Chrome

Install on Ubuntu

• https://askubuntu.com/questions/510056/how-to-install-google-chrome
• https://www.ubuntuupdates.org/ppa/google_chrome?dist=stable

# Add Key: 
wget -q -O - https://dl-ssl.google.com/linux/linux_signing_key.pub | sudo apt-key add -

# Set repository:
echo 'deb [arch=amd64] http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/ stable main' | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list

# Install package:
sudo apt-get update 
sudo apt-get install google-chrome-stable

It works on Ubuntu 18.04.

Update

How to Update Google Chrome on Ubuntu Linux

Headless Chrome

• 中文 and English

Launch

Launch an extension by keyboard shortcut

See this post. It works. Now I can use Ctrl+e to launch the Evernote clip extension.

Just head to chrome://extensions/ in your browser's address bar to open up the extensions page. Scroll down to the bottom and you'll see a Keyboard Shortcuts option. Click it, and you can set up custom shortcuts for some of you extensions.

List of all purchased

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/user/purchases

Apps vs Extensions

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/5341206/difference-between-chrome-apps-and-extensions

Chrome apps are basically just glorified bookmarks. You Can Use Chrome Apps for a Little While Longer

Bookmarklet

Quick Tip: Bookmarklets Offer Bite-Size Functionality in Any Browser

Window size

On my Ubuntu 20.04, Chrome cann't start with last session's window size?

• how to make chrome to start with last window size
• Why doesn't chrome start with the last user window size?
• Chrome doesn't save the size of its window between sessions

Most popular extensions and posts

2014

http://lifehacker.com/most-popular-chrome-extensions-and-posts-of-2014-1674273297

2023

The 16 Best Plugins (Extensions) for Chrome in 2023

• Blocking Ads: uBlock Origin
• Cookie Management: Click&Clean
• Stop Online Tracking: Privacy Badger
• Privacy Obsessives: Edit This Cookie
• Saving Tabs: OneTab
• Saving Money: The Camelizer
• Google Search: View Image
• for YouTube: Enhancer for YouTube
• for Gmail: Checker Plus for Gmail
• for Userstyles: Stylus
• for Reading Mode: Postlight Reader
• for Saving Memory: The Great Suspender
• for Multitasking: Recent Tabs
• for Keyboard Shortcut Junkies: Vimium
• for Writers: Find & Replace
• Earth View From Google Earth

Useful

Ubuntu problems

• After I reboot the computer, it show 'Restore Pages? Chrome did not shut down correctly'. The solution is to go to menu Settings > Shown advanced settings > System. Uncheck Continue running background apps when Chrome is closed.
• Account was logged out when I close the browser. See How to Automatically Clear Private Data When You Close Your Browser. Go to Settings > Privacy > Site Settings > Cookies. Uncheck the option 'Keep local data only until you quit browser'.

Create a desktop shortcut to a website/How to Turn Any Website into an App

• How to Turn Any Website into an App. In the end, click on 'Show Applications' and search the new app (shortcut) you just created. The app icon was kept too.
• Go to the website
• Click three dots -> More tools -> Create shortcut.... Enter your name for this shortcut. This will create a new file on Ubuntu desktop. But the filename looks "chrome-XXXXXXXXXX.desktop".
• Rename the filename "chrome-XXXXXXXXXX.desktop" to "YOURNAME.desktop"
• Right click "YOURNAME.desktop" and select "Allow launching"

You will see the website favicon becomes the shortcut's icon on Ubuntu's desktop and we can launch the website by clicking this shortcut.

It's interesting to see the URL does not show in the .desktop file. Instead it show an app-id. We can also manage the list of apps by going to chrome://apps/.

Uninstall zoom app

Uninstall extra Zoom Meeting application?

Close Find bar

Use the Escape key.

Chrome’s Auto-Generated Passwords

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/improve-web-security-using-chromes-auto-generated-passwords/

Autofill Passwords

How to Delete Your Autofill Passwords in Chrome (and Move to Something More Secure)

Password manager

How to View Google Chrome's Saved Passwords (And Prevent Others From Peeking)

Autofill payment/credit cards details

How to Stop Chrome Remembering Your Payment Details

Extension safety

How to Know If a Google Chrome Extension Is Safe to Use

15 Chrome Extensions by Google You Didn’t Know You Needed

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/chrome-extensions-by-google/

Google mail checker, Google similar pages, Earth view from google earth, Google art project, Mindful break.

Enable and Disable Chrome Extensions in Incognito Mode

Go to chrome://extensions. Click "Details" in an extension and check the option "Allow in incognito". See a screenshot.

distill.io: track website change

5 Chrome browser extensions I can’t live without Apr 2022

ChatGPT

Upgrade Your Browser With a ChatGPT Sidebar

HTML5 Outliner

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/html5-outliner/afoibpobokebhgfnknfndkgemglggomo/related

Break Timer

Another choice is Stretchly (open source, cross-platform).

