Browser Extensions I Use Every Day

January 13, 2023 • 4 comments

I love improving my workflow via browser extensions. I’ve written about some great extensions in the past, and since then have continued to refine my collection.

Fast-forward 10 years of web development, and I’ve got the number of extensions down from 30+ to around eight per browser. These are essential extensions that I actually use every day. They make my online work/life much easier.

There are a ton of amazing and useful browser addons for Chrome, Firefox, Brave, and many other browsers. Years ago, I would install every awesome extension that I could find. You know, just to have it. These days, I follow a much more minimalist path. I don’t install any extension or app unless:

It is 100% necessary
I trust the developer/provider

Following this path has led to the following collection of essential extensions. Organized by browser:

Chrome extensions
Firefox extensions
Brave extension
Other browsers

Chrome extensions

I use Chrome as my primary work browser. That means a LOT of web development and testing, inspecting source code, and troubleshooting. The following extensions help to make it happen. Ordered by frequency of use.

New Tab Redirect — Customize the URL used for new tabs
Window Resizer — Resize the browser window with a click
GoFullPage – Full Page Screen Capture — Capture screenshots easily
JavaScript Errors Notifier — Shows any JavaScript errors on the page
Broken Link Checker — Find any broken links on the page
Disable JavaScript — Disables JavaScript with a click
EditThisCookie — Enables quick editing of cookie data
IP Address & Domain Information — Get details about any page

Firefox extensions

I use Firefox mostly for leisure, watching video, downloading media, and so forth. So these extensions are aimed mostly in that direction. Ordered by frequency of use.

AdBlocker Ultimate — Blocks many annoying ads
Popup Blocker Ultimate — Blocks popups, perhaps too well
Window Resizer — Enables one-click resizing of the browser window
JavaScript Errors Notifier — Shows if any JavaScript errors on the page
Video DownloadHelper — Enables download of video files
Awesome Screenshot & Screen Recorder — Enables quick screenshots
Disable JavaScript — Disables JavaScript with the click of a button
HTTP Header Live — Shows details about HTTP requests

Brave extension

Currently, I use Brave for all social media stuff. And pretty much only social media stuff. So not a lot of use for extensions. There is one important extension I use with Brave, to disable the hideously invasive Download Bar. It. Is. So. Annoying. Ask literally anyone. It suuucks. So only one essential extension for Brave:

Disable Download Bar — Disables Brave’s horrendous Download Bar

Other browsers

In addition to the above, I run a bunch of browsers just for testing the consistency of web designs. Other browsers such as Opera, Safari, Vivaldi, Waterfox, and the usual bunch of mobile browsers running on Android and iOS.

Fortunately, extensions are not needed for testing web designs. Code Inspector really is all that’s necessary. So it helps to lighten my load, as I never install or worry about extensions for any browsers other than Chrome, Firefox, and Brave, all on desktop. Just the above 17 extensions and done.

About the Author

Jeff Starr = Fullstack Developer. Book Author. Teacher. Human Being.

4 responses to “Browser Extensions I Use Every Day”

12bytes 2023/01/17 9:17 am

hi again Jeff!

re: Popup Blocker Ultimate, AdBlocker Ultimate, Disable JavaScript, i would highly recommend replacing all these with uBlock Origin by Raymond Hill – be sure to read the wiki (i also have a config guide on my site)

re: HTTP Header Live, JavaScript Errors Notifier: not sure these helpful for Firefox??? – i would guess the info you want is available in the built-in developer tools

re: Video DownloadHelper: look up yts-dl – it’s powerful, command-line downloader – very easy to use

if privacy is an issue, consider the ‘arkenfox’ user.js for Firefox or, if you want an easier route, consider LibreWolf which incorporates some of the ‘arkenfox’ prefs and uBlock Origin by default

if neither interests you, at least set Enhanced Tracking Protection to ‘Strict’ and enable ‘privacy.resistFingerprinting’ in about:config – this will break some sites, but you can always spin up a default profile for that

also be aware that Firefox — and only Firefox apparently — stated that they will continue to support Manifest v2 for extensions – this is important regarding ad/content blockers

for (a lot) more, see the stuff on my site @ 12bytes.org/articles/tech/

Jeff Starr 2023/01/17 2:29 pm • Post Author

Hey 12bytes, thanks for all the great feedbacks. I have tried uBlock but didn’t like it. Too many issues and weird quirks, sites not working, etc. It was a while ago so maybe I should give it another try. Always looking to improve my setup, especially where security/privacy stuff is concerns.

