‍The average employee is productive for two hours and 53 minutes a day (source). That’s just 31% (less than a third!) of an 8-hour workday. 

Surprised? Us, too. Then again—ask us how much time we spend researching ways to increase productivity. Can’t find us? We’re probably in the Google Chrome Store, perusing the 180,000+ extensions promising to make our lives easier, faster, and more efficient.

Don’t have time to see what’s winning hearts and minds? That’s where we come in—with an obsessively curated list of best Chrome extensions for productivity in 2023. 

Find our top picks below for minimizing the time you spend sitting in meetings, dealing with distractions, managing tasks, avoiding repetitive questions, streamlining everyday communication, and making work faster and easier.

1. Tango
2. Grammarly
3. BlockSite
4. OneTab
5. ChatGPT
6. Pocket
7. Loom
8. Fireflies
9. Todoist
10. Checker Plus For Gmail
11. Speechify
12. Dark Reader

Tango—for creating how-to guides

What is Tango? 

Tango is a browser extension (and desktop application!) that takes the pain out of documenting processes by automatically generating how-to guides while you work. 

How does Tango work? 

Perform a task from start to finish on any website or software, and Tango will capture step-by-step instructions with perfectly cropped screenshots—in seconds. With Tango, you can document, share, and scale your knowledge in a fraction of the time. 

Who is Tango for?

Tango is for anyone who teaches software. Anyone who owns a training program, knowledge base, or system. Anyone who determines processes and best practices for their teams. Anyone who has been called a top performer or tenured employee. And everyone who believes shared knowledge = the most valuable knowledge. 

What problem does Tango solve?

Making how-to guides is…not fun. Documenting a single process can take hours. And because videos and PDFs are so hard to keep current, even when you finish, your work is never really done. 

Tango’s biggest benefits:

• Get started fast → First-time users create their first Tango in an average of five minutes.  
• Save time → 52% of users say Tango saves them 3+ hours every week. Learn more.
• Make it yours → Blur sensitive information. Swap in your logo and colors. Add freehand drawings. Edit annotations to proactively answer common questions. 
• Designed to distribute → Publish your guide to multiple knowledge bases with one click. Share tutorials via email or direct link. Export new documentation to PDF, HTML, or Markdown.
• No special skills required → Everyone should be able to teach, learn, and do their best work. 💃🏻 See 21 ways to Tango like a power user here.
• Wallet-friendly → Tango's Free Plan is free for everyone. 🧡

Add Tango to Chrome

Grammarly—for real-time writing feedback

What is Grammarly? 

Grammarly is an AI-powered tool that provides real-time writing suggestions everywhere you write online.

How does Grammarly work? 

Grammarly uses advanced machine learning and human expertise to analyze written sentences to check grammar, spelling, and punctuation, tweak tone, clarify ideas, and find the perfect words.  

Who is Grammarly for?

Grammarly is for students, professionals, business people, creative writers, non-native English speakers—and anyone who wants to communicate with confidence.

What problem does Grammarly solve?

We all make mistakes. 🤷🏽 

Grammarly’s biggest benefits:

• From zero to 💯 → You can install Grammarly and start elevating your writing just as quickly.
• Speed up your process → 90% of users say Grammarly helps them edit their work more efficiently. 
• Catch your mistakes → There’s a reason Grammarly is G2’s #1 proofreading software, serving 30,000 million people around the world each day.
• A++ security and data privacy → Grammarly’s business model is to “sell subscriptions, not customer data.” 
• Help when you need it → Grammarly has an extensive knowledge base to keep customers happy. 

Add Grammarly to Chrome

BlockSite—for avoiding distractions

What is BlockSite? 

BlockSite is an aptly named browser extension. Use it to block any website, for any period of time.

How does BlockSite work? 

BlockSite intercepts requests to visit websites added to your personal block list—and redirects you to a customizable “blocked” page until you update your list or the block schedule ends. 