Stopwatch/Timer

https://stopwatchtimers.com/timer/?t=00:10:00

Pop-up

How to Allow or Block Pop-ups in Chrome

Chrome 66: auto mute

• Chrome 66 Now Mutes Autoplaying Videos By Default
• How to Stop Google Chrome's New Update From Autoplaying Videos

Instant video caption

如何啟用Google Chrome的即時字幕功能？

Learn English

eJOY English - Learn with Movies

Look up words/dictionary

7 Chrome Extensions That Help You Look Up Words While Browsing

Disable Autoplay Videos

• https://developers.google.com/web/updates/2017/09/autoplay-policy-changes
• Disable HTML5 Autoplay (no more maintained).
  • It will disable pronunciation from bing.com, merriam-webster.com and dictionary.cambridge.org.
  • It does not have this problem on for example dictionary.com.
• How to Mute Sites With Autoplaying Videos
• Now Google Chrome Can Automatically Silence Annoying Autoplay Videos in Chrome 64
• Open chrome://flags/#autoplay-policy and change the Autoplay policy flag to “Document user activation is required” instead of "Default". See How to control audio and video autoplay in Google Chrome Feb 2018.
  • Note that this won't block autoplaying media completely, as media starts to play as soon as you interact with the page. It helps with opening pages in the background that play audio or video content automatically though.
  • My testing shows it can disable sound (by default) but it still plays videos.

Tested on this site from cnet.com

• Chrome 69.0: auto play video with sound
• Chrome incognito: auto play video without sound
• Firefox 52.9 & 62.0: auto play video with sound
• Firefox private window 52.9: Won't auto play video
• FIrefox Focus (iOS): Won't auto play video

Chrome URL Autocomplete suggestions not working

How to Turn Off Chrome URL Autocomplete

The function does not work on my Chrome OS 74.03729.159.

Delete Chrome Remembered URLs from Address Bar

How to Delete Chrome Remembered URLs from Address Bar

strip off URL tracking codes

• ClearURLs, Firefox (Recommended & it works)
  • As some people comments it can break Google Oauth. So I only test it in FF where I don't use Google account.
• ClearURLs is an extension for Firefox and Chrome that deletes tracking information from URLs
• How to Strip URLs of Tracking Info Using Firefox, Firefox can now automatically remove tracking from URLs. Note it does not work in Firefox 104 when I try to click a link to 'The Kitchen' in Feedly or from Pocket.

Share videos

Loom

Picture in picture (PIP)

• How to Use Chrome’s Picture-in-Picture Mode to Play Local Videos 2019-09
• How to use Chrome picture in picture mode

Minimizing Tabs

Right click the tab and select "Pin Tab" option. This will anchor the tabs on the left of your toolbar. The "X" disappears after pinning them.

bypass paywalls

https://github.com/iamadamdev/bypass-paywalls-chrome

Reduce memory/manage tabs

• How to Enable Memory Saver in Google Chrome to Reduce RAM/CPU Usage
• OneTab

block ad trackers

• uBlock Origin
• 15 Chrome Extensions Everyone Should Install and AdGuard AdBlocker
• Google Chrome kills uBlock, Adblock ad filters – grab the pitchfo- no wait, it's OK: They were evil fraud clones
• AdBlock (by https://getadblock.com/) + uBlock Plus Adblocker. Installing both. Works on slickdeals. It seems uBlock Plus Adblocker is more popular than Ghostery.
• https://www.ghostery.com/. Tested on this example where Adblock Plus or AdBlock does not work. Ghostery shows 25 were blocked and Firefox Focus shows 16 were blocked (result is the same). Be sure to uncheck sharing your information.

• Privacy Badger
• The Best Browser Extensions that Protect Your Privacy

How To Turn Off Your Adblocker for a Website

https://www.foodnetwork.com/site/how-to-turn-off-adblock

Dark theme

• dark reader Chrome/Firefox, source on github.
• Care your eyes. After it is installed, every website will have a black theme. Since I only want to enable the black them on specific websites, I click on the icon and change it to 'Whitelist mode'. For a website I like to have a dark them, I click the icon again and check 'Enable at this site'.

Custom zoom level

https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/manage-custom-zoom-chrome/

chrome://settings/content/zoomLevels

System monitor

• https://www.howtogeek.com/308212/how-to-monitor-your-chromebooks-system-resources/
• How to Check Chromebook Specs and System Info: 7 Methods

User-Agent Switcher

• How to Change the User Agent in Google Chrome 5/11/2023
• https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/user-agent-switcher-for-c/djflhoibgkdhkhhcedjiklpkjnoahfmg

Silent Site Sound Blocker

Automatically mutes tabs that aren't your focus tab.

Adblock for Youtube

Adblock for Youtube

Video Chapters for YouTube

Video Chapters for YouTube

PageZipper, Page One and Re-Pagination (Firefox)

Painlessly merge a series of web pages into one

Behind the Overlay

Close any overlay on any website with a single click !

Open Excel files without downloading them

• 10 Alternative Options To Open Excel Files Without Excel
• Office Editing for Docs, Sheets & Slides by google.com. It works when I clicked xlsx files from some journal websites.

Online notepad

• https://www.editpad.org/
• https://anotepad.com/
• https://shrib.com/

Imagus

Enlarge thumbnails, and show images/videos from links with a mouse hover.

Launch without address bar or bookmark bar (not kiosk)

$ google-chrome --app=https://www.cbsnews.com/live/ 

Note: window frame is still there.

