.
After launching the browser, type “chrome://flags” in the address bar and press Enter, which will take you to the Experiments page containing new properties and features that are still experimental. Then type “Extensions toolbar” in the search bar above. Alternatively, type “chrome://flags/#extensions-toolbar-menu” in the address bar to directly access the Extensions Toolbar Menu feature. Now click on the dropdown menu and replace Default with “Enabled” then click on the Relaunch Now button to restart the web browser.
Once Chrome is relaunched, you will see a new puzzle-shaped extensions icon on the right side of the address bar or next to the profile picture. Clicking on this icon will display a menu containing all installed extensions but divided into two sections: “Accessing this site’s data” for extensions allowed to access this site’s data, and “Can’t access this site’s data” for extensions designed to work on specific sites only.
You can control whether an extension can access your data by clicking the menu button to the right of the extension and using the “This can read and change site data” option. This provides easier access to controlling the extension’s permissions.
You can also remove any extension or customize its settings. You will also notice a new option called “Pin,” which appears to pin the extension icon to the toolbar and remove it from the menu for easier access, but this option did not work during our test, indicating that it may still be under development.
