Top Chrome Extensions for Students to Enhance Productivity and Learning

In today's digital age, students rely heavily on online resources for research, learning, and completing assignments. Google Chrome, with its vast library of extensions, offers a plethora of tools to enhance productivity, streamline workflows, and improve the overall learning experience. This article explores some of the best Chrome extensions for students, covering a wide range of functionalities from grammar checking and citation management to focus enhancement and time tracking.

Introduction

Chrome extensions can significantly improve a student's academic life, making it easier to manage tasks, stay focused, and access information. Like teachers who seek new methods, classroom design ideas, and ways to connect with students, students can use these to stay at the top of their game.

Essential Chrome Extensions for Academic Success

Writing and Grammar

Grammarly

Grammarly is a popular Chrome extension for students that helps eliminate grammatical mistakes and write more effectively. What I find most liberating is the ability to insert a large block of text into the software and have all errors and suggestions delivered to me in seconds. Grammarly helps improve your writing and, by extension, your grades. As a science student, I would get in the habit of writing everything in the passive voice. Using Grammarly helped me identify the weaknesses in my writing and now when I write I am always considering if I am using the correct tone/voice. It should be noted that Grammarly does have a premium version with additional features, although this is not required to improve your writing. As of April 2025, Grammarly Authorship is available within Google Docs when using the Grammarly extension. Once enabled, this feature identifies whether text is generated by AI or a human, or modified with Grammarly’s AI tools.

Research and Citation Management

Cite This For Me

With all the punctuation marks and different styles to pay attention to, writing citations can be a real mess. Once you choose your preferred style, you can simply copy and paste the citation into your assignment. Alternatively, you can store all your references in Cite This For Me’s online library for later use. Since online materials can change or disappear at any time, adding the date you accessed a certain source helps indicate the version you’re referencing.

MyBib

Similar to the above citation managers, MyBib can help you create a list of references that you can edit, sort into folders and export to your work. The reason MyBib is placed so highly on this list is that it is so easy to use. Simply install the extension, choose your referencing style and then left-click on the extension while reading the paper you wish to cite.

Reference Managers (Endnote, Mendeley, Zotero)

Reference managers are quite possibly one of the most important apps and extensions you will need during your PhD program. With the reference manager, you can easily save and add references to your work as needed however the accompanying Chrome extension allows you to more easily add references to your reference manager with usually just one click. Some notable reference managers to consider trying out for yourself include Endnote, Mendeley, and Zotero. Also, it enables you to save time and effort from having to manually add the reference to your manager.

Organization and Productivity

Toby for Tabs

Toby for Tabs helps organize your open tabs into collections, kind of like bookmarks. Similar to apps like Sidebar or maybe even Pocket, Toby allows you to organise your tabs. Toby is fantastic for those who regularly trawl the internet for research. I used Toby the most while writing a systematic review for my dissertation. Here I used the extension to save any literature/tabs that were interesting and then organise them into collections to be looked into at a later date. Toby is also really useful for those who consistently have dozens of tabs open but are regularly interrupted/leave their desk/turn off their laptop. Fortunately, with only two clicks, Toby allows you to ‘save session’, and save all the tabs you have open so you are free to turn off your laptop without the fear of losing important information!

Key features/uses for students:

Organise your tabs into collections, this could be based on specific subjects you are studying, literature by a certain author or on a certain topic - there are a lot of possibilities
Organise your tabs into spaces, a higher level of organisation, which could be used for modules. For example, you could have a space for physiology and then a collection for cardiovascular physiology
All saved tabs remain in your account - save a tab on your laptop and want it to be available on your desktop? no problem!

OneTab

Cram for an exam and you’ll end up with a bunch of tabs open - it’s inevitable. OneTab converts all opened tabs into one list, giving you a dropdown of all your web 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. For illustration, OneTab helps me organize my tabs by creating different tab groups. For example, I can create a tab group dedicated to a certain topic and another tab group related to a different topic. Aside from converting tabs into a list for easy access, OneTab manages to free up Chrome’s RAM memory.

Pocket

Pocket is an extension somewhat similar to Toby, albeit with slightly different features and use cases. On the surface, both Pocket and Toby are extensions to help you save web pages, however, where Toby is for saving general web pages, Pocket is more of a ‘read it later’ extension with some added functionality.Pocket allows you to save any webpage to your account to be revisited at a later date.

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To-Do List and Calendar Extensions (Todoist, TickTick, Google Tasks, Google Calendar, Microsoft Outlook)

As PhD students we are faced with a deluge of projects and too many things to do that it can get difficult to keep track of everything. This brings us to our next category of extensions, To-do lists or Calender apps and extensions. I use these two things interchangeably now because many to-do lists have a built-in calendar feature and many calendars have some form of adding tasks to them. Regardless of what their primary feature is and the overall UI of the extension one thing is certain and that is that as overworked PhD students we need something to help keep track of everything we have going on and help increase our productivity.