Another option is luakit. But it causes buffering and the caption 'cc' button is disabled in this case.

Video downloader

• Chrome gave a message "Flash Video Downloader" extension contains malware. Now it's not on the Chrome store. 4/21/2022
• Flash video downloader
• The 5 Best Tools to Download Streaming Video From Any Website
• Video DownloadHelper Open-source

Download all images

Download All Images by MeryDev. I can filter by jpg file type. Tested on this site.

How to Download All Images on a Web Page at Once

Control audio devices

How to Play Chrome Audio Through Separate Devices

Live Caption/transcribe

• https://podnews.net/article/live-podcast-captions. This works only on audio coming from Chrome. For example, we can listen to online radio radio.garden and get the captions.
• If you close the caption box, you’ll need to refresh the page to bring it back. How to Get Live Captions For Any Video or Audio in Chrome

JSON

Json Formatter

For example, the weather API from darksky.net returns in a json format.

How to Parse JSON Files

How to Parse JSON Files on the Linux Command Line with jq

Visualize a json file

https://jsoncrack.com/

Cache

• Where Does Chrome Keep Its Cache in Ubuntu? /home/$USER/.cache/google-chrome/Default/. NB: copying the folder to another machine won't automatically signing in your Google account on the new machine.
• Export Chrome Data/Profile/Settings (History, Bookmarks, Passwords, Cookies, Cache) from Windows to Ubuntu C:\Users\$USER\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default
• Mac & chromium-based browsers /Users/$USER/Library/Caches/Google/Chrome/$PROFILE/Cache
• How to Automatically Clear Private Data When You Close Your Browser

Force refresh

How to Force Reload Webpage Without Cache in Google Chrome for Mac

• Control + Shift + F5 (Windows)
• Command + Shift + R (Mac)

Security/privacy settings

• 9 Default Chrome Settings You Should Change If You Care About Your Privacy. Note that this will sign you off websites you have signed in currently.
• Chrome 100 chrome://whats-new/
  • Safety check: Settings -> Privacy and Security -> Under Safety check click Check now.
  • Enhanced Safe Browsing: Settings -> Privacy and Security -> Security > Enhanced protection.
  • your location and device: In the address bar, click Lock. Change individual permissions or click Reset permissions. Go to Site settings for even more control over site permissions.
• The 10 Best Ways to Secure Your Online Identity. Enable Only Vital Browser Cookies.
• Enhanced ad privacy in Chrome
  • Enhanced ad privacy in Chrome – what is it, and should you turn it on?
  • Google flips the switch on interest-based ads with ‘Privacy Sandbox’ rollout
  • Chrome's invasive new tracking makes this the perfect time for a new browser

Tab group

如何使用 Chrome 85 分頁收合摺疊功能？

Track price

How to Track Prices in Google Chrome on Android

Developer Tools

• https://developers.google.com/web/tools/chrome-devtools/
• How to Use Chrome DevTools to Troubleshoot Website Issues
• How to Edit Any Web Page in Chrome (or Any Browser)
  • Click the “Console” tab at the top of the Developer Tools panel. Type the following into the console and press Enter: document.designMode = 'on'
• How do you save an entire folder from Google Chrome's Developer Tools' Sources tab?
  • Save All Resources Chrome extension

Google Drive

Google sheets

The Best Google Sheets Add-Ons

Search Google Drive Directly from Chrome’s Address Bar

https://www.howtogeek.com/howto/32459/how-to-search-google-docs-from-the-chrome-location-bar/

How to Use Google Docs Offline

https://www.howtogeek.com/404811/how-to-use-google-docs-offline/

Privacy badger

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/privacy-badger/pkehgijcmpdhfbdbbnkijodmdjhbjlgp

Hardware Acceleration In Chromium and Chrome

• How To Enable Hardware Acceleration In Chromium On Ubuntu Or Linux Mint (VA-API Patched PPA Builds)
• How to Turn Hardware Acceleration On and Off in Chrome
• How To Enable Hardware Accelerated Video Decode In Google Chrome, Brave, Vivaldi And Opera Browsers On Debian, Ubuntu Or Linux Mint
• Mac
  • Find out which graphics processor is in use on your MacBook Pro
  • View GPU activity in Activity Monitor on Mac, How To View GPU Usage In MacOS Via Activity Monitor

Appss Built From Chromium

• That Native App Is Probably Just an Old Web Browser
• RStudio IDE

DNS

Change DNS setting

https://www.howtogeek.com/204672/how-to-change-the-dns-server-on-a-chromebook/

There is no way to change the DNS setting for a particular browser in an OS (eg Windows/Linux/macOS).

DOH

How to enable DNS-over-HTTPS (DoH) in Google Chrome

How to View SSL Certificate Details in Chrome 56

Open Developer Tools -> Select the 'Security' Tab ->Select View Certificate.

ColorZilla

• Eyedropper
• Color picker
• Gradient generator

Online tool: Image color picker.

Common color names

• http://www.w3schools.com/colors/colors_names.asp
• http://www.colourlovers.com/blog/2007/07/24/32-common-color-names-for-easy-reference

Change the default apps

https://www.howtogeek.com/310576/how-to-change-the-default-apps-on-your-chromebook/

Night shift

https://chromeunboxed.com/chromebook-how-to-enabling-night-mode/

1. chrome://flags
2. search “night light”
3. enable

Now you should see the Night Light icon in the system tray in the bottom right corner of your screen between the help and lock icons. Click on the icon to enable it.

