Not every Chrome or Firefox extension you use has to be one-hundred-per cent dedicated to productivity or utility. Sometimes, it's just nice to look at something pretty. And in the case of Earth View from Google Earth, I don't really care if it eats up my browser's memory or otherwise impacts its performance in any way. It makes me happy, and it will make you happy too -- exactly why this is our Extension of the Week.

Letting you mute entire websites in Chrome may be the best upgrade Google ever made to the browser, but it could still be better. Sure, muting every site with annoying pop-up videos is great, but what if you didn't have to deal any audio at all? Thanks to AutoMute, you'll never have to hear another peep out of your browser ever again.

There are plenty of extensions you can use to manage any organisational "difficulties" you have in Chrome. Here are a few of the ones I use to keep me sane.

Google's new iMessage extensions allow iPhone users to drop all sorts of Google-curated information into their chats: from weather forecasts and nearby restaurants to trending YouTube videos and amusing GIFs. It's a much faster way to communicate and one of our favourite extensions in a long while. Here's how to get it on your phone right now.

It can be hard to start an email, but it feels even worse when you're going insane after sending the same canned response to a question for the ninth time this week. If you'd like a little help replying to the messages in your ever-growing inbox, EasyEmail uses machine learning (along with your email data) to auto-generate potential replies you're too lazy to type yourself. (Whether the Chrome extension's features are worth a mild invasion of privacy is up to you.)

Frozen webpages, a precursor to the ever-frustrating dead tab, can be intensely frustrating -- all the more so when you can't accurately identify what's causing the slowdown or random dead tab. If you want to learn more about what windows or processes are demanding too much of your memory and processing power, technology site gHacks suggests you look under the hood of Google Chrome using its built-in task manager.

Reddit's endless stream of memes, comments, and self-referential jokes can be intimidating to newcomers. Even if you've been reading the site for years there's still plenty of new subreddits to discover. But no matter how well you know Reddit, you could be having an even better experience by installing a few extra Chrome extensions.

It feels like there's a hundred different ways of killing the sound from websites and tabs in Chrome, but what about upping the volume? Normally, you could just turn up the dial on your speakers, or stuff around with the your operating system's audio mixer, but these won't do if you want to target a single tab.

Google killed the View Image button recently and while it's easy enough to work around, it'd be even better if there was a way to restore it. Hang on... isn't that what browser extensions and addons are for?

Viruses don't want to be removed, so the nastier ones will fight to stay put by disabling protection software, cloaking their presence and even generating fake windows and dialog boxes to give you a bum steer. Looks like malicious extensions are getting in on the action too, doing whatever they can to evade uninstallation.

Your browser might be doing someone else's dirty work behind your back, mining cryptocurrency for malicious individuals using your desktop or laptops to create the digital currency, which can potentially be exchanged for real cash. According to Wired, hackers have found a way to inject Javascript-based cryptocurrency mining software into compromised sites, borrowing your processing power (and slowing down your computer) to generate the cryptocurrency Monero.

Google's adding some more security features to its Chrome browser, with the first changes rolling out to Windows users today. The update improves both Chrome and Google's Chrome Cleanup Tool, which monitors extensions attempting to modify user settings like default search engines, along with malware designed to insert additional ads in your browser window. Perfect timing, considering the recent spate of Chrome extensions found collecting user data, impersonating more popular Chrome extensions, and even mining cryptocurrency without user consent.

One major advantage Firefox, Chrome and other browsers have had over Edge is a rich extension ecosystem. In comparison, Microsoft has struggled -- massively -- to compete in this area. To be fair, it had to win people back to Edge first, which it's managed to somewhat accomplish. And while extensions for the browser are still thin on the ground, the steadily growing collection now has over 70 options.

Sure, you need to finish that PowerPoint presentation for next week, but it won't hurt to just check Facebook real quick and see if Mark posted pictures from the party last weekend. And then make a quick online order. And you really should like a few photos in that gallery... It's easy to waste a few minutes (or a few hours) on the web without realising it.

With the release of Firefox 57 towards the end of this year, Mozilla's browser will no longer support "legacy" addons. The switch to WebExtension means developers will have to almost certainly update their addons to make them compatible. This shouldn't be an issue for popular addons, but if you're using lesser known or outdated ones, you'll need to take steps to make sure you don't get caught out.

Having to close a tab with audio blaring from an auto-play ad is one of the web's greatest annoyances, but at the same time, most of us want to hear videos coming from YouTube or Netflix. How do you mute one without the other? Fortunately, there are a couple of easy solutions available.

Twitter recently rolled out a redesign featuring everyone's favourite polarising design choice: all curved everything. Your profile photo is now round instead of square, buttons are oblong, and the icons look downright childish.

If, like me, you have loads of Chrome tabs open at all times, restarting the browser with session restore can be an... explosive event. Chrome will go ahead and reload every single tab and depending on how many you have up, can stall your machine until the process is complete.

Whether you're gasping at the beauty of Earth or the wonder of modern-day architecture (or both), there may well be times when you need to quickly download all of the pictures on a particular page -- even if you just want some new phone backgrounds to use. One such tool for the job is the I'm A Gentleman extension for Chrome.