Browser Basics
What is a Browser?
A browser is the window you open to access Internet sites. Some examples of browsers are Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, and Safari.
At WSU Global Campus:
- Students must use Chrome for Global Campus online proctoring sessions. Download Chrome here.
- Chrome and Firefox are the recommended browsers for Blackboard Learn.
Things to Know
Once in the browser, there are some areas you should be familiar with:
Address Bar
The address bar is where you type in a URL, or web address, to navigate to the location you wish to view. In this example, the URL for the Washington State University home page is listed: https://wsu.edu
Common Browser Buttons
Shown below are Chrome’s browser buttons
Home: Takes you to the browser’s home page, or the first page you see when you open the browser
Back: Takes you back to pages previously viewed during the session
Forward: After you have used the back button, takes you ahead to pages previously viewed
Refresh: Reloads the page you are currently on
Minimize/Maximize – PC Browsers: This set of buttons is located in the upper right hand corner of PC browsers: The button on the left (looks like a horizontal line) minimizes the browser to the bottom of your computer screen, the middle button (overlapping squares) maximizes the screen so it fits the entire computer monitor, and the right hand button (X) closes the browser page.
Minimize/Maximize – Mac Browsers: This set of buttons is located in the upper left hand corner of MAC browsers. The red dot will close the browser page, the yellow dot will minimize the browser to the bottom of your computer screen, and the green dot will maximize the page to fill the monitor.
Menu: Menu allows you to view settings and make changes to your browser
Browser Tabs
Tabs allow you to have multiple web pages open at the same time within the same browser.
To open a new page, click in the small tab to the right of all open tabs (circled above in red). On some browsers, you’ll see a plus sign (+) in the small tab.
Bookmarks
For easy access to websites you visit often, you can keep web addresses in the Bookmarks Bar.