Chrome on a phone is simple enough to use immediately, but several built-in gestures and settings make it faster and less cluttered. You can organize tabs, reduce background data use, search by voice, share pages quickly, and continue browsing from your desktop without changing accounts or installing extensions.
Does this affect you?
Use this for Chrome on Android, iPhone, or iPad. The menus are very similar across platforms, though Android and iOS place a few system-level data settings in different places.
Six Chrome mobile features worth using
Each tip is independent, so turn on only the ones that fit how you browse.
- Group tabs: Open the tab switcher, touch and hold a tab, then drag it onto another tab to create a group. Name and color the group to keep shopping, work, travel, or research tabs apart.
- Reduce data use: Chrome no longer has the old Lite Mode. On Android, use Settings > Network & internet > Data Saver. On iPhone, use Low Data Mode for Wi-Fi or cellular. In Chrome, you can also turn off page preloading under Settings > Preload pages.
- Use voice search: Tap the microphone in the address bar to search without typing. This is handy when your hands are busy, though you should avoid using it while driving unless it is safe and hands-free.
- Swipe between tabs: Swipe left or right along the bottom toolbar or address bar area to move between open tabs without opening the tab switcher.
- Share a page as a QR code: Open the three-dot menu, choose Share, and look for the QR code option in the share sheet. Another phone can scan it instead of typing or receiving a long link.
- Translate pages: When Chrome detects another language, use the translate bar that appears. After you translate a site once, Chrome can remember the preference.
These features live in the regular Chrome app. You do not need a new Google Account or a mobile extension system to use them.
More control
Open tabs from your other devices
If desktop Chrome and mobile Chrome use the same Google Account with sync enabled, open the mobile tab switcher and look for Tabs from your other devices. It is useful when you start reading on a computer and want to continue on your phone.
Close many tabs at once
Long-press the tab count icon and choose Close all tabs if you want to clear a backlog. Use this carefully because there is no perfect undo beyond reopening recent tabs from Chrome history.
Stop reopening a huge old session
If Chrome feels slow because it restores too many tabs at launch, check Chrome Settings > Homepage or On startup on supported Android builds and choose to open a new tab instead of always restoring the previous session.
Sources
- Google Chrome Help – Manage tabs in Chrome (2025)
- Google Chrome Help – Change what data Chrome saves (2025)
- Apple Support – Use Chrome features on iPhone (2025)