Who is BlockSite for?

BlockSite is for anyone who wants to improve their focus so they can spend more time enjoying life. 

What problem does BlockSite solve?

Fun fact: The average U.S. office worker spends two hours and 11 minutes procrastinating every day (source). 

BlockSite’s biggest benefits:

• A solid concept → To increase productivity, decrease procrastination. Over 1,000,000 users swear by BlockSite’s simple yet powerful approach. 
• You do you → Block individual websites (👋, Facebook), whole website categories (👋, all news outlets), OR certain elements of specific sites (👋, all videos).
• One and done → Sync your settings across multiple devices.
• Extra security → Prevent people from modifying your block list with password protection.  

Add BlockSite to Chrome

OneTab—for reducing tab clutter

What is OneTab? 

OneTab is a memory-saving browser extension that converts open tabs into a list. 

How does OneTab work? 

“OneTab to rule them all” isn’t just clever copywriting. To store open tabs you haven’t finished working with yet, click the funnel icon in the top right corner of your Chrome browser. When you’re ready, re-open them individually or all at once. 

Who is OneTab for?

OneTab is for anyone with too many tabs open—and anyone worried about the amount of memory their browser is using. 

What problem does OneTab solve?

It’s hard to keep track of lots of open tabs, and it doesn’t always make sense to bookmark them individually. 

OneTab’s biggest benefits:

• More memory → Save up to 95% of memory by reducing open tabs in Google Chrome.
• Singular focus/execution → OneTab does one thing—really well. 
• Easy to organize → Reorder tabs in your OneTab list by dragging and dropping them.
• Simple shortcuts → Press the Ctrl or Cmd keys while restoring tabs so they remain in your OneTab list—and can be used to quickly launch a set of commonly used tabs in the future.
• Super shareable → Convert your OneTab list into a webpage to share with others and other devices.
• Price → OneTab is completely free.

Add OneTab to Chrome

ChatGPT—for working smarter, not harder 

What is ChatGPT? 

The ChatGPT Chrome Extension provides quick access to OpenAI's ChatGPT on the web. What’s ChatGPT? The AI-powered chatbot taking social media by storm—and giving Google a run for its money. 

How does ChatGPT work? 

As a large language model, ChatGPT is trained on massive amounts of data to predict the next word in a series of words. Ask ChatGPT a question you’d typically pose to a search engine, and expect a remarkably human-like response in return. Looking for a more nuanced, immediately useful reply? Prompt ChatGPT to act as a subject matter expert and answer using specific parameters.

Who is ChatGPT for?

ChatGPT may be the new kid on the block (with some still determined to give it the cold shoulder), but its use cases are endless. Students and knowledge workers alike are using it to expedite ideation, research, search engine optimization, content creation, translations, product recommendations, email responses, data analysis, appointment scheduling, custom code development, and more.

What problem does ChatGPT solve?

If you haven’t been asked to work smarter, not harder—teach us your ways. 🙏🏽

ChatGPT’s biggest benefits:

• Endlessly useful → Can handle a wide range of tasks— and generate accurate insights at speed and at scale.
• A serious time saver → Artificial intelligence wants to streamline your workflows. As many of them as possible.
• Remarkably human-like → Not only can ChatGPT answer complex questions conversationally, but it can also explain itself further, recall earlier conversation, and apologize when it’s wrong.
• Built to get better → ChatGPT quickly adapts to new information and improves over time.
• Free (for now!) → Don’t sleep on OpenAI's feedback period.

Add ChatGPT to Chrome

Pocket—for curating content you care about

What is Pocket? 

Pocket is a browser extension that hangs onto interesting articles, videos, images, etc.—so you can absorb them when you’re ready. 

How does Pocket work? 

Pocket captures eye-catching, web-based content in three ways. You can save links you love by clicking the Pocket button in the toolbar, right-clicking a link and selecting Save to Pocket, or by using keyboard shortcuts (Ctrl+Shift+P for Windows; command+Shift+P for Mac).  

