What Is Chrome

Chrome is a free Internet browser officially released by Google on December 11, 2008. Its features include synchronization with Google services and accounts, tabbed browsing, in-browser translation and spell check, and its integrated address bar/search bar called the Omnibox.

Tip: Google Chrome can be downloaded for free at www.google.com/chrome.

Overview and benefits

Chrome offers tight integration with Google sites and services, such as YouTube and Gmail, and manages its system resources differently than other browsers. Its V8 JavaScript engine was developed from scratch at Google, and may improve your experience on script-heavy websites and applications.

Some Google services such as Google Cast require or prioritize development exclusively on Chrome, which makes Chrome a necessary application for Chromecast owners.

After being installed, the Chrome browser is automatically configured to download and install updates when they're available. To verify updates are being installed automatically, see our page on how to update your browser.

Incognito mode

Chrome offers a private browsing option called Incognito Mode. This mode allows you to browse in an isolated sandbox web session. It gives you temporary control over your browsing footprint and session identity, but does not offer guaranteed anonymity. To launch a new incognito browser, press Ctrl-Shift-N (Windows, Linux) or Command-Shift-N (OSX).

• How do I set my browser to Incognito or Private mode?

Configuring privacy settings

To fine-tune your privacy settings in Chrome, click the menu icon (⋮) in the upper-right corner of the browser, and select Settings.

The settings interface opens in a new browser tab. Scroll to the bottom and click Show Advanced Settings.

The first advanced settings listed are your Privacy settings.

Chrome Developer Tools

If you're developing a website, Chrome Developer Tools are second to none. They allow you to closely analyze all the visual, interactive, and technical components of website locations.

To launch Chrome Developer Tools, go the View menu and select Developer → Developer Tools, or press Ctrl-Alt-I (Windows, Linux) or Option-Command-I (OSX).

The developer view allows you to navigate the web on one side of the window, and inspect the resource's components and attributes on the other.

Chromium

The Chromium Projects are open-source, community-driven projects to develop technologies for Chrome and ChromeOS. The Chromium browser is similar to Chrome, but is developed exclusively with Chrome's open-source components.

Ungoogled Chromium

Ungoogled Chromium is a development fork of the Chromium browser which strips out selected browser components. The project's stated goals are to:

• Disable or remove offending services and features that communicate with Google or weaken privacy.
• Strip binaries from the source tree, and use those provided by the system or build them from source.
• Add, modify, or disable features that inhibit control and transparency.

The Ungoogled Chromium browser source code can be downloaded from its repository on Github.