7+ Very Useful Chrome Extensions for Developers

If you are looking for some great Chrome extensions to make your life a little bit easier, then these 7 Chrome extensions might be for you. Trust us when we say these are but a sampling of some of the many fantastic Chrome extensions on the market. 

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How do I see my Chrome extensions?

Chrome offers a handy way to see what Chrome extensions you have already installed.

You just open Chrome and click on the three dots on the right of the browser screen. From there, click on "More Tools" and then you should click on an "Extensions" option.

From there you should be able to view and manage your Chrome extensions with ease. Options include things like removing extensions, disabling them, giving them permission to read and change site data, fix corruption and many more options. 

For more detailed instructions check out Chrome's Extension Help Page. 

Do Chrome extensions work on mobile?

Yes and no. It depends on the OS of your smart device. For Android users, most Chrome extensions should work with no problem at all, just like on your desktop.

Obviously, to see the Chrome extensions you have on your desktop browsers, you will need to ensure you are logged in to your account and have syncing enabled. But keep in mind that not all Chrome extensions will work on mobile. 

How do I add an extension to Chrome?

Searching for and adding new extensions to Chrome is an incredibly easy process. You can either visit an extensions homepage to install or better yet visit Chrome's Web Store.

It is always good practice to check out the extension's reviews before you decide to install an activate an extension. You may find a better extension that offers the same functionality as the one you are looking at but is more stable and, most importantly, actually does what it is offering. 

Once there, search for the extension you want and click "Add". 

From here Chrome will do the rest and guide you through the installation process. If you need more detailed instructions on Chrome-extension installation, please check out Chrome's extension support page. 

What are the best Chrome extensions for developers?

So without further ado, here are 7 great Chrome extensions that will prove invaluable to any developer. The following list is far from exhaustive and is in no particular order. 

1. Chrome's Web Developer is pretty handy

Chrome's Web Developer extension is a great little tool for developers. Once installed, it adds a little toolbar with some great tools suddenly made available to you.

These tools will prove very handy for developers as well as programmers. The extensions allow you to do a lot more than the standard Chrome website inspector. 

For example, you can easily add outlines to elements by the click of a button, display rulers, find broken images on a page and much more. 

This really is a tool you need in your developer kit. 

2. CSSViewer is another must-have Chrome extension 

CSSViewer is also another great Chrome extension that every developer needs. This relatively simple CSS property viewer will pay dividends in the long run.

Once installed, and activated, it provides a floating panel that can provide important CSS-based information in front of your very eyes. By scrolling over a part of a webpage, it will quickly display CSS attribute information like: -

• Font
• Text
• Color
• Background
• Box
• Positioning
• Effects

This will save you a ton of time when analyzing or testing your projects. 

3. actiTIME lets you track your working time

Tracking your productive time on a project is incredibly important for any self-employed or freelance developer. This is where the Chrome extensions actiTIME comes into play. 

Once installed, it helps developers track their work hours directly from the web browser and other web apps like Jira. It is very popular with many developer companies and freelancers around the world.

The tool will prove invaluable for analyzing performance and controlling the project's progress and profitability. 

4. The IE Tab Chrome extension lets you emulate Internet Explorer on Chrome

If you don't want to go through the trouble of manually testing your project on Internet Explorer, then this extension is exactly what you need. The IE Tab extension emulates IE on Chrome by rendering the engine directly in Chrome.

It also provides various versions of IE, including IE6, IE7, IE8 or IE9 all in one place. Once it's installed, it will save you precious time from switching back and forth between browsers to test your projects on different platforms.

This is an incredibly powerful developer tool but is only currently available on Windows OS. 

5. JSONView is great for developers who work with RESTful APIs

if you work a lot with RESTful APIs, you might benefit from installing the JSONView Chrome extension. As you are probably already aware, reading raw JSON can be a pain.

When breaking it down into a tree-view, rather than raw code, it is much easier to analyze and problem-solve. This is where JSONView comes into its own.

Once installed, the extension helps developers view JSON documents in a browser with ease. 

6. LambdaTest Chrome Extension is another great extension for developers

LambdaTest Chrome extension is yet another awesome tool for developers. This extension lets you take full page screenshots of webpages across different desktop and mobile browsers right from the browser in a single click. 

It compiles and saves the screenshots, enabling developers to help fast track cross-browser compatibility testing of web pages and websites. This will save you a ton of time and, most importantly, the headache of constantly pasting and saving screenshots in apps like MS Paint. 

7. The f19N Obtrusive Live Test Chrome extension is pretty handy

The f19N Obtrusive Live Test extension for Chrome is another great little tool for developers. It is a sandboxed, extendable Webpage Testing Framework that will prove invaluable.

This extension allows developers to test all their pages on predefined best practices like SEO and web performance with ease. It is very easy to use and set up your own tests.

Once installed, and setup, the extension provides you with direct visual feedback on a site/page's performance. In a pinch, you will get valuable insight into what is happening in the browser during page loads and rendering cycles.