How to save your sanity with one click with Chrome’s new Pause/Play feature.
Pause and play music using Google Chrome.
Raise your hand if this has happened to you. You’ve got 20 tabs open, and one of them seems to be playing music or rolling a video. You’re driving yourself crazy clicking around to find out which one it is, and now you’re starting to get mad. Fortunately, Google’s got a new button for the Chrome desktop browser that lets you pause (and play) music and videos from the tab you’re currently in, without making you go through the nightmare of finding the culprit first.
The button is convenient for those who typically have multiple tabs open, your computer volume up and a need to quickly shut the music off.
The new feature is still in its experimental phase, so it may function differently once it’s officially released. Here’s how it works and how to test it out for yourself.
BY KATIE CONNER
Make sure you’ve got the latest Chrome update.
Do this Chrome update first
Make sure you’ve got the latest update on your desktop, Chrome 77. If you know you already have it, then scroll to the next section.
- In your Chrome browser, select the three stacked dots in the upper-right corner.
- Mouse over Helpand select About Google Chrome. If it says Google Chrome is up to date, you can skip this section.
- Click Relaunch. Make sure you’ve saved anything you’re working on, because this will restart your Chrome tabs.
Now you’ve got the latest Chrome version and can move on to the next step.
Enable the Pause/Play button
- Open a Chrome browser and search chrome://flags/in the address bar.
- In the Search flagsbox, search Global Media Controls.
- On the dropdown box to the right, select Enabled.
- Click Relaunch Now. Make sure you’ve saved everything since this will restart your browser.
- You’ll now see a Playbutton in your toolbar. Use that to start and stop audio.
Time to test it out
- Open a site like YouTube or the Spotify Web Player in your browser and select a song or video to play.
- When you’re ready to pause it, click on the Playbutton in your toolbar.
- A box will appear showing you the current video or song playing. Click the Pausebutton.
- Click the Playbutton to continue listening. There’s also Fast-forward and Rewind.
That’s it! Now you can easily pause and play videos from any tab.
Looking for more Google tips? Check out this Gmail trick that keeps spammers from tracking you. Also, this is Google’s latest way to help you find your pictures and Google Maps navigates you a gazillion times better now.
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