Customize it.

1. chrome://settings
2. search "night"
3. change

Reading/reader mode

• How to Use Google Chrome’s Hidden Reader Mode 2019/6/5
• Android version works too tested Oct 2019
• Just Read
• Mercury Reader

Change color for better reading

Night reading mode

The good thing about it is we can choose the default to be ON or OFF. Some other extensions like 'Care your eyes' does not have this option.

The 'auto' mode changes depending on the time of a day (by default the night mode is enabled when it is 7pm-7am). There is no way to choose the night mode by websites.

Change Colors

Similar to above but we can select to apply based on a webpage or a domain. Seems to be more useful!

Deluminate

Similar to above.

Keyboard shortcuts

21 Chrome shortcuts you need to know

Scroll to top or bottom

• Depends on OS,
  • On Mac, to jump to the bottom of a page, hit Command-down arrow. You can then return to the top of the page with Command-up arrow.
  • On Windows, hit the Home and End keys to go to the top and bottom of a page, respectively.
  • Chromebook: Ctrl + alt + up/down (Home/End function)
• Scroll To Top Button extension by PoziWorld

Switch tabs

• Option + CMD + arrow keys on Mac
• Ctrl + Page Up/down on Linux

How to Stop Websites From Asking For Your Location

https://www.howtogeek.com/howto/16404/how-to-disable-the-new-geolocation-feature-in-google-chrome/

Dashboard

Momentum

http://momentumdash.com/

Access other cloud drives

http://www.howtogeek.com/264221/how-to-access-dropbox-and-other-cloud-storage-directly-from-chrome-os-file-manager/

Google Cloud shell

• https://cloud.google.com/shell/
• No localhost? No problem! Using Google Cloud Shell as my full time development environment
• Google Cloud Shell, the free playground

Google Cloud Shell is a f1-micro instance running Debian preinstalled with developer tools and has a home directory that persists across sessions.

The home directory is 5GB of persistent disk storage. That means you can bring over your .zshrc, install your tools in $HOME, put the binaries in $HOME/bin and you’re safe.

Chrome Remote Desktop

• 在家工作無法抓公司檔案？Chrome遠端桌面，7步驟輕鬆存取辦公室電腦資料
• Note that the standard Windows 8 version (non-Pro) cannot act as a Remote Desktop host. So a 3rd party solution like Chrome Remote Desktop or TeamViewer becomes more necessary.

Switch account

You Need These 5 Custom Chrome Browser Profiles

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/custom-chrome-browser-profiles/

Profile Swapper

http://www.ghacks.net/2014/12/07/profile-swapper-makes-working-with-multiple-same-site-accounts-a-breeze/

Chrome browser and webview

What Would Happen if You Disabled Chrome on Android? Android System WebView works like a mini browser built into your apps. WebView allows that webpage to display in-app, rather than opening your browser separately.

Read for us

The 7 Best Text-to-Speech Chrome Extensions

Omnivore: pocket alternative

Omnivore: An Open-Source Read-it-Later App Like Pocket

Instapaper

https://www.instapaper.com/

Read Aloud: A Text to Speech Voice Reader

Read Aloud: A Text to Speech Voice Reader

Speechify Text to Speech Voice Reader

• Speechify Text to Speech Voice Reader
• https://speechify.com/pricing/ Free vs premium

Built-in text-to-speech functionality

Best 8 Text to Speech Apps for Android 2020

Google Earth

Earth View from Google Maps

http://earthview.withgoogle.com/

Explore the World’s Natural Wonders With Google Earth’s Geography Quiz

Google Earth on a browser

https://earth.google.com/web/

Game on Google earth

5 Free Google Games to Play and Learn, for Both Kids and Adults

Google Earth View

Google Adds 1,000 Wallpapers to Earth View

Split screen

• Tab Resize - split screen layouts and a review.
• Dualless

Take a screenshot

• Fireshot Use mouse to select an area to take a screenshot. It can be saved to a different format (png, pdf with links, ...) and print/copy to clipboard.
  • It only saves the 1st page when I tested it on a statistics page created by awstats.
  • The best I can use is Print > 'Save as PDF' . The web page is split into left and right frames. By default it only saves one page/screen. If I use mouse to click on the right frame and click 'select all' (CMD + a), I can save the full page on the right frame as a PDF file. Similarly if I choose the left frame and select all, I can save the full page on the left frame as a PDF file.
  • See also Browsers have a problem to print web pages which contain multiple frames
• Chrome OS
  • Ctrl + F5 for the whole desktop
  • Ctrl + Shift + F5 for a selected area
• To take a screenshot of a youtube video without any extra marks. 高效使用 Chrome、Edge 浏览器！你可能不知道的8个实用技巧 零度解说. Right click and right click again. Select "Copy video frame (New)". We can paste it into any apps like MS-Word or social apps.
• To make a screenshot of a long web page. Right click - Inspect. Then use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+p. Type "screenshot". Select "capture full size screenshot".