HTTP Header Live and JavaScript Errors Notifier are both useful on Firefox for my particular workflow. I like having a dedicated HTTP sniffer and display JS errors visibly on the browser bar.

Thanks for the tip on yts-dl, will check it. Also arkenfox user.js looks very useful. Also thanks for all the work you do at 12bytes.org, tons of great content there.
- 12bytes 2023/01/17 3:37 pm
  
  uBlock is quite powerful, but using it to its full extent requires some reading – the wiki will come in handy for sure
  
  you will be interacting with it quite a bit until you make the adjustments for the sites you visit most often, after which less work is involved – it is the best content blocker out there at the moment
  
  the arkenfox user.js is also the best user.js out there for Firefox that i know of – there’s quite a few very knowledgeable and capable people involved in the project, but again, using it will cause some websites to break and so it can be handy to keep a relaxed profile at the ready for such occasions
  
  if you’ve read any of my stuff, you’ll know that i strongly dislike Mozilla as a company
  
  ALL modern web browsers are crap, but that said, Firefox is the best of them for those concerned with privacy because it is so tweakable and because it still supports manifest v2
- Jeff Starr 2023/01/17 3:49 pm • Post Author
  
  Thanks for all the information. I really only use Firefox for casual browsing and movies, etc. But uBlock may be worth another try at some point if my current extensions end up falling short. Definitely will keep it in mind, thank you 12bytes.
  
  PS: you mention “ALL modern web browsers are crap”.. what do you think about Brave browser?

Comments are closed for this post. Something to add? Let me know.

12bytes 2023/01/17 9:17 am

hi again Jeff!

re: Popup Blocker Ultimate, AdBlocker Ultimate, Disable JavaScript, i would highly recommend replacing all these with uBlock Origin by Raymond Hill – be sure to read the wiki (i also have a config guide on my site)

re: HTTP Header Live, JavaScript Errors Notifier: not sure these helpful for Firefox??? – i would guess the info you want is available in the built-in developer tools

re: Video DownloadHelper: look up yts-dl – it’s powerful, command-line downloader – very easy to use

if privacy is an issue, consider the ‘arkenfox’ user.js for Firefox or, if you want an easier route, consider LibreWolf which incorporates some of the ‘arkenfox’ prefs and uBlock Origin by default

if neither interests you, at least set Enhanced Tracking Protection to ‘Strict’ and enable ‘privacy.resistFingerprinting’ in about:config – this will break some sites, but you can always spin up a default profile for that

also be aware that Firefox — and only Firefox apparently — stated that they will continue to support Manifest v2 for extensions – this is important regarding ad/content blockers

for (a lot) more, see the stuff on my site @ 12bytes.org/articles/tech/
- Jeff Starr 2023/01/17 2:29 pm • Post Author
  
  Hey 12bytes, thanks for all the great feedbacks. I have tried uBlock but didn’t like it. Too many issues and weird quirks, sites not working, etc. It was a while ago so maybe I should give it another try. Always looking to improve my setup, especially where security/privacy stuff is concerns.
  
  HTTP Header Live and JavaScript Errors Notifier are both useful on Firefox for my particular workflow. I like having a dedicated HTTP sniffer and display JS errors visibly on the browser bar.
  
  Thanks for the tip on yts-dl, will check it. Also arkenfox user.js looks very useful. Also thanks for all the work you do at 12bytes.org, tons of great content there.
  - 12bytes 2023/01/17 3:37 pm
    
    uBlock is quite powerful, but using it to its full extent requires some reading – the wiki will come in handy for sure
    
    you will be interacting with it quite a bit until you make the adjustments for the sites you visit most often, after which less work is involved – it is the best content blocker out there at the moment
    
    the arkenfox user.js is also the best user.js out there for Firefox that i know of – there’s quite a few very knowledgeable and capable people involved in the project, but again, using it will cause some websites to break and so it can be handy to keep a relaxed profile at the ready for such occasions
    
    if you’ve read any of my stuff, you’ll know that i strongly dislike Mozilla as a company
    
    ALL modern web browsers are crap, but that said, Firefox is the best of them for those concerned with privacy because it is so tweakable and because it still supports manifest v2
  - Jeff Starr 2023/01/17 3:49 pm • Post Author
    
    Thanks for all the information. I really only use Firefox for casual browsing and movies, etc. But uBlock may be worth another try at some point if my current extensions end up falling short. Definitely will keep it in mind, thank you 12bytes.
    
    PS: you mention “ALL modern web browsers are crap”.. what do you think about Brave browser?