Cramming for an exam, are you? You’re surely tabs-deep in research, venturing into the forgotten nooks and crannies of the web. At this point, it would be perfect if you could just close all those tabs and have everything you need right there on your display — ads-free, summarized, and preferably cited in the academic style you need.
Guess what? It’s possible.
For years now, Google Chrome users have relished the perks of extensions that help learners and students study all across the globe. Whatever it is you need to ace that exam, Chrome will provide it.
I’ve done the heavy lifting and tested some of the best Chrome extensions for students. After boiling it down to a list of 8 essential extensions, the only thing left is to share my experience and let you try them for yourselves.
Grammarly — best for perfect writing
The foundation of any great essay or formal email is impeccable grammar — and Grammarly is the ultimate grammar toolkit. You’re not sure if the word professor is spelled with two F’s or one? Never worry about it again.
Why is Grammarly the best for perfect writing?
Nearly 15 years ago, Grammarly was designed and launched to help students reach their academic goals. Nowadays, however, Grammarly is used by nearly everyone whose job description requires them to do a bit of typing, myself included.
As a writer, Grammarly’s advanced correction capabilities help me stay on top of my project by eliminating typos and helping me keep my train of thought intact.
Aside from simply dealing with your typos, Grammarly further inspects your text and regulates the following:
- Grammar,
- Clarity,
- The level of engagement, and
- The overall delivery of your text.
What I find most liberating is the fact that I can insert a huge block of text inside the software and get all mistakes and suggestions delivered to me in a matter of seconds. There’s no need to waste hours at a time, rumbling through the text to find the tiniest punctuation mistakes or mispelled words.
Furthermore, Grammarly can be your ally in writing professional emails. It’s AI-powered toll helps you draft emails in a matter of seconds.
Grammarly’s highlight feature:
Its AI assistant not only helps you write professional emails or sentences by offering prompts, but it can also write entire sentences and outline drafts for you.
If you’re starting a paper and you’re not sure how to construct the headings of your work, simply enter the idea, and Grammarly will help you out.
| Grammarly’s main pro | Grammarly’s main con |
|---|---|
| Complete integration with Google Workspace | Advanced corrections require a paid account |
What’s new in Grammarly?
As of fall update 2023, Grammarly’s AI assistant will record all prompts you wrote and let you view your prompt history. From there on, you can continue the work you started several days or weeks ago without losing your progress and breaking your creative flow.
💡 Clockify Pro Tip
Looking for extensions and you simply do not like Google Chrome? If that’s the case, the following blog might offer a solution:
Cite This For Me: Web Citer — best for academic citations
Yes, writing sources and citations is a mess, tell me about it. Luckily, you can save yourself a lot of time and focus on your work if you use a web citation tool such as Cite This For Me.
Why is Cite This For Me best for academic citations?
Simply put, Cite This For Me allows users to quickly generate correctly formatted citations by visiting the website and clicking on the extension.
When you find the source you need and click on on it, the extension will prompt you to choose among the following referencing styles:
- APA,
- MLA,
- Harvard, and
- Chicago.
Personally, I’ve always preferred the MLA style and have been using it for years since my college days. It offers the cleanest and most visually appealing solution to citing sources.
Also, I’m a big fan of the “accessed” function that points out the date you visited the website and drafted the citation.
If your professors read your research paper at a later date and the links you provided have changed and/or are invalid, they’ll have the exact date when you accessed the website. For most research papers, this one’s a necessity since the professors can use the sitemap to locate the exact page and information you provided.
Cite This For Me: Web Citer’s highlight feature:
Aside from helping you generate citations from online papers, you can further create citations for books, newspapers, and journals by visiting the app’s official page.
| Cite This For Me: Web Citer’s main pro | Cite This For Me: Web Citer’s main con |
|---|---|
| Simple and easy-to-use navigation | An occasional bug in the page’s analysis — e.g., source and title get switched |
What’s new in Cite This For Me: Web Citer?
As of September 2023, Premium users can get expert help for writing up to 30 papers per month.
Noisli — best for staying focused
Do you sometimes feel like it’s too quiet while you’re studying? If your old playlist has become too predictable for you, it’s time to check out Noisli.
Why is Noisli best for staying focused?
If you’re working on a complicated research project that requires engaging in deep work, listening to your favorite songs or podcasts can be distracting. Well, Noisli helps you stay focused by providing background noise of your own choosing.
You can choose from a variety of ambient sounds — from thunderstorm nights to a crowded cafe.
Even though I spend a lot of time writing, I’m not exactly able to rely on the inspiration striking me like a thunderbolt each time I sit behind my desk. As a remedy, I usually activate Noisli’s spring sounds to help boost my mood and put me into a writing mode.