Recording a screen

How to Screen Record on Your Chromebook

Javascript

Unblock copying

To unblock the restriction of some websites to print a whole page 複制網頁内容. Right click - Inspect. Settings icon on RHS. Check "Disable javascript" on RHS. Refresh the website.

Edit photos

• http://www.howtogeek.com/214990/how-to-edit-photos-on-a-chromebook/

Edit a web page

How to Edit Any Web Page in Chrome (or Any Browser)

Crosh shell and Bash shell

• 10+ Commands Included In Chrome OS’s Hidden Crosh Shell
• Use Ctrl+Alt+t to open the crosh (Chrome OS developer shell). Thene type 'shell' to enter the regular shell. The Downloads folder is located under /home/chronos/user/Downloads/,

crosh> shell
chronos@localhost / $
chronos@localhost / $ pwd
/
chronos@localhost / $ ls
bin  debugd  dev  etc  home  lib  lib64  lost+found  media  mnt  opt  postinst  proc  root  run  sbin  sys  tmp  usr  var
chronos@localhost / $ ls /home
chronos  root  user
chronos@localhost / $ cd /home/chronos/user/Downloads/
chronos@localhost / $ cd
chronos@localhost ~ $ pwd
/home/chronos/user
chronos@localhost / $ cat /etc/os-release
BUILD_ID=11895.95.0
NAME=Chrome OS
ID_LIKE=chromiumos
GOOGLE_CRASH_ID=ChromeOS
VERSION_ID=74
BUG_REPORT_URL=https://crbug.com/new
VERSION=74
HOME_URL=https://www.chromium.org/chromium-os
ID=chromeos

• 10+ Commands Included In Chrome OS’s Hidden Crosh Shell
• Poking around your Chrome OS Device
• After we hit Ctrl+Alt+t, we will enter a crosh shell. Type shell to enter a bash shell.

Welcome to crosh, the Chrome OS developer shell.

If you got here by mistake, don't panic!  Just close this tab and carry on.

Type 'help' for a list of commands.

crosh> shell
chronos@localhost / $ ls
bin     dev  home  lib64       media  opt       proc  run   sys  usr
debugd  etc  lib   lost+found  mnt    postinst  root  sbin  tmp  var
chronos@localhost / $ pwd
/
chronos@localhost / $ ls /home
chronos  root  user
chronos@localhost / $

• Create an alias

  $ echo 'alias sshnocheck="ssh -o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no" ' >> ~/.bashrc

Chrome OS

• Customize your desktop such as adding an app to the task bar.
• 6 Chromebook Annoyances You Should Fix Right Now

Alternatives

Chrome OS Flex (Previously CloudReady)

• Chrome OS Flex Promises to Revive Your Slow and Old Laptop
• Chrome OS Flex: Google’s New PC OS 2022-06

Fyde OS

https://fydeos.io/. It is easy to install playstore in Fyde OS.

Ubuntu Web OS

https://ubuntu-web.org/. It includes Anbox to run Android apps.

Firmware update, Powerwash

How to update Chrome OS firmware to improve security

Support of software updates

Google gives some Chromebooks another 3 years of support

How to Enable USB Booting on Chromebook, remove chromeOS

• https://www.wikihow.com/Enable-USB-Booting-on-Chromebook
• How To: Install Ubuntu on Chromebook and REMOVE ChromeOS

Chromebook recovery utility

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/chromebook-recovery-utili/jndclpdbaamdhonoechobihbbiimdgai I have tested it on a Windows computer. Note: Linux is not supported.

To boot from a usb drive, hold ESC+F3 (refresh) and then press down the Power button together.

To erase the usb drive, use the same utility (settings icon) to do it.

Function keys

• F3: refresh
• F8: mute
• F9: decrease volume
• F10: increase volume

Chromebook keyboard shortcuts

• https://support.google.com/chromebook/answer/183101
• The Chrome OS Cheat Sheet: Every Chromebook Keyboard Shortcut
• Dell Chromebook Keyboard Guide
• 10 Awesome Chrome OS Keyboard shortcuts that you need to know about

Search key

Chromebook has a dedicated Search key. It is located on the Caps Lock key on a regular Windows keyboard.

If you are using a regular keyboard, the Windows key in between Ctrl and Alt will work as the search key.

Change search key to cap key

How To Change Search Key Function On Chromebook. Just go to Settings > Keyboard and you can remap the key.

Home and End keys

• Home: Search key (Caps Lock key ) + left arrow. Or Ctrl + Alt + Up.
• End: Search + right arrow. Or Ctrl + Alt + Down.

Page up/down

• To replicate “page up” key functionality, simply press alt + ↑
• To replicate “end” key functionality, simply press alt + ↓

Page backward

• Alt + Left arrow
• Go to the next page in your browsing history Alt + Right arrow

Dock a window to the left/right side of your screen

• Alt + [: left side
• Alt + ]: right side

Check available space

• Open Downloads (Ctrl + j) tab and go over to the upper right corner of the window and click on the menu button (three dots in a row) and pick 'Open downloads folder'
• On the new window click again the menu button. It will show how much space is left.

