How to Enable Google Chrome Flags to Test Beta Features in Chrome Flags
Have you ever wanted to try out new features before they are released to the public? With Google Chrome, there’s an easy way to do this. Just enable the chrome flags on your browser, and then search for new features in the flags tab of your Chrome settings menu, which can be found at Settings > Advanced Settings > Under the Hood > Change Flags > Search (see image below).
Step 1: Open up the flag page
Google’s Flags section on the Google Chrome website is a place where new features and updates can be beta tested before they’re released to the public. This is also where you can activate some experimental features that are just in the planning stages. These are known as chrome flags.
Each flag can provide insights into how a certain type of feature might behave if it were added to Google Chrome, so it’s worth trying them out, even if they’re not enabled by default yet.
The only drawback to enabling these features is that they may affect your browser stability or performance, which means you may need to disable them again once you’ve finished testing. There are plenty of ways to find out about new flags: you can go through this list of browser flags; there’s a link at the bottom for feedback on any existing ones; or try searching for ‘chrome flag’ on Twitter and following others who have experience with this topic.
Step 2: Discover some exciting new features in your browser
What are Google Chrome flags?
Google Chrome flags are also known as hidden features. All you have to do is go into your settings by clicking the 3-bars (hamburger) menu on the top right of your browser and then click Settings. Scroll down and click on Advanced, then on Configuration. You will be able to see all the flags. Toggle them at your own risk! They may not work as expected and they can cause some instability in your browser. For example, enabling chrome://flags/#enable-app-list might break a popular extension that requires notifications from websites such as Notifications for Facebook or Pushbullet .
Step 3: Some fascinating Chrome flags to explore
No two flags have the same effects on Google Chrome, but there are a few that seem particularly useful for individual users.
It is time for us to wrap up our blog post on how to use google chrome flags! I hope you enjoyed reading this post as much as I did writing it. There are so many fascinating flags and hidden features in Google Chrome; some of which can be used every day while others require experimentation and patience before they reveal their usefulness. What’s your favorite flag? Share it with me in the comments below!
Step 4: A few words of caution
All flags are experimental and your browsing experience may be impacted by them. Although this feature is useful for a more dynamic browser experience, it should not be used on mission critical projects.
Always back up your files before making any changes to your computer settings, as a precaution against any unforeseen effects. To do so, open the Settings menu from the top-right corner of the screen and go to Backup and Restore. From there you can create an offline backup of your data in order to restore from it later if needed.
Conclusion
It’s important that you do your research on the stability of a flag before you enable it. It’s not worth risking browser crashes or hangs, as well as lost information, for the chance to try a new feature. If you find that a flag isn’t stable enough, or it doesn’t work with your browser or computer configuration, there are ways to disable flags within Chrome.
Click the Menu button in the upper-right corner and then click more tools. Then, click Extensions. Next, select Developer mode and then click on Manage your extensions. Finally, scroll down to find the extension with a name beginning with Flags and select it. The extension will now be disabled until you toggle developer mode off again.
