Synchronizing Your Browser Settings With Google Browser Sync

This scenario is probably familiar to you: during your lunch break at work, you look for some design ideas for your home. So searched for and browsed around interior design websites. You even joined some forums just to get things started. You add some bookmarks on Firefox (or IE?). But then later at home you’ve already forgotten about it until later that night. You open up your browser and try to look for the websites again. Unfortunately you can’t seem to remember some of the really good resources you found during the day at the office because your bookmarks are on your work computer’s browser. Frustrating, isn’t it?

This is a problem common to users who use different computers at work and at home. Your bookmarks, history, and even saved passwords are different and out of sync for each machine. One solution could be the use of an online bookmarking service (like Yahoo!’s del.icio.us). But most users are more comfortable with saving favorites on their browsers. And saved passwords are still not synchronized. This is where a browser that saves its settings and user data online (securely of course) come in handy. Google Browser Sync for firefox brings this possibility now.

Google browser sync for Firefox saves your user data online so that you can use it across different firefox installations.

To get started, install the Google browser sync extension for firefox which can be found at Google browser sync’s home page. Once it’s done installing, you will be asked to restart Firefox to complete the installation of the extension.

After firefox restarts, you will be guided to configure Google browser sync. The first page of the wizard should be read very carefully since it explains the possible privacy and security concerns in using the tool. You would be then asked to enter your Google Account credentials. You can set your synchronization setup to standard, which synchronizes everything: bookmarks, saved passwords, persistent cookies, history, tabs, and windows. Sensitive data will be encrypted. Choosing the advanced type gives you more control with which particular settings you’d like to synchronize. After that you will be asked for a PIN that will be used to encrypt some of your more sensitive settings.

Click on the thumbnails to enlarge.

When configuration is finished, you are greeted by a Google Browser Sync–enabled Firefox browser. From now on, all user settings that you have configured on your browser so far will be saved online. All you have to do is to do install Google Browser sync on all the other Firefox installations you have in other computers that you want to be synced.

When you have already setup browser sync in all the computers that you use, your windows and tabs from a previous session while browsing at work will be restored upon opening of your firefox browser at home.

Syncing saved password gives an extra convenience (with security, since these are encrypted) when logging on to your forums, webmails and other online accounts. This extension works on both PC and Mac. How’s that for cross-platform synchronization!