Today, I'm helping you get the most out of your browser with a few simple tricks that you really need to know. Your friends and family probably want to know these as well, so be sure to click the Share button.
Choose your home page
What's the first thing you see when your browser starts up? If you're using Internet Explorer, it's probably MSN's website. Chrome loads up a modified Google page and Firefox has its own start page.But if you then type in an address or hit a bookmark button to go to the same website first thing, then why not have your browser start there?
In Chrome, click the icon on the right with the three horizontal bars and choose Settings. On the left column, choose Settings and then look under On Startup.
Set it to "Open a specific page or set of pages" and then click the "Set pages" link. Type in one or more Web addresses and click OK. Those will load up when Chrome starts.
Need a suggestion for a home page? Try the all-new www.komando.com.
It's your one-stop site for the best in tech news, tips, tricks,
reviews, downloads, videos and so much more. And now it's updated all
day long.
If you want to load multiple pages, load them up in tabs and then click the "Use Current Pages" button. Or you can click "Use Bookmark..." and select a folder of bookmarks.
In Internet Explorer, click the gear icon on the right and select Internet Options. Go to the General tab and under "Home page" enter the Web address or addresses you want to see on startup.
In Safari on Apple, go to Safari>>Preferences. On the General tab, go do to "Homepage" and type in an address.
Pin tabs
This one is for Chrome and Firefox users who have favorite sites they leave open all day. Load up the site, right-click on the browser tab and choose "Pin Tab."Your tab will be moved to a smaller tab on the left side of the tab bar. That way no matter how many tabs you have open, you always know where your favorite sites are.
To unpin a tab, just right-click and choose "Unpin Tab."
Middle-click to open tabs
If you're using a mouse that was made after the mid-2000s, then it probably has a scroll wheel. Did you know that if you press down on the scroll wheel it acts as a middle mouse button?OK, you knew that. But did you know that clicking on a link with the middle mouse button opens that link in a new browser tab? If you didn't, give it a try. It will change your life - or at least your browsing.
For laptop users, sometimes pressing both trackpad buttons at once works as a middle click. Or you can left-click a link while holding the CTRL key.
Zoom text
Have you ever visited a page with text that was too small? If you've ever leaned in close to a computer monitor to read, you need to know this.To zoom text - and images - in any browser, just press CTRL and the plus key at the same time. Hit it a few time to zoom way in. Too far? Hit CTRL and the minus key to zoom back out. CTRL and the zero key resets the zoom.
Or, you can hold down the CTRL key and spin your mouse scroll wheel. That will zoom in and out as well.
Browse privately
Don't want your significant other knowing what his or her birthday present is? Want to make it hard for snoops to know where you're going online? Just fire up your browser's privacy mode.Click here for the simple instructions.
See if your browser needs updating
An out-of-date browser is very dangerous. It might have unfixed security flaws that hackers can use to take over your computer.Or you might just be missing out on some of the latest and greatest Internet sites that use newer Web standards. Either way, keeping your browser up to date is essential.
Click here to instantly find out what browser you're using and if there's a newer version.
See your online accounts and passwords
Do you remember every online account you’ve ever made? I know I sure don’t. If you’re like me, you’ve probably created dozens of accounts that you only used once.That’s actually very dangerous. It means your information is floating around on dozens or hundreds of websites that may or may not be secure.
Click here to make your browser show you old accounts and passwords.
Turn on encryption
What's the difference between "http://" and "https://" in your browser's address bar? If you see the first one while you're on a sensitive site, you have a problem. That's because it means your connection isn't encrypted.Encryption is what keeps your communication safe from hackers. While any sensitive site supports encryption, some of them don't have it turned on by default because it slows things down. Well, you can force it to use encryption anyway so you stay safe.
Click here to automatically turn on encryption for any site that supports it.
Power through tabs like a pro
In Firefox, Chrome, and IE, try CTRL + Tab to move across your tabs quickly; this is a great tip for power users who have a lot of tabs to rush through.On the Mac, Firefox and Chrome let you do the same thing with OPT + CMD + right arrow.
And did you close a tab you didn't mean to? ALT + SHIFT + T will bring it back!
