Google has been working tremendously on the Chrome browser and it has well expanded from a mere browser experience. However, the very basic feature it provides is adding a thumbnail shortcut of your most visited and favorite websites on its wall so that you can open them directly on the launch of the browser. Many websites will automatically show up as per your preferences but the same can be done manually. Hence today, we’ll be discussing how to add a shortcut on the Google Chrome homepage manually. So, continue reading to know how to add tiles to Google Chrome.
How to Add a Shortcut to the Google Chrome Homepage
Google Chrome works very smartly by capturing and using the activity of the user through its browsing history and other interlinked algorithms to make the user experience further easier and smooth. All of this is stored in the application’s cache data which stores some data from all the websites visited by the users like passwords, on-site choices, etc., which may be repeated in future visits. Let’s now jump to the methods of doing the latter.
Method 1: Through Automatic Site Addition
Chrome usually adds the most visited websites on the thumbnail screen by itself as you visit it on the browser so this feature can be used to get the thumbnail without any further ado. For that, follow the steps below:
1. Open Google Chrome from the Start menu.
2. Press the button combination Ctrl + Shift + Del keys together to open Clear browsing data settings.
3. Select the Browsing history option and click on the Clear data option.
4. Now restart Chrome and search for your desired website in the URL pane.
5. Now when you’ll restart the Chrome browser, you’ll find your searched website as a thumbnail shortcut on the new tab page.
This was one way you’ll know how to add a shortcut to the Google Chrome homepage, but if you want to know another alternative to do the same, proceed to the next method.
Also Read: How to Auto Refresh Google Chrome
Method 2: Manual Addition of Shortcut
If you don’t want to reset your data and browsing history from Chrome and still want to add tiles to Google Chrome of the websites you frequently visit, this simple method can do the trick just smoothly. Follow the below steps to achieve that:
1. Launch Google Chrome from the Start menu.
2. Open the New Tab page and click on the plus icon in the tile section.
3A. There are limited shortcut tiles available on the Chrome New tab page which are 10 in total and while using the browser on the daily basis, these slots might fill up and the plus button mentioned in the above step might not appear, if that is the case, you can remove some of the tiles to make space for your website by moving your cursor to the unneeded tile.
3B. Click on the three dots icon appearing on the tile while the cursor is in the selected region.
3C. Click on the Remove option from the small menu here.
3D. The unneeded tile will be removed making the space for your required shortcut.
4. A small popup will appear for adding the website shortcut, type the website under the URL section and the desired name you want the website to appear with as a shortcut.
Note: Adding the name is optional and you can wish to leave it, only the website URL is necessary.
5. After completing the steps click on Done to apply the tile.
6. The website shortcut will appear on the New Tab page of the browser whenever you’ll open it.
This is another method if you want to add tiles to Google Chrome.
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There are numerous interesting features of the Chrome browser among which adding website shortcuts was one of the earliest and basic ones. Hope this article helped to answer your query about how to add a shortcut to the Google Chrome homepage, use the comment section below and tell us about the topics you want us to cover in future updates. If you’re still stuck with adding website shortcuts to the Google Chrome New Tab page, reach out to us directly!
I always used this method then something updated and I lost my thumbnails, replaced with Google icons, few of which I will ever need. Can I get my buttons back?