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Is there a way to open tab in Google Chrome/Chromium with minimal layout (without tabs, bars, adress bar) so I can watch youtube videos in small window with borders only? Is there a shortcut to switch between this modes or extension to do that?

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7 Answers 7

Reset to default
41

Ok. I found one solution to this problem.

  1. Go to desire website

  2. Open

    Main menu -> More Tools -> Create Shortcut

  3. Check "Open as window"

  4. Open created shortcut from Desktop (Or created shortcut opens automatically)

Enjoy the website with minimal layout.

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  • 6
    Great answer. The only difference is that in Chrome 69 it's "Create Shortcut..." instead of "Add to Desktop"
    – CornelC
    Commented Oct 30, 2018 at 10:06
  • 1
    There is also a Chrome plugin Open as Popup that allow to do similar.chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/open-as-popup/….
    – lluke
    Commented Nov 6, 2018 at 21:27
  • The create shortcut method doesn't show as a minimal for me. It just opens a normal tab with address bar and more. The popup addon works great.
    – Dss
    Commented Apr 23, 2019 at 15:00
  • @lluke Thank you! This plugin still works fine in the end of 2021.
    – Sogl
    Commented Dec 24, 2021 at 1:59
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If you use linux (but maybe there is a way to start it from command line in other less user friendly OSes), you can start youtube with:

google-chrome-stable --new-window --app=https://www.youtube.com
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    with Win10 it is chrome --new-window --app=https://www.youtube.com
    – bencekd
    Commented Feb 3, 2020 at 13:39
  • from command line, as opposed to "Menu -> Save and Share -> Create Shortcut" you seem to lose the extensions menu and the app menu. Is there a way to replicate the exact behaviour of the menu command from command line? Including registering it to chrome://apps (like the menu entry does).
    – gozzilli
    Commented Jan 5 at 11:30
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For MacOS it is: 

/Applications/Google\ Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google\ Chrome --new-window --app=https://my.jdownloader.org/

There is some way to make it launch from Launchpad item even with custom icon, but I'd need to google that as well.

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  • Thanks a lot! worked with me!
    – Ahmed Mahmoud
    Commented Jan 2, 2023 at 5:20
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For the most recent version as of November 2018:

  1. Go to Apps,
  2. Right-click the desired app
  3. Open as window

Enjoy website with minimal layout.

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  • "Apps" ? Is this in the Chrome Browser or Chromebook?
    – Jason S
    Commented Sep 20, 2019 at 20:11
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chrome, google-chrome-stable, chromium, chromium-browser all have a kiosk mode that allows the browser to be used in a single-window/single-app kiosk mode. Essentially, it locks away access to the rest of the device.

Start with:

    chrome --kiosk http://google.com/

Not sure if that was what you wanted, but it might help others.

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Terms:

  • window decorations of one application: the bar that allows you to maximize/minimize/close.
  • OS: Operating System
  • OS Task Bar: The bar that displays all the Applications open and allows you to move from one to another.

In a photo:

enter image description here

Options:

Case 1: Open url directly.

  • NOT VISIBLE: browser toolbars / sidebars / menus / etc
  • VISIBLE: application (browser) window decorations
  • VISIBLE: OS Task Bar and other OS Desktop items
# command
chrome --app="url_to_open"
# Example
chrome  --app="https://www.google.com/"

Case 2: Apply to existing (already open) page

  • NOT VISIBLE: browser toolbars / sidebars / menus / etc
  • VISIBLE: application (browser) window decorations
  • VISIBLE: OS Task Bar and other OS Desktop items
  1. Save the shortcut below (one way is drag & drop)

Detach << This is called a bookmarklet

  1. Edit the shortcut and replace the full url with this
javascript:window.open(location.href, "detab", "toolbar=0"); window.close()
  1. Click the bookmark when the page/tab you want to detach is focused

Case 3: Apply to existing (already open) page

  • NOT VISIBLE: browser toolbars / sidebars / menus / etc
  • NOT VISIBLE: application (browser) window decorations
  • NOT VISIBLE: OS Task Bar and other OS Desktop items

Press F11 for 'Full screen' mode.

Case 4: Open url directly.

  • NOT VISIBLE: browser toolbars / sidebars / menus / etc
  • NOT VISIBLE: application (browser) window decorations
  • NOT VISIBLE: OS Task Bar and other OS Desktop items

Look for 'kiosk mode'. Depending on the OS it differs a bit (I couldn't make it work)

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Use the microsoft powertoys app in the microsoft store or in the official github https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys there's a function called crop and lock which allows you to crop a window as well as lots of other useful functions Edit : i just found out another thing after searching a bit. You can use this tag which should work on any chromium browser(chrome/edge/etc) --app=http://google.com

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