GitHub is the most commonly used platform for hosting and editing code. Considering the features and ease of use it offers, it is very popular. However, despite the clean interface and plenty of handy features, there is still room for improvement.
So, next, we’re going to take a look at the eight best Chrome extensions that add new features and improve the interface to GitHub.
1. Octotree
Octotree is a feature-rich Chrome extension that revolutionizes your GitHub experience. It adds a code tree for all GitHub repositories, simplifying file searches.
It lets you bookmark repositories, files, and pull requests. Octotree speeds up your work with lazy loading and caching. You can decide if Octotree’s sidebar should appear on all pages, or just select one page, such as a code or pull request.
In addition to these, Octotree offers several additional features in its paid plan. These features include simpler navigation and review of pull requests, multiple tabs, and the ability to change icons and fonts.
The Professional plan costs $35 per year. It also has a team plan that works for teams with five or more members. Unfortunately, the free plan doesn’t work on GitHub enterprise accounts.
If you use Firefox, Edge, or Safari, Octotree also has their add-ons. In fact, it’s one of the best Edge add-ons for developers.
Download: Octotree for Google Chrome | Edge | Firefox | Safari (Free, Paid)
2. GIFs for GitHub
A simple, lightweight Chrome extension, GIFs for GitHub, integrates GIPHY into your GitHub. This means you can search and add GIFs to comments with just a few clicks.
After installing the extension, you will see a GIF icon in the upper right corner of the comment box. From here, you can search for GIPHY and add GIFs to your comments.
This featured extension makes it easy for you to express yourself in GitHub comments. If you’re a fan of GIFs, it’s a must-have.
Download: GIFs for GitHub for Google Chrome (Free)
3. ZenHub for GitHub
ZenHub claims to be the “only” project management tool that can work within GitHub. It is designed for teams to enable different team members to collaborate without obstacles.
For managers, it provides an easy way to track projects, create reports, and build charts. The multi-copy task board streamlines workflow and provides a better view of tasks.
ZenHub has one free and two paid plans that cost $7.95 and $12.45 per month. The free plan is only available for the public repository and provides access to all features. However, for private repositories, you must upgrade.
The extension has been downloaded more than 70,000 times and is popular on the Chrome Web Store.
Download: ZenHub for Google Chrome (Free, Paid)
4. Gitako
Gitako offers a fairly similar feature to Octotree and adds a file tree to GitHub. It also lets you change the icon.
Once you’ve downloaded the extension, Gitako’s logo will appear on the left side of your GitHub screen. Click on it to open the file tree. At the top of the tree, there is an option to search for files directly.
However, you can resize the Gitako sidebar or pin it and set a keyboard shortcut to open it. It lets you collapse long blocks of code, making it easy to view files. Similarly, it adds a button to copy files and clips, but you have to turn on these optional settings.
Another benefit is that it works with private repositories as well as GitHub enterprise accounts.
Download: Gitako for Google Chrome | Firefox (Free)
5. GitZip for GitHub
GitZip for GitHub provides an easy way to download files or subfolders individually from any repository. You can select items by double-clicking the blank space behind the file name and clicking the download arrow that appears in the lower right corner.
Alternatively, right-click anywhere and hover over GitZip Download to decide whether to download the entire folder or the selected file.
The file is downloaded as a ZIP file, which you can unzip and access on your computer. The extension supports dark themes and is completely free to use.
6. Enhanced GitHub
Enhanced GitHub is a lightweight Chrome extension with some handy features. It shows the size of each repository in the About section. Similarly, it also shows the size of the files and offers an easy way to download them.
In addition to downloading, it adds a Copy File button (next to the Original and Blame buttons) when you open any file. This will copy the contents of the file to your clipboard. The size of the file is also shown here.
Compared to other extensions, Enhanced GitHub only offers a few features, but almost anyone will find them useful. Plus, it’s lightweight, free, and popular among Chrome users.
Download: Enhanced GitHub for Google Chrome (Free)
7. Refined GitHub
Refined GitHub is another Chrome extension that adds more than 200 features to your GitHub. Most of these features focus on improving the interface and experience.
The refined GitHub highlights the most useful comments and shows reactive avatars for the comments. It adds gray dots and arrows to white space in the code to make it visible. Similarly, it makes the pull request reference and URL in the code clickable.
With hundreds of features, there’s definitely a lot more to explore. What’s most important? You can turn off any of these features individually by going to the Extensions > refined GitHub > extension options. This free extension has over 50,000 downloads on Chrome. It is also available on Firefox and Safari.
Download: Refined GitHub for Google Chrome | Safari | Firefox (Free)
8. Git Master
Git Master offers a variety of useful features, not just for GitHub, but also for GitLab, Gitee, and others. It adds a file tree sidebar, along with a search bar. It can even display the number of files and the size of the files in the file tree.
You can download the file with just one click. When viewing large repositories, you can enable lazy loading to improve loading speed. It also allows you to browse the file history.
The availability of features varies from platform to platform. But all of this is available on GitHub. You don’t need to struggle between GitLab and GitHub, as it works on GitLab.
Download: Git Master for Google Chrome (Free)
Improve your GitHub experience in the Chrome browser
Whether you want to add a file tree, integrate a project management tool, or need a simple way to download files, these GitHub Chrome extensions can come in handy. The simple and useful features they offer can boost your productivity, especially when you spend a lot of time on this platform.
These extensions are constantly adding new features and are updated regularly. And you can also request features and report bugs, as most of these projects are available on GitHub.
