When using Google Chrome you may want to return to a website frequently, such as your gradebook, digital textbook resources, and other EdTech favorites. Managing the Bookmarks Bar can make accessing your favorite tools and sites easier.
How to Show the Bookmarks Bar
In Google Chrome use the View menu to “Always Show Bookmarks Bar.” You can also use the keyboard shortcut Control Shift B.
Add Items to the Bookmarks Bar
While viewing a webpage, look for the star icon in the address bar (also known as the Omnibox.)
Clicking on the star will offer the option to save the page, bookmark it. Look for the “Folder” that the site will saved into. You want it to say “Bookmarks Bar.” You can also create a new folder for the Bookmarks Bar to further organize your links.
Want More Help with This? Become a Premium Member
Edit the Title of the Site
Google Chrome will take the site title or even tagline to list as the name of your bookmark. This takes up a lot of room on the Bookmarks Bar!!! Notice on the screenshot I included above I was trying to bookmark Canva, however it says “Free, beautiful, and customizable…” THIS IS NOT HELPFUL! In fact, I do not even need it to say Canva since the icon will be displayed in the bar. That may be good enough.
Tip: If the icon is unique, delete ALL the text.
You may need only one character or a short word. It only needs to be enough to allow you to recognize what the bookmark is.
Modify Current Bookmark Titles
You can RIGHT CLICK on the bookmarks you already have in the Bookmarks Bar to EDIT. When I am helping a friend and I see they have a lot of characters for their bookmark titles I will get permission to help clean it up. I ask them if they can identify the icon, if so, when I edit I delete the title entirely. If it is for example, the bookmark for 1st period in Google Classroom I simply put a 1. GB for gradebook would take up a lot less space!
Drag the Bookmarks
You can reorganize the Bookmark Bar by clicking and holding down on any of the icons and dragging them into the position you use most often.
Adding a Link to Copy a Google Slides
You may have templates for a lesson plan or other Google Apps related product that you use a lot. The trick for forcing a copy on a Google Slides (or Docs, Forms, Sheets) is to replace the /edit at the end of the URL with /copy. But how do you add the force a copy to the Bookmark Bar?
First, bookmark the Google Slides.
Then, right click on the bookmark to “edit.”
Lastly, highlight the text after the slash at the end and replace it with the word copy.
