My Top 5 Favorite Chrome Extensions for School

If you use Google Chrome, chances are you’ve used Chrome extensions before—they’re the little icons to the right of your URL bar. You can download new extensions from chromewebstore.google.com, with uses ranging from coupon codes to Among Us-themed cursors. While I’ve tried and used many extensions over the years, there are a few that I’ve found incredibly useful as a student and still use today, so here are my top 5 favorite picks.

5. Return YouTube Dislike

It’s hard to believe that it’s been over 2 years since YouTube removed the “dislike” feature from their platform. A controversial decision met with heavy backlash, many people still needed a way to quickly express their opinion on a video and its quality. The Return YouTube Dislike extension uses archived dislike data and information from other users to predict and display the number of dislikes a video has, and it’s saved me from clickbait and misinformation on more than one occasion.

4. Site Blocker

This is the most recent of my downloaded Chrome extensions, but still extremely useful. This extension allows you to temporarily or permanently block websites so you can finally finish that assignment distraction-free. It also allows you to set “focus sessions,” which automatically block and unblock websites after certain amounts of time to give you organized breaks as you work.

3. Read Aloud

This simple extension climbed to the #3 spot due to the magic of its simplicity. I often struggle to read long passages as I accidentally skip or miss important text. This very simple extension can read aloud an entire webpage or just selected text, and it supports many different voices and speeds. Now, my favorite way to read long texts is to listen to the text at x2 speed as I read along, and I’ve noticed a great improvement in my attention to detail and important events since.

2. AdGuard AdBlocker

I don’t know about you, but I hate seeing ads everywhere I look online. From search results that paid their way to the top to fake mobile game videos every 5 minutes of a YouTube video, digital advertisements are quite annoying. AdGuard AdBlocker is my favorite ad blocker extension, as it is super easy to navigate and customize, and even offers security and privacy features that block tracking, intrusive, and dangerous software. Plus, I can browse the Internet ad-free!

1. Grammarly

As a student, Grammarly is an absolute lifesaver. With the extension enabled, everything I write is now automatically checked for spelling, grammar, punctuation, and even style and tone mistakes. Grammarly can even automatically correct errors when you click on them, which saves so much of the time and effort usually needed for revisions. Plus, Grammarly has the option to show common synonyms for words when you double-click on them, an incredibly clever way to vary and improve your writing. As a proud user for 5 years, I have to say Grammarly is my all-time favorite Chrome extension for school.