Focus and Time Management

Forest

First in this list has to be my most used extension (and app), Forest. As you can imagine, this is a very traumatising experience! It is very surprising the difference that one small barrier can make to keep you focused. Not only does Forest prevent you from losing your focus by planting virtual trees, but it also plants real ones by working with Trees for the Future. Trees for the Future is an organisation that helps combat deforestation by training farmers to plant trees and regenerate their land.

Cold Turkey Blocker

Cold Turkey is designed to stop digital procrastination, for good. This software has, at worst, improved my productivity considerably and at best, improved my life. There are multiple ways to lock the block:

Using a timer: Lock the block until a designated date and time
Using random text: Lock using random text, where you have to type a certain number of characters of random text to unlock the block (if you choose 500 characters, this can be cruel)
Using a time range: Lock the block using a set time range, for example, you could use your normal working hours
Using a schedule: Similar to the previous method, although you can arrange different blocks at different time points (for example, if you want to allow yourself 30 minutes of YouTube time in the morning before you study)
Using a password: Perhaps the safest way to use Cold Turkey, set a password and simply type the password in to stop the blocking

I use Cold Turkey every day in conjunction with my calendar to prevent going off track. For an application that has the potential to prevent you from ever being distracted again (and by extension improve your grades and focus, increase your free time and help you reach your goals)

Focus Timer Extensions (Forest, Focus To-Do, Tide)

There are a variety of ways to combat a lack of focus but one way that I’ve found that works for me is to use a focus timer.

Forest: Best visuals of trees to incentivize you
Tide: best focus music ( best ones you have to pay for though) no trees though (at least not the last time I used it a year ago)
Focus-To-Do: overall good at everything but not the best does have a tree and free focus music and a ranking system

Clockify

Clockify’s Chrome extension allows you to easily track time spent on work tasks by simply entering what you’re working on and starting the timer. When I’m done tracking the time spent on tasks, I can use Clockify’s detailed report to check how long it took me to complete my tasks. Also, I can enable reminders in Clockify’s extension to receive a notification when I forget to start the timer. I find this option helps me track time, regardless of whether I’m too busy at work or simply forgetful. As of May 2025, Clockify users receive a warning message if they attempt to save a custom field with the same information as an existing one.

Reading and Comprehension

Visor

Visor is an excellent option for students looking for support in tracking text as they read. Once activated, it emphasizes one line or several lines of text at a time, while darkening the rest of the screen. The student can use the cursor to move the area of focus as they read. What I like about Visor is that it lets me customize the color palette according to my preferences, providing a more enjoyable reading experience. Another thing I enjoy about this tool is how it helps me improve reading comprehension. The most recent Visor update occurred in June 2024, when version 2.0.7. of the extension was released.

Postlight Reader

When activated on a webpage, Postlight Reader immediately eliminates ads and distractions and places the text into a format that mirrors an e-reader. Students can customize the text size and font and whether the text appears in light or dark mode for viewing comfort. For students doing research online, this extension is helpful by providing an opportunity to focus on the text in front of them and not the distracting ads that fill so many webpages.

Auto Highlight

This extension helps draw students’ attention to key ideas and details of an online text. When activated, Auto Highlight will scan an article and highlight specific information that students need to focus on while reading. The extension can be clicked up to three times within the same article, and the more it is clicked, the more details it will highlight. Students can customize the highlight color, text color, and link color based on personal preference.

OpenDyslexic for Chrome

This extension converts all text on a webpage to the OpenDyslexic font. There is some debate about whether there’s any evidence of the effectiveness of this font, but many people have said that using it has positively impacted their digital reading experience.

Google Dictionary

When it’s enabled, students can double-click a word within the browser and see the definition in a pop-up bubble. They can also listen to the pronunciation of the word. Within the bubble, there’s also a “More” option, which opens a new page with a Google search for the word that will often include additional definitions, sentences, or relevant webpages. An option exists to translate words into a variety of language options, as well.

Google Translate

Once it’s downloaded, students can immediately begin translating full webpages or individual words within a page. When a word is double-clicked, the student will see the translation and part of speech and can hear it in both English and their chosen language.

Speechify

Apart from listening to any text on the web, Speechify’s extension allows me to change the voice of the speaker by choosing one of the 130+ voices available. Speechify has a side player with all the important options, such as the play/pause button and the option to increase the reading speed. By increasing the reading speed in Speechify, students can consume written content faster. In January 2025, Speechify introduced a feature called AI summaries.