Network share files (SAMBA) for file transfer

• How to Access Network Share Files from a Chromebook (no need to use an extension now Chrome OS 71)
• Native support for Windows file sharing coming to Chrome OS
• Support for native SMB network shares in Chrome OS
  • chrome://flags/#native-smb

Surprise Me wallpaper

https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!msg/chromebook-central/Imhld5eSqAA/sgcFjnOhBgAJ

Text editor

Caret

Install Firefox

https://www.howtogeek.com/357693/how-to-install-firefox-in-chrome-os/

How to Instantly Improve Your Chromebook’s Bluetooth Performance

https://www.howtogeek.com/fyi/how-to-instantly-improve-your-chromebooks-bluetooth-performance/#comments

Printer support

https://support.google.com/chromebook/answer/7225252?hl=en&ref_topic=3399712

After I have changed my (low) toner, my printer (brother MFC-L2710DW) works in my chromebook.

Android apps

We can install KeePassDroid.

Multiple desks

Set up & manage multiple desktops with Virtual Desks

Touchpad

Use your Chromebook touchpad, How to Use Virtual Desk in Chrome OS

• Swipe using three fingers to switch between tabs.
• Tap with three fingers to close a tab (or Ctrl + w).
• Tap a link with three fingers to open a new tab.
• Swipe up or down to see all windows (like the Overview key/F5 right next to Full screen).

Install Windows

You Can Install Windows on Chromebook: Here's How

Gallium OS: Dual boot Chrome OS and Ubuntu

• Gallium OS = Xubuntu + Chrome hardware
• Wiki
• Support in reddit
• How to disable power-save Suspend

Username: chrx, Password: chrx

Installation

• https://mrchromebox.tech/
• https://mrchromebox.tech/#kodi

It seems the Kodi EZ script can be run in any shell environment (not just the shell opened via Ctrl+Alt+F2 in Developer mode). See Asus Chromebox With Windows 10. If I run the script from a standalone GalliumOS terminal, the first 5 options (Dual Boot) will be greyed out; only options 6 & 7 (Standalone) are available.

After installing GalliumOS as a standalone (including running an upgrade), the available disk space becomes 11G (= 15G - 3.1G). The partition table is clean rather than very complicated when the machine is dual boot.

Disable Firmware Write Protect & Set Boot Options

http://kodi.wiki/view/chromebox#Disable_Firmware_Write_Protect

This step is required to change the default boot target and the time out. See the Set Boot Options in Kodi E-Z Setup Script.

Crouton in Chrome OS

Like virtualization, chroots provide the guest OS with their own, segregated file system to run in, allowing applications to run in a different binary environment from the host OS. Unlike virtualization, you are not booting a second OS; instead, the guest OS is running using the Chromium OS system. The benefit to this is that there is zero speed penalty since everything is run natively, and you aren't wasting RAM to boot two OSes at the same time. The downside is that you must be running the correct chroot for your hardware, the software must be compatible with Chromium OS's kernel, and machine resources are inextricably tied between the host Chromium OS and the guest OS. What this means is that while the chroot cannot directly access files outside of its view, it can access all of your hardware devices, including the entire contents of memory.

To launch ubuntu next time, Ctrl + Alt+t to open a new tab, type 'shell' to enter a shell. Then type sudo startgnome. To exit ubuntu, pick 'log out' from the upper-right corner.

• https://github.com/dnschneid/crouton/blob/master/README.md
• http://www.howtogeek.com/162120/how-to-install-ubuntu-linux-on-your-chromebook-with-crouton/
• http://www.linux.com/learn/tutorials/795730-how-to-easily-install-ubuntu-on-chromebook-with-crouton
• Run Ubuntu in a Chrome browser tab
• http://pcworld.com/article/3187441/computers/how-to-install-linux-on-a-chromebook.html (5/1/2017)
• How to Install Linux on a Chromebook 2020

Compare to Linux Beta

Easily add a Linux desktop interface to your chromebook - KDE plasma

How to Set Up and Use Linux Apps on Chromebooks

• Linux beta and crouton can coexist
• Linux beta is not quite stable. When I try 'htop', it does not show enough RAM. And it also cannot refresh. (Mar 2019)
• ssh to a remote server will be disconnected after a while for some reason by using Linux App's Terminal app.

Developer mode

How to Enable Developer Mode on Your Chromebook

To enter a recovery mode, press ESC + F3(refresh) + Power. It will reboot.

Press Ctrl + D (the shortcut is not listed on the screen) at the recovery screen. You’ll see a screen saying “To turn OS Verification OFF, press ENTER.” Press Enter to enable developer mode.

From now on, every time you boot the computer, it will show "OS verification is OFF". Again, press Ctrl + D to continue.

It is interesting when I wipe the computer and reset ChromeOS to the Developer Mode, it will remembers the settings I have last time (shelf/docker/launcher/taskbar on the left hand side).

Cheat sheet

• Crouton Command Cheat Sheet

Quick start

After we downloaded crouton, use ctrl+alt+t to open a new tab, type shell and Enter.

sh ~/Downloads/crouton
sh ~/Downloads/crouton -t help   # show available targets
sh ~/Downloads/crouton -r list   # show available linux distributions
sudo sh ~/Downloads/crouton -n trusty -u -t xorg 
    # trusty is the name of the chroot, xorg is a target; multiple targets separated by common is OK
    # The "-u" option is to update crouton, "-t xorg" is optional.
sudo startunity

For reference purpose,

chronos@localhost / $ sh ~/Downloads/crouton 
crouton [options] -t targets
crouton [options] -f backup_tarball
crouton [options] -d -f bootstrap_tarball

Constructs a chroot for running a more standard userspace alongside Chromium OS.

