In this tutorial I’ll show you how to download start to use Chrome on your Mac. Chrome is Google’s application for browsing the web and the tutorial is aimed at the beginner or user who has hasn’t used this browser in the past.
About Chrome
Chrome is the most popular application for finding your way around the web. It, along with the other well-known browsers (Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari) allows you to view web pages, images and videos from around the Internet.
It’s fast and clean and it’s very straightforward to use, but it has to be installed first! (If you already know how to download files to Mac, skip on to Step 3).
1. Download Chrome
Because Chrome isn’t pre-installed on your computer, it will need to be downloaded (copied) to your Mac. Open up Safari, which you’ll find in the icon bar at the bottom of your screen (it’s the image that looks like a compass):
Do this by clicking the icon that looks like a compass.
Now you’ll search for the Chrome web page so that you can download the application (piece of software) from it. Type "chrome" into the search field and click on the yellow "Search" button:
Click on the first result underneath the “Ads related to Chrome” to get the most relevant search result. That will take us directly to Google Chrome.
And here’s the blue download button. Click on it.
2. Install Chrome
You’ll be asked to “Accept and Install the Google Chrome Terms of Service”. If you want to see what you’re agreeing to, click on and drag down the lozenge-shaped grey button. Then click the blue "Accept and Install" button to accept.
The file pertaining to Chrome will take a few moments to copy itself into the Downloads folder on your Mac. You can access it easily by clicking on the file in Stacks, the icon that gave a little jump when the download was complete – you’ll see it in your icon bar:
Now click and drag the Google Chrome icon into the Applications folder, as indicated by the downward arrow:
A list of all the files contained in your Applications folder now appears.
Click on Google Chrome and a new window will open.
3. Get Searching
Take a look at Google, the default page that Chrome opens with:
Google search
This is the Google search engine. Type your search term into the top bar (or into the Google search field), as I’ve done with cats:
If you already know the web address you need, then type it into the top bar, for example
twitter.com. The top bar doubles as a search bar and an address bar for URLs (Uniform Resource Locators, or web page addresses).
Here are the search results for cats using Google (it’s personalised some of my results for UK-based sites, since I’m based in the UK.)
Click on the link in which you’re interested to view the page.
To search within a page for a particular piece of text, press the Command F keys on your Mac keyboard simultaneously. This opens up a text box in the right-hand corner of your screen where you can enter the text you want to find on the page.
Press the return key and the relevant text is highlighted in yellow.
Bookmarks
You can tell Chrome about your favorite pages and access them later without having to go through the search process again. Click the star icon in the search bar, which turns yellow and provides a dropdown menu where you can select whether to store the bookmark in a new or existing folder:
To access the page later, click on the Chrome menu at the top right-hand corner of your page...
...to bring up your list of bookmarks, clicking on the relevant link to open.
Alternatively, you can have your bookmarks appear under the search/address bar by pressing the Command Shift and B keys simultaneously.
The great thing about bookmarks and other settings is that they can be synchronised to appear wherever you use Chrome, whether that’s on your laptop, mobile phone or tablet.
To have your bookmarks synchronised, you’ll need a Google account if you don’t already have one. Go to Create your Google Account, follow the instructions there, then, back in Chrome, sign in by selecting Sign in to Chrome from the Chrome menu.
Open A New Tab
Having more than one page open at once will save you time reopening pages again and again, and is very simple to do: just click on the new tab next to the tabs you already have open, as shown in the image above.
Change Search Engine
Most people use Google to search the web but this is my no means the only search engine. To try one of the others, click on the Chrome menu icon in the top righthand corner, then Settings in the menu that presents itself. Go to the section on Search in Settings and click the Google dropdown menu.
Select whichever search engine you like from the list given:
The next time you make a search, it will take place within your chosen search engine.
Close a Tab
Having too many tabs open can be confusing and slow your computer down. To close an unwanted tab, click on the little “x” in the corner of the tab.
View Search History
To visit a page you’ve visited previously but not saved as a bookmark, select History from the Chrome menu. A page opens where you can view the pages you’ve visited.
Search by entering a keyword from the site’s name into the search box at the top of the page:
Alternatively, select History from the menu that appears along the top of your screen to see the pages you’ve visited most recently.
Clear Search History
While on the Search History page, you can clear any browsing data you wish. Click on the Clear browsing data button (see the last image above) and select the data you’d like to erase.
Any Questions?
In this tutorial, I have shown you how to find and install Chrome, start searching, create bookmarks, open and close tabs, change the default search engine and view and clear your search history.
I hope I’ve given you enough information to get started with Chrome but if you have any questions I’d love to hear from you.