20 Best Chrome Flags for PC and Mobile Users in 2022

Chrome Flags are beta features that give you a sneak peek at impending Google innovations. They also allow you to customize Chrome’s features according to your preferences. Chrome flags, on the other hand, are a work in progress. With newer Chrome versions, they are continually changing and being eliminated. As a result of Chrome 88’s recent release, there is a slew of new best Chrome flags for PC and Mobile. You’ve got it.

Best Chrome Flags for PC and Mobile

Some flags are only available on mobile devices, while others are available on both desktop and mobile devices. As a result, I’ve divided the list into three sections: desktop, mobile, and both.

Chrome Flags for Desktop

1. Chrome Tab Search

First, let’s look at the desktop. Google has made it easier to manage open tabs with the current Chrome 88 version. A new flag named Chrome Tab Search has been added.

You can simply move between your dozens of tabs after you enable the flag. Simply press Ctrl+Shift+A, and a dropdown menu will appear in the top-right corner. You can type the name of the website or tab you’re looking for. You can rapidly switch to the open tab by pressing Enter.

Chrome 88 tab search via chrome flag

Chrome Flag:

chrome://flags/#enable-tab-search

2. Chrome Permission Chip

Chrome’s permission pop-ups have always irritated me. Because the pop-up overlays the content of the web pages, they can’t be ignored. As a result, in order to continue reading the content, you must decline the permission.

The permission requests are now more discreet thanks to the new permission flags. “Permissions chips” are what they’re called. The permission request remains in the Omnibox if you enable the flag. It doesn’t get in the way of the website’s content and can easily be ignored.

On the other hand, if you wish to grant certain permission, you must now click twice. After that, press the Allow button on the authorization chip.

Chrome permission chip in Chrome 88

Chrome Flag:

chrome://flags/#permission-chip

3. Quieter Notification Flag

We have a quieter notification flag, similar to Permission chips. It effectively silences notification requests. The notification requests are provided in a subtle manner similar to the permission chip once you enable the flag.

The revised structure also avoids the possibility of unintentionally allowing notifications from the website. I’m sure we’ve all been there!

Quieter Notification Flag

Chrome Flag:

chrome://flags/#quiet-notification-prompts

4. Mute Notifications During Screen Share

Google Chrome notifications are still visible during a screen share by default. So, if you’re on a Zoom call and share your screen, your Slack and WhatsApp notifications will still be in plain text. When the messages are personal, it can be difficult to ignore them.

During the call, you can enable the silence notifications Chrome flag. It hides all of your Chrome notifications, as shown in the screenshot below.

Mute notifications during screen share

If you’re using Google Meet, you’ll get notifications from Google during a screen share. If you use other video conferencing programs like Zoom, Discord, Skype, Microsoft Teams, or others, the notifications aren’t hidden.

Chrome Flag:

chrome://flags/#mute-notifications-during-screen-shar

5. Copy Link to Text

Have you ever felt compelled to give a part of a webpage rather than the complete link to a friend? That’s something I do frequently, and Google has made it even easier with the “Link to Text” chrome flag.

You can copy a section of a webpage, make a unique link, and email it to someone else. They see a highlighted area of the webpage when they click on the link.

On mobile devices, this feature is already available. All you have to do now is select the text and tap Share. To link to a specific area of a webpage, touch “Link to text” in the share sheet.

Chrome Flag:

chrome://flags/#copy-link-to-text

6. Better Chrome PDF Viewer

Google Chrome has a PDF viewer built-in, although it’s rather poor. It lacks features such as markup, page preview, and note-taking. Google has just begun to pay attention to PDF viewers.

You may try out the new PDF viewer using this Chrome flag. It has a much nicer user interface and a navigation bar that allows you to switch between pages easily. For example, if you’re on page 1 and need to get to page 10, you’ll have to scroll all the way down to page 10.

You may, however, directly click on page 10 in the navigation window with the newer Chrome PDF viewer.

A new chrome PDF viewer

Chrome Flag:

chrome://flags/#pdf-viewer-update

7. Dark Mode

The Internet is gradually transitioning to dark mode, with Google likely to be the last to do so. However, if you want to see dark mode on all websites and web elements before everyone else, you can enable the following Chrome flags.

Chrome Flag for Desktop:

chrome://flags/#enable-force-dark
chrome://flags/#form-controls-dark-mode

8. Import Passwords

Chrome has an excellent password manager that can now even recommend passwords. Chrome, on the other hand, is firm about not enabling you to import passwords from other browsers, including Mozilla Firefox and password managers like LastPass. This new flag, on the other hand, changes everything.

The Import Password chrome flag can now be enabled. Along with the “Export passwords” option, it now has an “Import” button. As a result, Chrome will now allow you to import CSV files made by other password managers or browsers into the Chrome password manager.

Import LastPass passwords in chrome

Chrome Flag:

chrome://flags/#PasswordImport

9. Pull to Refresh Gesture

One of my favorite features of Google Chrome is the swiping movements. They perform well in conjunction with Microsoft’s precise touchpad motions. One element, though, was lacking. i.e. the refresh pull gesture

As a result, you can enable the “pull to refresh” flag to do so. The current page will now refresh if you swipe down on your touchpad.