If run with -f, where the tarball is a backup previously made using edit-chroot,
the chroot is restored and relevant scripts installed.

If run with -d, a bootstrap tarball is created to speed up chroot creation in
the future. You can use bootstrap tarballs generated this way by passing them
to -f the next time you create a chroot with the same architecture and release.

crouton must be run as root unless -d is specified AND fakeroot is
installed AND /tmp is mounted exec and dev.

It is highly recommended to run this from a crosh shell (Ctrl+Alt+T), not VT2.

Options:
    -a ARCH     The architecture to prepare a new chroot or bootstrap for.
                Default: autodetected for the current chroot or system.
    -b          Restore crouton scripts in PREFIX/bin, as required by the
                chroots currently installed in PREFIX/chroots.
    -d          Downloads the bootstrap tarball but does not prepare the chroot.
    -e          Encrypt the chroot with ecryptfs using a passphrase.
                If specified twice, prompt to change the encryption passphrase.
    -f TARBALL  The bootstrap or backup tarball to use, or to download to (-d).
                When using an existing tarball, -a and -r are ignored.
    -k KEYFILE  File or directory to store the (encrypted) encryption keys in.
                If unspecified, the keys will be stored in the chroot if doing a
                first encryption, or auto-detected on existing chroots.
    -m MIRROR   Mirror to use for bootstrapping and package installation.
                Default depends on the release chosen.
                Can only be specified during chroot creation and forced updates
                (-u -u). After installation, the mirror can be modified using
                the distribution's recommended way.
    -M MIRROR2  A secondary mirror, often used for security updates.
                Can only be specified alongside -m.
    -n NAME     Name of the chroot. Default is the release name.
                Cannot contain any slash (/).
    -p PREFIX   The root directory in which to install the bin and chroot
                subdirectories and data.
                Default: /usr/local, with /usr/local/chroots linked to
                /mnt/stateful_partition/crouton/chroots.
    -P PROXY    Set an HTTP proxy for the chroot; effectively sets http_proxy.
                Specify an empty string to remove a proxy when updating.
    -r RELEASE  Name of the distribution release. Default: precise,
                or auto-detected if upgrading a chroot and -n is specified.
                Specify 'help' or 'list' to print out recognized releases.
    -t TARGETS  Comma-separated list of environment targets to install.
                Specify 'help' or 'list' to print out potential targets.
    -T TARGETFILE  Path to a custom target definition file that gets applied to
                the chroot as if it were a target in the crouton bundle.
    -u          If the chroot exists, runs the preparation step again.
                You can use this to install new targets or update old ones.
                Passing this parameter twice will force an update even if the
                specified release does not match the one already installed.
    -V          Prints the version of the installer to stdout.

Be aware that dev mode is inherently insecure, even if you have a strong
password in your chroot! Anyone can simply switch VTs and gain root access
unless you've permanently assigned a Chromium OS root password. Encrypted
chroots require you to set a Chromium OS root password, but are still only as
secure as the passphrases you assign to them.

How to Manage the Crouton Linux System

https://www.howtogeek.com/210047/how-to-manage-the-crouton-linux-system-on-your-chromebook/

• Target (Unity, KDE, GNOME, LXDE, Enlightenment):

sh ~/Downloads/crouton -t help

• Linux distribution and release

sh ~/Downloads/crouton -r list

• Update a Crouton Chroot

sudo sh ~/Downloads/crouton -u -n trusty

• Encrypt the chroot

sudo sh ~/Downloads/crouton -u -e -n trusty

• Create Multiple Chroots

sudo sh ~/Downloads/crouton -r trusty -t lxde,xiwi -n testchroot

• Back Up a Chroot

sudo edit-chroot -b trusty

• Delete a Chroot

sudo delete-chroot trusty

How to Run a Full Linux Desktop in a Browser Tab on Your Chromebook

References:

• https://www.howtogeek.com/208368/how-to-run-a-full-linux-desktop-in-a-browser-tab-on-your-chromebook/ (2015)
• xiwi (X11 in a Window) page.

1. Go to Developer Mode. Hint ESC + F3(refresh) + Power.
2. Install Crouton integration extension for Chrome (not optional).
3. Download crouton https://goo.gl/fd3zc
4. Open a terminal (Ctrl+Alt+t). Type shell. Then run

# sudo sh ~/Downloads/crouton -r trusty -t xfce,xiwi
sudo sh ~/Downloads/crouton -t xfce,xiwi # It will ask a new username/password
sudo startxfce4

The crouton integration extension allows to put the new Linux desktop as a new Window (i.e. a new icon will be shown in the taskbar) in Chrome OS. Perfect!! So you can copy and paste text from Chrome browser to Terminal in Linux. Note that clicking the browser icon in Linux won't open its browser (NetSurf). It will just opens a new tab in Chrome OS.