Who is Pocket for?

Pocket is for anyone who has ever wished for a save button for the internet. 

What problem does Pocket solve?

There’s a lot of stuff worth reading on the Internet. But it’s hard to consume it all as you come across it. And it’s even harder to remember how to go back and find it, when you do have time to dig in.

Pocket’s biggest benefits:

• Made just for you → Pocket is a quiet corner of the internet with everything you care about and nothing you don’t.
• 10/10 time to value → Start saving stories with a single click. 
• The opposite of hard to use → Picture a steep learning curve—then flatten it. 
• Organized inspo → Never track down another link again! Find everything you need to be inspired and do your best work in one place. Categorize saved content with tags and keep track of key passages with highlights.
• Truly convenient → Collect content across all your devices to revisit later. 

Add Pocket to Chrome

Loom—for working asynchronously

What is Loom? 

Loom is a video messaging tool that helps circulate important information through shareable videos.

How does Loom work? 

Loom’s Chrome extension has three recording settings. You can record both your screen and camera, just your screen, or just your camera. When you click Start Recording, you can share an update, make an announcement, run through a demo, give feedback, answer a question, create a tutorial, and more. Creators can control access, include links to relevant resources, and see engagement insights. Viewers can add comments and reactions. 

Who is Loom for?

Loom is for anyone who wants to move fast and stay connected—especially while working asynchronously. It’s also a huge win for educators and trainers, sales and customer support teams, content creators and marketers, and product managers and developers.

What problem does Loom solve?

What’s not great? Spending a day in back-to-back meetings. Emptying your inbox only to have it fill back up again. Struggling to share information that would be best shared visually, with a voiceover. 

Loom’s biggest benefits:

• Works whenever you work → Loom makes collaboration across departments and time zones possible (and for many remote workers, preferable). 
• Buys time back → Send a Loom instead of hosting a meeting. Deliver detailed information up to 2X faster than it takes to present it. 
• Nothing (too) fancy → Add text, drawings, and highlights to recordings without an expert’s help. Trim and cut your videos as you see fit.
• Fewer interruptions → Enjoy the context and clarity of working in-person, without as many taps on the shoulder.
• You hold the keys → Choose who can see your content.

Add Loom to Chrome

Fireflies—for automating meeting minuti

What is Fireflies? 

Fireflies is an AI-powered voice assistant that helps record, transcribe, search, summarize, and analyze your Google Meet calls. 

How does Fireflies work? 

Once your Google Meet call starts, Fireflies will auto-capture and transcribe the meeting directly from your browser. You can stop transcription at any time. After you wrap up, you will receive an email and a record of the meeting in your Fireflies Notebook. 

Who is Fireflies for?

Fireflies is for anyone who wants to make the most of every meeting.

What problem does Fireflies solve?

It’s far too easy for knowledge to get buried on calls and during team meetings.

Fireflies’ biggest benefits:

• Kind of magical → Wish you could delegate and/or automate meeting minutes, recaps, and action items? Now you can.
• Full of fun facts → Unlock knowledge buried inside your meetings with insights and analytics. 
• Has your back → Can’t remember who said what, when? Search transcripts by key topic and filter conversations by speaker. 
• Neat and tidy → Imagine all your Google Meet conversations living together, in a designated workspace. 
• Good security → GDPR compliant? ☑️. SOC2 Type II certified? ☑️. 
• Added bonuses → Transcribe recordings made using Loom, Bubbles, and Soapbox, too.

Add Fireflies to Chrome

Todoist—for organizing your life

What is Todoist? 

Todoist is an online task management tool and to-do list.

How does Todoist work? 

Todoist allows you to create tasks and organize them into projects with sub-tasks, labels, filters, comments, due dates, and more. You don’t need to read the 50,000 Chrome extension reviews to know that users rave about three things: organizing their to-do lists right from the extension, adding websites as tasks, and completing tasks without leaving Chrome.