You can also set a timer feature that is customizable — i.e., it lets you parch out blocks of productivity sessions with your favorite sounds.
Noisli’s highlight feature:
Each playlist has a different set of sounds. For example, the Productivity playlist offers an array of sounds from nature that you can mix and create a curated playlist that is perfect for you.
Then, save it and use it the next time you’re working on an important task.
| Noisli’s main pro | Noisli’s main con |
|---|---|
| Background sounds can be set at the same time interval as your Pomodoro timer to maximize productivity | A lot of sounds are included only in the Pro plan |
What’s new in Noisli?
The newest 2024 update introduces the Oscillation feature. This feature periodically and gently changes the volume of each sound within a sound combination. If, for example, you’re listening to coffee shop sounds and your playlist is mixed with thunderstorms, they will sound more distant since you’re in a virtual closed space.
AdBlock — best for eliminating distractions and privacy protection
You’ve found the perfect source for your research topic, and the moment you enter the link, you’re asked to participate in a survey and confirm you’re not a robot. Also, you get bombarded with 3-5 ads. Well, say goodbye to all of that with AdBlock.
Why is AdBlock best for eliminating distractions and privacy protection?
The name says it all — AdBlock’s main purpose is to block and bypass any ads that you might encounter while cramming for the next exam. There are various ad-blocking software available, but AdBlock has always done the trick for me.
This tool excels in:
- Blocking pop-ups, ads, and banners,
- Improving page loading time,
- Malware-free browsing, and
- Customizing your overall experience by adding themes and custom pictures to filtered content.
For me, AdBlock has been a constant companion since I tend to visit a ton of web pages as I research the topics I write about. It helps keep my stress levels low since I don’t have to worry about catching malware on my company laptop and it lets me browse superfast since AdBlock decreases web pages’ loading times.
The best part of it all? It runs constantly in your background. You don’t have to worry about turning it on every time you open Chrome.
AdBlock’s highlight feature:
If there’s a creator or a website that you support, you can whitelist them and still view the ads as a way of support.
| AdBlock’s main pro | AdBlock’s main con |
|---|---|
| Elimination of malicious ads that could infect your device with viruses | Cannot bypass websites with heavy encryption (for example, AdBlock struggles with YouTube ads) |
What’s new in AdBlock?
Many sites have started integrating pop-ups that recognize you’re using ad-blocking software and prompting you to turn them off before entering their page. As of January 2024, AdBlock Premium users will now experience fewer such pop-ups as the team behind AdBlock strives to eliminate them completely.
Evernote Web Clipper — best for taking notes on the web
The era of writing down notes in notebooks and pads is over — Evernote’s here.
Why is Evernote Web Clipper best for taking notes on the web?
Evernote is one of the longest-standing note-taking software out there. The reason behind it is a visually striking interface with numerous features, such as:
- Powerful search capabilities that allow you to find notes,
- Attaching files, documents, and images to your notes,
- Web clipping capabilities, and
- Offline access that can be synced.
Let’s say I’m browsing the web and run into an interesting article. However, I’m in a rush and don’t have the time to read it and clip out what I need. Well, with Evernote, I can clip the entire article or a certain segment.
Later on, I can access the saved data via the app or the browser and cut out the parts I need into a new note.
Personally, this extension has been a lifesaver. So many times have I battled with 30+ tabs with no idea where that important information was. Now, I simply clip the page for later use, and everything’s at my disposal — including the images and the links included in the article.
Evernote Web Clipper’s highlight feature:
Before saving the entire page, you can highlight and interact with the page in a way you see fit. You can even use the pencil while editing to write additional notes that might come in handy, especially when writing academic papers.
| Evernote Web Clipper’s main pro | Evernote Web Clipper’s main con |
|---|---|
| YOu can select the color of the highlight or add additional comments. | Offline access is limited to the number of devices for free users. |
What’s new in Evernote Web Clipper?
The news Version 10.71.2 lets users use multi-select — selecting multiple fragments of a web page and clipping them into one note.
OneTab — best for managing tabs
Cram for an exam and you’ll end up with a sea of website tabs — it’s inevitable. Your options are the following — connect 3 monitors to keep track of everything or install OneTab.
Why is OneTab best for managing tabs?
As the name suggests, OneTab rules all tabs. It converts all opened tabs into one list that gives you a dropdown of all your pages.
Then, you can individually open the tabs you need and close them when they’re no longer necessary.
I’ve used this extension since I was a college student, and I’ve yet to see a better one for organization purposes.
