Alexis Kestler
Writing is hard work. Between research, drafting, editing, and formatting, it can be easy to get bogged down in the process. Fortunately, Chrome extensions can streamline many aspects of writing and really level up your skills.
In this post, I’ll share my top 10 Chrome extensions to help any writer, from students to bloggers to business professionals. These tools will save you time, improve your writing quality, and make you look like a pro!
Grammarly – Catch Errors as You Write
If you aren‘t already using Grammarly, you‘re missing out on one of the best writing assistants out there. This free extension checks your writing in real-time for grammar, punctuation, spelling, and style errors as you type in Chrome.
It catches everything from basic typos to complex grammatical mistakes, and even offers corrections and explanations so you can learn. Upgrading to Grammarly Premium unlocks even more in-depth suggestions on word choice, clarity, engagement, and overall quality.
Bottom line – Grammarly takes the stress out of editing and helps you sound like the best version of yourself in writing. The free version alone catches an impressive number of errors, and the Premium features are great for improving more nuanced issues in your writing.
Hemingway Editor – Make Your Writing Bold and Clear
The Hemingway Editor extension analyzes your writing and highlights sentences that are hard to read. The goal is to make your prose clear and concise.
It gives each section a "grade level" for readability. Aim for Grade 7 or 8. Anything higher means it‘s too complex. The tool also watches for common issues like passive voice, unnecessary adverbs, and complex phrases.
I love Hemingway Editor for catching places where my writing is unclear or could be simplified. It‘s like having an editor looking over your shoulder. The highlights are also great teaching moments for improving your plain writing style.
Grammarly Keyboard – Fix Typos on the Go
Don‘t let typos ruin your texts, emails, social media posts and more. The Grammarly Keyboard brings Grammarly‘s error-checking powers to everything you type on your phone or tablet.
It works just like the main Grammarly extension, flagging potential misspellings, punctuation mistakes, and other errors as you write on mobile. You can tap to fix issues or ignore suggestions.
I love having this extra Grammarly protection for quick messages where I‘m prone to typos. It catches so many little errors that could otherwise end up getting sent out into the world!
Momentum – Stay Focused with To-Do Lists
It‘s easy to get distracted while writing. Momentum keeps you focused by replacing new tabs with a personal dashboard featuring your to-do list, favorite sites, inspiration quotes, and more.
I like setting tasks that I want to accomplish each day. Checking things off gives you a sense of progress. The inspirational quotes are also nice for an extra nudge to keep working hard.
Momentum really helps avoid distractions and procrastination while writing. Try it if you need help staying on track and managing your time!
Justinmind Prototyper – Bring Your Writing to Life
Writers don‘t just use words. Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand of them. With Justinmind Prototyper, you can turn your ideas into interactive prototypes and mockups.
Whether you‘re writing a user guide, tutorial, product spec, or other technical document, this tool makes it easy to illustrate concepts and workflows. Drag-and-drop interface components like buttons, forms, lists, images, and more onto a canvas. Preview your design, make edits, and export a shareable prototype.
Being able to visualize what you‘re writing is so powerful. I like using Justinmind to create simple mockups for explaining software or apps. The pro version has even more components and functionality.
Mercury Reader – De-Clutter Articles for Readability
If you do research as part of your writing process, Mercury Reader is a must-have. It removes ads, comments, pop-ups, and other clutter from articles online.
This "reader view" makes it easier to focus just on the content you need without all the distractions. Font size, margins, contrast, and other settings are customizable too.
Mercury Reader works on more sites than Chrome‘s built-in reader mode. I use it whenever I need to extract and annotate information from busy web pages. Cleaning up the interface lets me focus on what matters!
ColorZilla – Grab Precise Colors for Visual Writing
Adding visuals to your writing? ColorZilla makes it easy to capture and reuse colors from any webpage.
Just click the eye-dropper icon to activate it, then hover over any element to display its hex code. You can even grab colors from images.picked Color codes can be saved to a palette for quick access later.
As a blogger who creates lots of visual content, I use ColorZilla all the time to sample colors from designs I like. It‘s so much easier than trying to color pick manually!
Loom – Record Your Screen to Show, Not Just Tell
They say show, don‘t tell. Loom makes this easy by letting you quickly record your screen to capture processes, visuals, and more.
Just click to start recording your tab. Add your webcam, microphone narration, and annotations if needed. When finished, Loom generates a shareable video that you can embed or link to anywhere.
For how-to guides, tutorials, and other technical writing, Loom videos are invaluable. Showing something is far more powerful than explaining it. I use Loom to create mini demos all the time.
StayFocused – Avoid Distracting Sites While You Write
Let‘s be honest – even writers procrastinate sometimes. That‘s where StayFocusd comes in handy. It lets you block or limit time on distracting sites.
Add any sites you tend to waste too much time on to your "blocked sites" list. You can set a duration for blocking them, or schedule blocks during certain hours. There are also options to set daily time limits for sites.
We all need a nudge to avoid distractions and stay productive sometimes. StayFocusd is an excellent way to eliminate tempting time-wasters while you write. Try it if you need help avoiding procrastination.
Save to Pocket – Research Smarter, Not Harder
Research goes hand-in-hand with writing. Pocket makes it easy to save articles, videos, and more for later reference.
Anything you want to dig into further can be saved to Pocket with one click. It syncs across all your devices, so your reading list is always at your fingertips. You can even add tags and notes as you research.
Pocket is ideal for compiling sources when working on long-form projects like research papers, guides, reports, etc. No more clogging up your browser tabs! I use it daily to bookmark anything useful for my writing.
OneTab – Tame Unruly Browser Tabs
Jumping between different tabs for research can quickly become overwhelming. OneTab solves tab chaos by converting all your pages into a list.
Just click the OneTab icon when you have lots of tabs open. It will close them all and save links on a single page. Reopen any tab when needed. This frees up memory and declutters your browser.
OneTab has literally saved me from browser crashes and slowdowns caused by too many research tabs. I probably use it five times a day while writing. It‘s a lifesaver for managing your workflow.
Level Up Your Writing Today
Writing may never be truly "easy," but tools like these Chrome extensions can definitely make it more efficient, focused, and successful.
Give these a try the next time you sit down to write. You‘ll be able to research smarter, stay focused, better organize your thoughts, and produce higher quality work.
What are your favorite Chrome extensions for writing? Let me know in the comments if you have any to add to the list!
