Top 10 Google Chrome Extensions for Students

Read more to learn about Google Chrome extensions that can help you stay productive, organize your work, find deals online, and much more. Written by Komal Saini (First-Year Representative at DSC) and Elizabeth Abraham (Mentor at DSC).

If you’re a google chrome user, you’ve probably noticed the little puzzle icon on the top right-hand side of your browser next to your account. This feature was added in 2019 to help users organize extensions that have been added to their Chrome browser.

Chrome extensions consist of extra tools that can be downloaded onto your browser. These extensions add to Chrome’s existing functions with various programs created by different users to promote accessibility and creativity, and might even save you money. In fact, many coupon extensions offered on Chrome can help you find the cheapest products online. For many students, these extensions can significantly increase productivity and accessibility.

Here are ten free and useful extensions that we recommend for students (especially with online learning):

(1) Weave Highlighter

Weava Highlighter is an extension created by Weavatools to allow users to highlight keywords and phrases without ever having to forget them. This program keeps all highlighted items stored in your account and resurfaces them even after you’ve closed and reopened the tab. The extension also provides an annotation feature to allow you to both highlight and type short notes for your readings. These annotations and highlights are also stored in your account, along with the site and location of your highlighted text. You can create folders, subtopics, themes by colour to organize your notes. The extension works on most websites and PDFs — all you need is an email account to sign up.

(2) Honey

Honey automatically helps you find coupons when you shop on over 30,000+ sites. Honey tests different codes and applies the best one to your cart. On Amazon, Honey can help you compare sellers, as well as track price and the price history of products. On average, Honey members save $126 a year.

(3) Grammarly

Grammarly uses artificial intelligence and natural language processing to offer digital writing assistance. The free plan will highlight any spelling errors, grammar mistakes, awkward wording and provide immediate suggestions to help you rephrase your work. You can input your audience, intended tone, and formality to gain more personalized feedback. The extension works on Google Docs and mailing platforms.

(4) Momentum

Momentum allows users to be greeted upon opening up Google Chrome with a personalized dashboard. The dashboard is customizable and can showcase daily reminders, the time and date, quotes and photos. You can set your daily goal/focus/intention and keep track of your tasks with the Todo list. Using the Balance mode feature, you can set your uptime and downtime. It’s a great way to eliminate distractions and avoid the trap of procrastination.

(5) Picture-in-Picture

Picture-in-Picture is an extension by Google that allows you to watch videos in a floating window that you can drag to different areas on your screen while you’re on other sites and applications. If you’re someone that enjoys watching “study with me” videos while working, this tool comes in handy — you can continue working while feeling like you have a friend working with you too. The source code for this extension can be found on GitHub.

(6) Divider Tabs

Do you often get overwhelmed by the number of tabs you have open? Divider Tabs is an extension that allows you to continue to keep your tabs open without having to see them cluster and pile up as more tabs are added. The collapsable components feature allows you to organize tabs by colour and categorize them into groups so they only reappear on your screen when needed and can be closed with a single click.

(7) Save to Google Drive

Save to Google Drive is an extension offered by Google Drive that allows you to save content on the web or screenshots directly to Google Drive. You can save documents, images, HTML5 audio by right-clicking and selecting ‘Save to Google Drive.’ After you’ve saved your content, you can open the file, rename, or view the file, as well as organize and share your document in the Google Drive document list.

(8) Podcastle AI

Podcastle AI converts text to a podcast with natural human speech using machine learning. This is really helpful for students who struggle to focus on reading assignments and articles and learn better auditorily. It can also be useful to students with accessibility needs who may require assistance with reading. The extension can be applied to most articles and websites, and additional features allow you to speed up or slow down the reading.

(9) Noisli

Are you often distracted by random noises while trying to study? Noisli offers a variety of background sounds to mask annoying noises and help you focus while you study or relax. This can be especially helpful for students who may be living at home with family members and are studying in loud environments. You can create and listen to your own personal sound environment or curated playlists. There are additional features for Pro and Business users, such as a timer to work in sessions, shuffle and oscillation, and unlimited streaming.

(10) Dark Reader

Dark Reader is an eye-care extension that provides an instantaneous dark mode for every website. Bright colours are inverted to high contrast, making it easier to read at night. There are a variety of features that allow you to customize your experience. For example, you can adjust brightness, contrasts, sepia filter, dark mode, font settings, and even create an ignore-list. There are no ads, and the application is fully open-source on GitHub.