Problem is, Google Chrome is awful. Switching up to the new MacBook Pro, where pretty much everything is fast, made me realize that Google Chrome is still awful. The Apple Silicon version is a little better, but Safari blows it away on every level. But you can make Google Chrome less awful. A bit less awful, anyway. Here’s what I do. First and foremost, don’t make Google Chrome your default browser. You do that, and it will suck you into a sinkhole, and you’ll be using it for everything and hating life. Use Google Chrome only when you need to use it. If you still want Chrome to be your main browser, then another thing I’ve found that works is loading all of those tabs that you “need to keep for future reference” into a separate browser. It’s been said before, but I’ll say it again, running Google Chrome with the minimal number of tabs possible is the best strategy. The more tabs you have open, the more awful it becomes. If you don’t want to use a separate browser, then learn to make use of bookmarks. Next, don’t store your passwords exclusively in Google Chrome. Big mistake. I prefer to use a password manager that I can manage separately, such as Bitwarden of LastPass. If you have passwords that are important to you stored in Google, you can get them out by heading to https://passwords.google.com/, clicking the cog at the top-right, and choosing Export passwords. More details on getting your passwords out of Google Chrome here. Note: Be careful what you do with that password file you export. Remember, it contains your passwords! Get passwords out of Google Chrome and into something else — otherwise, you’ll be drawn back by in its tractor beams. I also keep Google Chrome as basic as possible. No extensions unless they are vital. Nothing. Extensions, in particular, can make Google Chrome even kludgier. I also use and switch between two browsers – Google Chrome and my default browser – as smoothly and seamlessly as possible. I found this awkward initially, but now it’s become second nature. It takes time and some determination to build muscle memory, but I’ve found the benefits are worth it. We can’t fix Google Chrome, but we can make it less awful.