Chrome Flag:

chrome://flags/#pull-to-refresh

Chrome Flags for Mobile

10. Dark Mode

The dark mode is available on mobile devices in the same way it is on the desktop. This flag forces Chrome to go into a dark mode for all websites you visit. It’s more in line with the other apps now. Dark mode not only saves battery life but also makes nighttime viewing easier on the eyes.

Dark mode chrome flags mobile

Chrome Flag for Mobile:

chrome://flags/#enable-android-night-mode

11. Chrome Duet Alternative

Chrome Duet is a common Chrome flag that pins the toolbar to the bottom of the browser. It was, however, deprecated in Chrome 84. You can also use the conditional tab strip as an option.

The new conditional tab strip isn’t particularly attractive, but it’s extremely useful on taller devices. You can shut or start a new tab in addition to fast flipping between tabs.

Duet chrome flag

Chrome Flag:

chrome://flags/#enable-conditional-tabstrip

If the conditional strip doesn’t work, please disable the following flag.

chrome://flags/#enable-tab-grid-layout

12. Tab Groups on Mobile

If you’re anything like me, you’re using the Chrome app with many tabs open. Some of these tabs are for professional use, while others are for personal use. The issue now is that all of these tabs are dispersed, and Chrome does not provide a mechanism to organize them.

As a result, you can start grouping tabs with the following flag. You can also give tab groups names to make them easier to find. You can’t color code the tab groups, unlike the group tab on Chrome desktop.

Chrome tab groups on mobile

Chrome Flag:

chrome://flags/#enable-tab-groups
chrome://flags/#enable-tag-groups-continuaion
chrome://flags/#enable-tab-groups-ui-improvements

When tab groups are enabled, the conditional tab strip will only work within the folder.

13. Read later

Good extensions make managing bookmarks and articles easier on Chrome desktop. On mobile, though, the story is somewhat different. I used to save articles from Chrome in Pocket to read later. However, with the help of this new Chrome flag, the operation may now be completed within Chrome itself.

All you have to do is hold down the long-press button on the links and select Read later. Under the Bookmarks area, you’ll see a separate “Reading List” with all of your unread articles. Furthermore, some items can be downloaded and read offline.

Chrome read later option via chrome flags

Chrome Flag:

chrome://flags/#read-later

14. Query Tiles

Query Tiles is a cool experimental feature that displays trending items directly beneath the Omni-box. It’s not the same as the Discover function. It presents you with a list of themes in the form of tiles, from which you can select general news by category.

If you don’t like tailored news and want to see what’s going on in the world, Query tiles are a good feature.

Chrome new query tiles

Chrome Flag:

chrome://flags/#query-tiles
chrome://flags/#query-tiles-omnibox
chrome://flags/query-tiles-country-code

15. Edit Passwords on Mobile

Chrome allows you to edit passwords that have been stored on your desktop. However, if you try to perform the same thing on your phone, you won’t be able to. You can, however, edit your saved passwords on your mobile device using this Chrome flag.

However, when you edit the passwords, Chrome does not prompt you for authentication. So, once you’ve finished editing passwords, I’d recommend turning off the flag.

Chrome Flag:

chrome://flags/#edit-passwords-in-settings

16. Sneak Peek

If you’ve ever used the Google Now app, you’ll notice that it has a few advantages over Chrome. For example, simply highlighting difficult words allows you to instantly see their meaning. The meanings are also displayed in the ephemeral tab, which is located at the bottom of the page. Unfortunately, Google Chrome does not support this function.

However, you can rapidly preview URLs in the ephemeral tab by enabling the following setting. Simply long-press a link and pick “Preview page” from the drop-down menu.

Chrome Flag:

chrome://flags/#enable-ephermal-tab-bottom-sheet

17. Download Later

The download manager in Chrome is similar to the PDF viewer in that it is quite simple. A download cannot be paused or resumed at a later time.

You can use the following flag to remedy this. You can start a download right away when you connect to Wi-Fi, in addition to saving it for later.

chrome download later on mobile

Chrome Flag:

chrome://flags/download-later
chrome://flags/download-later-debug-on-wifi

Chrome Flags for Both PC and Mobile

18. Increase Download Speeds

Download rates on any device can be improved by using parallel downloads. It breaks the file into segments and downloads them all at the same time. It works similarly to how download managers operate.

Increase download speeds: chrome flags

Chrome Flag:

chrome://flags/#enable-parallel-downloading

19. Enable Reader Mode

The Reading mode flag changes the article’s appearance to one that is minimal, compact, and ad-free. It’s something I use all the time to read large articles.

Enable reader mode: Chrome flag

Chrome Flag:

chrome://flags/#enable-reader-mode

20. Smooth Scrolling

Since the beginning, Google Chrome’s scrolling has been terrible. When Edge switched to Chromium, they were able to fix some scrolling issues. In Chromium, Microsoft implemented smooth scrolling. Chrome, on the other hand, does not have the feature activated by default.

As a result, the following flag can be used to enable smooth scrolling. When scrolling through webpages on a PC or using a 90 Hz display on Android, the scrolling has a tiny change.

Chrome Flag:

chrome://flags/#smooth-scrolling

Conclusion: Best Chrome flags for PC and Mobile

So those were some of the most recent Chrome flags for PC and mobile that allowed you to try out beta features ahead of the rest of the world. Flags are experimental features, therefore they are subject to change with each Chrome release. As a result, keep coming back to this page because I’ll be updating it frequently.

You may also like to read: 8 Best Chrome Extensions for Zoom Meetings.

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