Who is Todoist for?

Todoist is for individuals, teams, businesses, and anyone who wants to achieve more every day.

What problem does Todoist solve?

Keeping track of projects and tasks isn’t as easy as it sounds.

Todoist’s biggest benefits:

• So speedy → Powerful language recognition creates better to-do list lists, faster.
• Your very own urgent/important matrix → Focus on what matters most with automatically sorted tasks.
• Straightforward to use → Drag and drop tasks into projects with one click.
• Teamwork makes the dreamwork → Collaborate on projects by adding team members via email.

Add Todoist to Chrome

Checker Plus for Gmail™—for managing multiple inboxes

What is Checker Plus for Gmail™? 

Checker Plus for Gmail™ is a Chrome extension that lets you manage all your Gmail accounts with one click.

How does Checker Plus for Gmail™ work? 

Checker Plus for Gmail™ makes all of your accounts available at a glance—so you can see new notifications and read, listen to, archive, and delete emails without opening Gmail. 

Who is Checker Plus for Gmail™ for?

Checker Plus for Gmail™ is for people with places to go and people to see—and many inboxes to manage. 

What problem does Checker Plus for Gmail™ solve?

Getting notifications, reading, listening to, and deleting emails without majorly disrupting your workflow is a herculean task. Especially if you monitor multiple inboxes! 

Checker Plus for Gmail’s biggest benefits:

• Less context-switching → The average employee toggles between websites and apps approximately 1,200 times each day (source). Checker Plus for Gmail™ reduces context-switching by minimizing the need to check email in a separate window.
• Everything under one roof → Enter a unified inbox option, with a way to view all your email accounts at once.
• Customize to your heart’s content → Customize your notifications to avoid being bothered by emails marked as spam, for instance. 

Add Checker Plus for Gmail™ to Chrome

Speechify—for reading faster

What is Speechify™? 

Speechify is a text-to-speech app that turns any book, document, or website into audio. 

How does Speechify work? 

Speechify leverages AI to scan words on an active browser tab and read them aloud, without any lag. 

Who is Speechify for?

Speechify is for anyone who wants to read faster and listen on the go.

What problem does Speechify solve?

So much to read; so little time.

Speechify’s biggest benefits:

• Learn more in less time → Absorb material up to 4.5X faster. Active highlighting makes it even easier to follow along.
• There when you need it → Speechify works with every webpage. Use it for so many things—school, work, e-learning, casual reading, navigating dyslexia, learning a second language, etc. Side note: Anything you’ve saved to your Speechify library instantly syncs across devices so that you can listen to anything, anywhere, anytime. 
• Fun options → Change the default voice, accent, language, and speaking rate. 

Add Speechify to Chrome

Dark Reader—for better browsing at night

What is Dark Reader? 

Dark Reader is an open-source browser extension that applies a dark color scheme to any website so you can avoid straining your eyes at night.

How does Dark Reader work? 

Dark Reader enables “night mode” by inverting brightly colored webpages on the fly. The result? Websites that are high contrast and easy to read.

Who is Dark Reader for?

Dark Reader is for night owls who want to take good care of their eyes—and anyone sensitive to blue light.

What problem does Dark Reader solve?

Viewing bright websites in low light environments can cause eye fatigue and interfere with sleep.

Dark Reader’s biggest benefits:

• Delightfully uncomplicated → Toggle Dark Reader on by selecting the Dark Reader icon in your browser’s extension bar. Toggle it off in the same place.
• Customizable → Adjust brightness, contrast, sepia filter, font settings, and more. Enable and disable night mode on certain sites. Configure a hotkey to quickly add a site to either list.
• In sickness and in health → While Dark Reader may not have been developed for people who struggle with migraines, many users rely on it to power through tough days. 

Add Dark Reader to Chrome