The best Google Chrome extensions that survived the pandemic

The transition to working from home during the pandemic has drastically changed our digital behavior. Browsers, such as Google Chrome, have become one of the most important tools in our daily lives. Now that the pandemic has settled down, it’s time to look at which extensions were most loved during the lockdowns.

After two years of the pandemic, the website Mozilla has published a blog post that takes a closer look at browser extensions that were widely used during the pandemic. This analysis looked at the difference between the number of downloads before and during the pandemic. These five Google Chrome extensions took the cake.

Five Google Chrome extensions that dragged us through the pandemic

The Google Chrome extensions below were immensely popular during the pandemic, but are still a solution to many problems. If an extension doesn’t look familiar to you, you should definitely check it out. The browser extensions can all be installed on Google Chrome, but some can also be found on browsers such as Firefox and Microsoft Edge.

1. Zoom Scheduler

It should come as no surprise that Zoom was one of the most widely used applications during the pandemic. This app was immensely popular on Google Chrome. The Zoom Schedular browser extension saw a 1522 percent increase in installs during the pandemic. One of the main reasons for this is the fact that Google Calendar integrates with Zoom. This allows Zoom Schedular users to schedule a meeting directly from their Google Calendar.

2. Using Google Chrome in dark mode

During the pandemic, we sometimes looked at our screens for hours at a time. This isn’t too good for our view. That’s why many people used a dark background on Google Chrome. The dark background and light text make websites more visible and less harmful to your eyes. During the lockdowns, Dark Mode was used 351 percent more than before the pandemic.

3. Tree Style Tab

It has probably happened that you had dozens of tabs open during a day of working from home. With the Google Chrome extension Tree Style Tab you can easily keep an overview and find tabs. The cascading structure compares well with the vertical tabs in Microsoft Edge. Tree Style Tab was downloaded 126 percent more often during the lockdowns.

4. Cookie AutoDelete

Cybercrime was a hot topic in the pandemic. Antivirus software became popular and people started to better protect their online privacy. The extension Cookie AutoDelete therefore saw its share increase by 386 percent. Cookie AutoDelete eliminates unused cookies when you close a tab in Firefox or Google Chrome. At its peak in 2020, the extension had 206 thousand installs per month.

5. YouTube NonStop

With closed cinemas and catering, we had to entertain ourselves at home. Streaming services and social media were our solution. One website that we all used a lot was YouTube. Although the website has an endless supply of interesting content, the ‘are you still watching’ button causes a lot of irritation. YouTube NonStop helped you with this problem. The extension of Google Chrome ensures that you can watch YouTube without interruptions. YouTube NonStop has seen a significant increase in its user base during the pandemic.