Video Speed Controller

Video Speed Controller allows you to control the speed of your videos. As the title would suggest, Video Speed Controller allows you to… well… control the speed of your videos. On the surface, this may not seem too useful, but over a period of weeks, months and years, you can save a considerable amount of time.

Note-Taking and Annotation

Evernote

Evernote is a note-taking software that lets you capture and organize information from various online sources, including text and images. 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 snip out what I need. In March 2025, Evernote introduced the in-line comments feature.

Page Marker

Once it’s activated, students can use their mouse to create drawings, highlight information, add text, and embed shapes or lines. The color and size of the annotations are customizable. When finished, students can export their work.

YiNote

This extension, which is simple in design and navigation, allows students to generate notes on YouTube videos. Once activated, a side panel appears with a space for notes. When the student reaches a moment in the video where they would like to note something of importance, they type their note and save it within YiNote. After the video is complete, the student can view all their notes, including returning to the time stamp of their note to review the video.

Health and Wellbeing

Dark Reader

Dark Mode is considered an accessibility feature that removes some of the light from screens while still ensuring that the color contrast ratio makes content visible and readable. Dark Reader is one of the most popular of the many extensions that accomplish this task on all browser pages. Dark Reader allows users to darken their screen and customize the brightness, contrast, gray scale, and sepia tones.

Mindful Break

This extension offers the digital version of a brain break. Mindful Break was developed by Google and provides students an opportunity to engage in mindfulness. The extension will create a pop-up in the browser while students are working. These pop-ups include breathing exercises or a mindful support strategy. Students can customize how frequently these break pop-ups appear and set a schedule for the extension to run on certain days of the week and between specific times.

Take a Break extension

As its name suggests, Take a Break is designed to remind users to take regular breaks while working on their computer. Take a Break allows me to set how frequently I want to be reminded to take breaks by dragging the slider left or right (e.g., every 15 minutes). I love using Take a Break because it ensures I maintain a proper balance between screen time and self-care. The latest Take a Break update occurred in October 2024 when version 1.2.1 of the extension was released.

Coffeelings

Coffeelings is ‘a mini journal tucked into your browser’. Not necessarily for students alone, I believe Coffeelings is a great extension to monitor and manage your mood. With just two clicks you can track how you are feeling on a given day along with adding a few comments about what is on your mind. While simple, this is the beauty of Coffeelings, the simplicity greatly reduces the resistance to journaling and before you know it you’ll have a months worth of information to look back on, be able to identify periods of stress and find out what caused it - hopefully to prevent it in future.

Other Useful Extensions

Adblock Plus

Adblock Plus is one of the most popular ad blockers with over 500 million downloads. 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 or get bombarded with 3-5 ads. Adblock Plus has been my constant companion since I visit a lot of web pages to research the topics I write about daily. Once I enable the extension, it detects and blocks all subscription prompts, and other similar content. The best part of it all? Moreover, Adblock Plus lets me personalize my browsing experience by choosing what to block and what to allow. I especially appreciate that Adblock Plus lets me block tracking from third-party advertisers who collect data based on my online activity.

Text Blaze

The extension lets me save frequently used text as snippets and insert them anywhere on the web using keyboard shortcuts. If I forget a shortcut for a certain snippet, I can use Text Blaze Assistant for quick access to all of my snippets. I like how easy Text Blaze is to use. As of June 2025, you can print your list of snippets in Text Blaze.

eReaderIQ

Add the books to your wishlist and then wait to be notified for a price drop. I have personally saved hundreds of pounds over the years using this for books and textbooks, particularly as many Kindle books often go on sale for £1.99 or less. The only downside is that it can only be used for Kindle books at the time of writing. If you are looking to track physical books, have a look at Keepa. The price chart is helpful to see if the book you are interested in has ever been within your price range historically, so you can decide whether to wait for a sale or try and find something cheaper. If you have a strict budget you can choose a specific price point when you would like to be notified, based on the price history of the book

Black Menu for Google

Black Menu is a customizable menu of links to your favorite Google tools and products.

Picmonic

As soon as you enter a particular topic into Google’s search bar (in this case, I entered Anemia), Picmonic’s extension underlines all the relevant terms related to that topic (in my case, anemia and hemoglobin). Aside from the definition, the extension offers a list of facts, as well as links to useful Picmonic quizzes and videos related to a particular term.

Choosing the Right Extensions

When downloading a Chrome extension, it’s important to ensure that the tool is appropriate for students, including evaluating its data and privacy regulations, age restrictions, and overall connection to learning goals. Since it’s easy for anyone to get their self-created extension into the Chrome Web Store, one important consideration is whether or not the extension has an Established Publisher badge, which indicates that the extension publisher is verified and meets Google’s developer program policies. Be sure to also check out the Privacy Practices section of each extension before downloading.

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