Click the "X" icon on top to exit the full screen mode in Xubuntu. You can also use Alt+Tab to switch between ChromeOS and Xubuntu.

After I played with Xubuntu, I found several commands are not available. Do the following:

# ssh command not found
sudo apt install openssh-client

# add-apt-repository not found
sudo apt-get install software-properties-common python-software-properties

How to Run Linux Apps on a Chromebook Without Opening a Full Linux Window

https://www.howtogeek.com/343222/how-to-run-linux-apps-on-a-chromebook-without-opening-a-full-linux-window/ (2018)

https://www.linuxuprising.com/2018/12/crouton-how-to-run-linux-applications.html

Asus chromebox M075U

• Intel i3-4010U, 4K playback support, M2 SSD 2240
• F3 - refresh a web page
• Ctrl + D to enter a developer mode when we boot the chromebox
  • https://www.chromium.org/chromium-os/developer-information-for-chrome-os-devices/asus-chromebox
  • http://www.howtogeek.com/210817/how-to-enable-developer-mode-on-your-chromebook/
• Ctrl+Alt+t: open a shell in chrome browser.
  • Type shell to open a shell.
  • Type sudo startunity to open Ubuntu Desktop
  • Ctrl+Alt+Shift+F1: Toggle Chrome OS and Ubuntu Desktop

Chinese character in gnome shell

It is related to locale. By default, it is

(trusty)brb@localhost:~$ locale
LANG=
LANGUAGE=
LC_CTYPE="POSIX"
LC_NUMERIC="POSIX"
LC_TIME="POSIX"
LC_COLLATE="POSIX"
LC_MONETARY="POSIX"
LC_MESSAGES="POSIX"
LC_PAPER="POSIX"
LC_NAME="POSIX"
LC_ADDRESS="POSIX"
LC_TELEPHONE="POSIX"
LC_MEASUREMENT="POSIX"
LC_IDENTIFICATION="POSIX"
LC_ALL=

• http://tieba.baidu.com/p/2919742459?pn=2 Pay attention to the section 'Switch languages in crouton'.

Disk space

Test on my HP Chromebox CB1-014 Desktop (Intel Celeron 2955U Processor 1.4 GHz, 2GB DDR3, 16GB storage)

• The disk space returned from 'df -h' in Chrome OS (First).
• The disk space returned from 'df -h' in Ubuntu (Second)
• The system status returned from 'htop' in Ubuntu (Third)

Sharing files/directories

https://github.com/dnschneid/crouton/wiki/Sharing-files-and-folders

The ChromeOS's Downloads folder is accessible in Ubuntu's ~/Downloads/ directory.

ifconfig

Located in /sbin directory.

$ whereis ifconfig
ifconfig: /sbin/ifconfig /usr/share/man/man8/ifconfig.8.gz

# CROUTON (missing /usr/local/sbin, /usr/sbin, /sbin)
$ echo $PATH
/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/local/games:/usr/games

# Regular Ubuntu
$ echo $PATH
/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games

Running servers in crouton

https://github.com/dnschneid/crouton/wiki/Running-servers-in-crouton

Check battery health

https://www.howtogeek.com/309971/how-to-check-your-chromebooks-battery-health/

To check the battery cycle count, use battery_firmware info command in a crosh terminal.

Crotini

• Crostini vs Crouton. Crouton requires you to put your Chromebook into developer mode. With crouton, you can also run individual apps in the ChromeOS environment (check out xiwi), or you can have a full Linux desktop of your choice. Crouton requires you to put your Chromebook into developer mode.
• CHROMEBOOKS AND CROSTINI: CONTAINERS FOR CHROME OS BY GOOGLE I/O
• Chrome OS 74 will enable audio for Linux apps
• How to Back Up a Crostini Linux Installation on Your Chromebook

Chrultrabook

• https://docs.chrultrabook.com/
• ASUS 14" Touchscreen Full HD Intel Evo Platform Chromebook - 11th Gen Intel Core i5- 1135G7 16GB DDR4 512GB SSD - Star Black CX9400CEA-DS562T (eBay Certified - Refurbishe) $329.00

Manage Google Account

• https://myaccount.google.com/?pli=1

Use Google drive offline

• http://www.howtogeek.com/227032/how-to-use-google-drive-offline-on-a-deskop-or-mobile-device/

Chrome Experiments

• https://www.chrome.com/racer

Twitter

• Keyboard shortcuts
  • "?" for help,
  • "j" for next tweet
  • "ENTER" to view the whole message
  • "g" & "h" to go HOME
• Twitter Symbols: What Do @, d, RT, # Mean? and What Do Symbols Mean if Using Twitter?
  • @: Talk publicly to another person
  • d: Talk privately to another person
  • #: Tag a message with a label. People use the hashtag to attach a theme or "tag" to their tweets, usually in connection with a trending or popular topic.
• Use These Great Twitter Tools to Manage Your Feed
• The Best Twitter Apps for Every Platform
• https://tweetdeck.twitter.com/,
  • TweeterDeck user guide
  • Keyboard shortcuts
• How to DM on Twitter
• 3 practical reasons to use Twitter
• How do I know who I'm following? https://twitter.com/following. See Following FAQs.

Google Takeout

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Takeout