Your browser is where you spend most of your computing life, so small improvements compound daily. These are the changes we make on every fresh machine — the extensions, settings and habits that meaningfully speed things up, cut tracking, and stop tab chaos, without turning browsing into a hobby.
The three extensions worth installing
Resist the urge to add twenty extensions (each is a privacy and performance cost). Three earn their place. uBlock Origin (free, open-source) is the gold-standard content blocker — it speeds up pages by blocking ads and trackers and uses less memory than most blockers. Your password manager’s extension (Bitwarden, 1Password) for autofill. And a good tab manager if you are a tab hoarder (more below). That is usually enough.
Privacy settings that actually matter
In any modern browser, three toggles do most of the work. Set tracking prevention to Strict (Firefox, Edge) or install uBlock. Turn on “Send Do Not Track” and, more importantly, block third-party cookies. And review site permissions occasionally — you will find sites that quietly kept access to your camera, location or notifications. For serious privacy, Firefox and the Chromium-based Brave are stronger out of the box than stock Chrome.
Keyboard shortcuts that save real time
A handful of shortcuts remove thousands of tiny clicks. Ctrl/Cmd + T new tab, Ctrl/Cmd + W close tab, and the one nobody knows: Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + T reopens the tab you just accidentally closed — press it repeatedly to walk back through your history. Ctrl/Cmd + L jumps straight to the address bar so you can search without touching the mouse.
Taming tab overload
If you have forty tabs open “to read later,” you are using tabs as a to-do list they were never meant to be. Two fixes help: browser tab groups (built into Chrome, Edge and Firefox) let you collapse related tabs into a named, colour-coded bundle. And a read-later service like Pocket or a simple bookmarks folder gets “someday” articles out of your tab bar and off your memory. Fewer live tabs means a faster, cooler, longer-lasting machine, too.
Frequently asked questions
What browser extensions should I actually install?
Keep it minimal: uBlock Origin for ad/tracker blocking, your password manager's extension for autofill, and optionally a tab manager. More extensions cost privacy and speed.
How do I reopen a tab I closed by accident?
Press Ctrl+Shift+T (Cmd+Shift+T on Mac). Repeat it to reopen multiple recently closed tabs in order.
Which browser is best for privacy?
Firefox and Brave are stronger out of the box than stock Chrome, with better default tracking protection. Adding uBlock Origin helps in any browser.
How can I stop having so many open tabs?
Use built-in tab groups to bundle related tabs, and move 'read later' pages to a service like Pocket or a bookmarks folder so they leave your tab bar.