DEV Community

Cover image for 12 Must Have Browser Extensions for Developers
Bobby Iliev
Bobby Iliev

Posted on • Originally published at devdojo.com

12 Must Have Browser Extensions for Developers

Introduction

One of the cool things about using Chrome as your default browser is all the extensions you can use. Google Chrome extensions are programs created by different developers that change your browser's functionality. Whether you are a Web Developer or not, thousands of different extensions can help you and make your time on Chrome more easy and enjoyable.

In this post, we are gonna take at you some of the most useful extensions. Some of these extensions are going to be of help to you even if you are not a Web Developer. So make sure to check the whole post out.

1. Daily Dev

Daily Dev is one of the best sources for programming news. There are lots of helpful articles that can help anyone out. This extension is awesome because whenever you open a new tab, Daily Dev will open itself. And if you're wondering, no, it isn't going to slow down your computer or laptop. It runs smoothly, and it keeps you up to date with what's going on in the community.

2. LastPass

Imagine having to remember 100 different usernames and passwords for different websites. That's where LastPass comes in. LastPass is a password manager in which you can store all of your passwords in one safe place. The only thing you have to remember is your master password. This password lets you go into the vault where all of your usernames, emails, and passwords are stored. LastPass is a lifesaver.

3. Grammarly

This extension is probably the most helpful one. It detects grammar, spelling, punctuation mistakes. There is a small chance of it detecting a false mistake, but it hardly happens. The best thing is that it is free. There is a premium version with a monthly payment as well, which goes more in-depth with your word choice, tone, and style mistakes.

4. Website Blocker

Don't you hate it when you've planned to have a super productive day, and by the end of it, you've rewatched the entire first season of Game Of Thrones. Well, this thing happens to a lot of us. Maybe not as extreme as the example I just gave. But it's a common thing to get distracted with something. So this is where this extension comes in. The Website Blocker extension does exactly what it sounds like. It blocks websites of your choice. You can select, for example, Netflix and block it for a certain amount of time. Let's say you've decided to learn 3 hours today, so you can quickly block all of the sites that you may get distracted with for that time and enjoy a peaceful time studying.

5. ColorZilla

ColorZilla is a beneficial extension that helps you find those amazing colors on a random website. For example, you've found an amazing shade of pink that you would love to add to your portfolio website. With ColorZilla, you can just choose that color, and it will copy it and show it in RGB or HEX. This is a super useful extension for Front End Developers that want to create some amazing and colorful webpages.

6. Π’odoist

This extension helps you is plan your day. You can set your studying hours, your break time, or your Game Of Thrones time of the day. It is an essential thing to have your day organized. So todoist is the perfect extension for this.

7. Web Activity Time Tracker

It's a good thing to see how you spend your time. You can think you've been productive, but in reality, you're spending most of your time watching cat videos on youtube. This extension shows you how much time you've spent on a certain website. So it's good to see how you're spending your time in front of the screen and where you need to reduce some of that time.

8. CSSViewer

This is a must-have extension for Front End Developer. It helps you see the CSS that is used on different websites. There is some amazing and unique stuff that would be great to add to your website. So with CSSViewer, you can get the code of the certain part of the website that you want and use it in your creations.

9. Lorem Ipsum Generator (Default Text)

Everyone should know what Lorem Ipsum is. It's the dummy text that you use to see how some text would look on your website. With this extension, you can generate whole paragraphs with as many sentences as you want. It definitely helps you out a lot when u want to add lots of text to your website to see how it looks.

10. Wappalyzer

This is an amazing extension that shows you what other websites are built with. It shows you what CMS a certain website is using, and it also shows you what framework, e-commerce platform, Web Server, and many more things the website of your choice is working with.

11. JSONView

This extension helps you validate and view JSON documents. Another must-have extension for any developer.

12. Clear Cache

Don't you hate it when you've just made some changes to your website, and then it takes some time to see them because your cache isn't cleared. Well, this little extension will save you from that. Just by pressing the icon, your cache clears straight away. And it's always good to have it cleared out often.

Conclusion

Extensions can be life-savers for many of us, and they can make working and creating things a lot more enjoyable.

What are your top browser extensions that you use on daily basis?

Top comments (12)

Collapse
 
ama profile image
Adrian Matei • Edited

Great list, some of them I was not aware about. I use Codever on a daily basis to save bookmarks and snippets from the web and octotree when browsing through Github projects...

Collapse
 
bobbyiliev profile image
Bobby Iliev

Those are pretty cool! I will check them out! πŸ™Œ

Collapse
 
bpkinez profile image
Branislav Petrović

+1 for Octotree, great extension for GitHub repo browsing. I recommend to everyone.

Collapse
 
bpkinez profile image
Branislav Petrović

Nice list, I also recommend this extensions:

  • Dark Reader (Dark mode for every website)
  • EditThisCookie (You can add, delete, edit, search, protect and block cookies!)
  • Save to Pocket (The easiest, fastest way to capture articles, videos, and more.)
Collapse
 
bobbyiliev profile image
Bobby Iliev

Those look really cool! Definitely going to try them out!

Collapse
 
xol profile image
Andre • Edited

As an alternative to Website Blocker, I recommend Go F*cking Work. A classy subtle way to stop you from slacking off. ;)

Unfortunately only for Chrome.

Collapse
 
bobbyiliev profile image
Bobby Iliev

Sounds cool! Will definitely give it a try 😁

Collapse
 
kavishkarajaka1 profile image
Kavishka Rajakaruna

Great article. πŸ‘Œ

Collapse
 
bobbyiliev profile image
Bobby Iliev

Thank you πŸ™Œ

Collapse
 
webdevwanderer profile image
webdevwanderer

This is great. I even don't know most of these mentioned. How can i have those extensions on my browser? Do i need to install these on my machine? Thanks for your reply.

Collapse
 
bobbyiliev profile image
Bobby Iliev

In case that you are using Chrome, you can install browser extensions by following these steps:

  • Open the Chrome Web Store.
  • Find and select the extension you want.
  • Click Add to Chrome.
  • Some extensions will let you know if they need certain permissions or data. To approve, click Add extension.

Important: Make sure you only approve extensions that you trust.

Collapse
 
webdevwanderer profile image
webdevwanderer

Okay, i will try this. Thanks.