KeeptabHow to turn on vertical tabs in Chrome
Published
In short: Right-click an empty space in the tab strip, or a tab, and select Show Tabs Vertically.[1] You can also go to Settings › Appearance and, under “Tab position”, choose Vertical.[1]
Tabs too small to read
With 20 tabs or more, a horizontal tab strip turns titles into tiny icons. You can no longer tell which tab is which. Vertical tabs move the tab strip to the side of the window, so you can read the title of every page.[1]
Four ways to turn them on
- From the tab strip: right-click an empty space in the tab strip and select Show Tabs Vertically.[1]
- From a tab: right-click a tab and select Show Tabs Vertically.[1]
- From Settings: go to Settings › Appearance. Under “Tab position”, select Vertical or Horizontal.[1]
- From the menu: at the top right, select More › More Tools › Show Tabs Vertically. On a Mac, you can also use the View menu.[1]
To go back, choose Show Tabs Horizontally in the same places.[1]
What vertical tabs let you do
According to Google's help, with vertical tabs you can:[1]
- see the title of all your pages;
- scroll through your list of tabs;
- resize the tab strip to the width you want;
- in collapsed view, hover over a tab to quickly see the full name of a tab group or page.
They work well with Tab Search (Ctrl + Shift + A, or ⌘ + Shift + A on Mac) and with tab groups.[1]
The limits
- It changes the view, not the number. Vertical tabs make 60 tabs easier to read, but they are still 60 open tabs.
- Nothing is saved. Displaying tabs differently does not protect them if you close a window by mistake. See our guide to recovering lost tabs.
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FAQ
How do I get vertical tabs in Chrome?
Right-click the tab strip or a tab and select Show Tabs Vertically. Or go to Settings › Appearance › “Tab position” and choose Vertical (Google Chrome Help, Manage tabs in Chrome).
How do I turn off vertical tabs in Chrome?
Right-click the tab strip or a tab and select Show Tabs Horizontally, or set “Tab position” to Horizontal in Settings › Appearance (Google Chrome Help).
Can I change the width of vertical tabs?
Yes. Google Chrome Help says you can resize the width of the tab strip to fit your needs.
Sources
- Google Chrome Help. Manage tabs in Chrome. https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/2391819?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop
Close tabs without fear
Keeptab saves your tabs in one click, backs them up every hour and notes your open tabs every 5 minutes. Free for Chrome.
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