Google Chrome Content Settings Guide 【 】

We’ve all been annoyed by irritating pop-ups before. Even with pop-ups disabled in your Chrome browser, some websites find a way to create an exception by tricking you into clicking the wrong button. Discover our Guide on Google Chrome Content Settings

Then there are the sites that create cookies to store and track your personal information. Of course, you can disable cookies entirely, but that makes it difficult to use web services like email or e-commerce.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could customize these options on a site-by-site basis? Turns out, in Google Chrome, you can. That is how.

Google Chrome Content Settings Guide

What is content settings and why is it important?

Content settings, or site settings as it’s now called, allow users to modify site permissions for various activities. This includes cookies, pop-ups, Javascript, and background sync, along with things like location, camera, and microphone access.

The advantage of using this method instead of disabling cookies and JavaScript entirely in your web browser is that you can be selective about it. You can choose to restrict only the problematic web pages, leaving the rest of your browsing experience untouched.

The best part is how accessible these settings are. Not long ago, you needed to jump through a lot of hoops to find something similar. Chrome now lets you modify every aspect of your browsing with just a few clicks.

Access to content settings in Google Chrome

Accessing content settings is easy. In the previous version of Chrome, you had to navigate to chrome://settings/content , which was hard to remember. You can now find it in your usual Google Chrome settings.

1. To modify site data and permissions, open Chrome, click the three-dot button at the top right to open the Chrome menu, and select Setting in the dropdown menu.

2. Now, on the Settings page, select the tab Privacy & Security .

3. There are a handful of options, including site settings . Select it to show all content settings in Chrome.

4. Settings are divided into two categories: permissions Y Contents . Each one also has an additional settings option to display advanced settings.

5. You can see the current permission along with the entries. Most are set to “Site may request-“, which prompts the user for permission for each site. Very few are awarded automatically, such as javascript . You can select the setting to display the option to disable JavaScript if you wish. A better idea is to add particular websites that you want to block (or enable).

5. Some configurations have more options. Select cookies for example, allows you to customize the behavior of third-party cookies both in normal browsing and in incognito mode.

7. The basic screen content settings are all you need to configure. when selecting Additional permissions many advanced settings appear, such as motion sensors and MIDI devices, which rarely come into play.

8 additional permissions If you are just looking to shut down annoying notifications from particular websites, the best way is to add them to the respective list of not allowed . This disables the permission for that specific web page, even if the setting itself is set to allow it automatically.

And that’s all there is to it. You can customize site permissions for any of the settings described in the list, from all sites to custom settings for individual sites. The changes will be saved to your Google account, allowing you to access the same profile on any PC you sign in to.

Change content settings from Omnibar

You don’t have to head to Google Chrome settings every time you want to change content settings. The omnibar, basically the bar that contains the address field, allows you to modify these settings much more conveniently.

• To get started, click the little lock icon next to the web page address on the omnibar. Select Setting of the site in the drop-down menu that appears.

• This opens the same content settings interface as before, but specific to the current website. Now you can adjust the permissions for any of the fields easily.

Keep in mind that this method works on a site-by-site basis, so if you’re looking to make sweeping, sweeping changes across the board, using Google Chrome’s settings is your best option.

But if you want to restrict permissions for an annoying site (or make an exception for them), this is the way to go.

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What content settings are worth modifying?

The problem with content settings is that there are too many. For a casual user, it can be tricky to figure out which options to play with and which ones to leave at their default value. Here is a brief overview of some settings worth tweaking.

popups

Pop-ups are rare these days, but they are not extinct yet. Some websites, especially those infested with ads, will always try to interrupt your browsing with pop-up ads.

By default, Google Chrome will ask for your permission before showing pop-ups. Since there aren’t many use cases where you’d like to see one, you might as well disable them entirely. You can temporarily enable pop-ups for special situations on some trusted sites.

Sound

Typically, you want sites to be able to play audio. But when you’re browsing the web for information, it can be irritating to have a sound suddenly come out of your speakers, especially if you’re at your workplace. That’s why it’s often a good idea to disable sound permissions from Content Settings. Although if you forget what you did, you might end up thinking that the sound is not working in Google Chrome. To prevent this, you can add exceptions for useful websites like YouTube.

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Advertisements

When it comes to ads, you’ll be disappointed to learn that Chrome doesn’t allow you to close ads completely. After all, ads are how most Google services are monetized, so they won’t let you disable them entirely.

What it can do is block intrusive or misleading ads, which works on less reputable websites. If you want to block ads in bulk, you’re better off using an ad blocker.

Background sync

Not many users know this, but just like apps can run in the background on your computer, some sites continue to run in the background on your browser. This is designed to give you a more responsive Internet experience.

For example, social networking sites can notify you as soon as you receive a new message, syncing with the web server at all times. While not harmful on its own, it can lead to excessive resource usage, and even drain battery life on laptops.

You may also have privacy concerns regarding a process that is constantly syncing in the background. Therefore, it is often recommended to disable background sync from Content Settings. You can always enable it again if you want.

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Should I modify Google Chrome content settings?

For the most part, the default settings are good enough. Most of these permissions are set to allow only when prompted, allowing you to confirm things like background syncing, automatic downloads, etc.

The rest are essential features too inconvenient to shut down, like JavaScript and cookies. For these, it is more efficient to create exceptions for the websites you are interested in, allowing other web pages to load normally.

And if you’re concerned about your privacy, you’ll also find all the site-specific permissions for your browser here, too. For example, you can restrict access to potential data collection vectors like your microphone or motion sensor, enabling them only for the web apps you need and use.

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