When writing, I often find myself drowning in a sea of endless tabs, not knowing where to start and how to finish, but OneTab has helped me tremendously organize my workflow better and stay productive. For example, working on blogs that require sifting through numerous websites is a drag, especially if you literally need the information from every single page.
Needless to say, this extension is a lifesaver for students, especially for college students. It eliminates the need for dual monitor setup or split screens, and any confusion surrounding the location of the tab is eliminated.
OneTab’s highlight feature:
Aside from simply grouping tabs in a list, OneTab manages to free up Chrome’s RAM memory. Consequently, it lets you browse faster and finish your work way ahead of schedule.
| OneTab’s main pro | OneTab’s main con |
|---|---|
| OneTab lets you organize and name tab groups, making it easy to manage your sessions | Clearing browsing data can result in losing sessions since the software relies on the browser’s storage |
What’s new in OneTab?
As of the 2023 update, OneTab lets you easily export and import your tabs as a list of URLs.
Visor — best for eye rest and concentration
Are you in the midst of an all-nighter studying for a college exam (or any type of exam for that matter)? Your eyes are surely strained from all the reading. To avoid this, try Visor, the best dimming extension tool on Chrome’s store.
💡 Clockify Pro Tip
Do you feel like you absorb more knowledge when you study at night? Some people are simply more productive at night due to genetics, lifestyle, and even brain chemistry. Read all about it in the following blog:
Why is Visor best for eye rest and concentration?
Visor is a screen dimmer and reading aid meant to help you reduce eye strain as well as increase your concentration while reading.
As the name suggests, the extension also triggers a movable highlighted part of the text on a web page. You can slide across articles to focus special attention only on parts of the text — similar to the narrow focus you get when looking through a helmet visor.
Its effects are mostly felt while reading and browsing highly lit pages, especially if you’re doing so during the night.
You can customize the color palette according to your preferences, which is great if you suffer from medical conditions, such as partial color blindness or dyslexia.
Visor’s highlight feature:
As for Visor highlights, it decreases the chance of skipping lines and missing the point of a text you’re reading — because it encourages you to focus on the text gradually, in bite-size chunks. Also, the horizontal focal point tracks your mouse, letting you fully focus on the text you’re reading.
| Visor’s main pro | Visor’s main con |
|---|---|
| Reduces eye strain and improves focus | Visor must be reactivated with each page load |
What’s new in Visor?
The latest version, 2.0.4, offers a variety of bug-fixes and an updated style that makes color adjustment much easier and more intuitive.
Nimbus — best for screenshotting and screen recording
Are you looking to send a screenshot of school notes to a friend? A screenshotting tool is a must for every student as it helps you take notes and absorb information faster in a more organized way. One of the best screenshotting tools out there is Nimbus.
Why is Nimbus best for screenshotting and screen recording?
Essentially, Nimbus is used to capture the content of your screen and create either images or recordings.
You can customize what you want to be captured, i.e., segment the parts of your screen that you’ll later export as images or videos. Then, you can use the editing tools to write down additional information or even draw over images.
Furthermore, you can convert video to GIF and mp4 formats in the video recorder.
I used Nimbus to add screenshots to this blog and it’s been a lifesaver since every extension on the list comes with one or two screenshots. It took seconds to make and made my life much easier.
Nimbus’ highlight feature:
The recording option lets you export videos and upload them directly to online services, such as Google Drive, Dropbox, and even YouTube. This option comes in handy if you’d like to share information or instructions with your fellow colleagues — you can now create clips inside Nimbus, edit them, and upload them to your preferred platform.
| Nimbus’ main pro | Nimbus’ main con |
|---|---|
| 2-in-1 software — screenshotting and recording | Expensive paid plan |
What’s new in Nimbus?
The update released on October 14, 2023 offers the option of creating a shareable link that you can send in Slack.
Track your productivity: Consider Clockify for group assignment when you start working
Once you finish your studies, the real world awaits, but Chrome extensions will remain to help you in your daily efforts. If your future job requires you to work on a computer, Clockify and its extension will bring your productivity levels through the roof.
Clockify is a time tracking app that helps you keep track of your tasks and projects and it includes both paid versions and a free one. You start the timer at the beginning of each new task, and it’ll run in the background.
Using the Chrome extension eliminates the need for an additional tab or the app running in the background — simply mark what you’re working on, type in the project, and start working.
When you’re done, you can analyze the time you’ve spent working and find ways to improve your efficiency. You can further export and save the time data in PDF, CSV, or Excel sheets.
So, what are you waiting for? Finish your exams using the best Chrome extensions for students and track the time it took you to get to the finish line for free by using Clockify.
