How to group and organize your tabs in Chrome

Publish date: 2023-06-23

One of the first things anybody learns when using Google Chrome is that tab management can get out of hand. For me, personally, opening new tabs is like breathing; it just happens, whether I’m acutely aware of it or not. When you open so many Chrome tabs that you can barely make out the text next to each small icon, you may start to wonder whether there’s a more convenient way to organize your browser. Luckily for you, there is a way to group tabs in Chrome.

Read more: How to remove a Google account from Chrome

QUICK ANSWER

To group Chrome tabs on your computer, right-click a tab at the top of the browser and select Add tab to new group. After creating the tab group, then right-click any other tab you want to add to the group, hover your cursor over Add tab to group, and then click the tab group from the extended menu.

To group Chrome tabs on your mobile device, open your tabs screen using the button in the top right of the app. Long-press any tab and then drag it over the tab you want to group it with. Release it to create the tab group.

JUMP TO KEY SECTIONS

When you aren’t actively keeping track of your open tabs on Google Chrome, they can seemingly multiply at an exponential rate. This goes for the Chrome web browser on your computer as well as the Google Chrome app on your Android or iOS device.

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In 2020 Google Chrome gained a new feature known as tab groups. This essentially allows you to organize groups of tabs in a way that is functional, effective, and easy to use. You can give each tab group a custom name and color, and you can choose to delete a Chrome tab from the group or move it outside of the group.

How to group tabs in your Chrome browser (PC and Mac)

Grouping tabs is currently the most efficient way to organize your browsing activity on Google Chrome.

Starting a new tab group in Chrome

To start a new tab group:

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Adding tabs to your tab group

Now that you have created your Chrome tab group, you are going to want to add tabs to that group.

If you want to add a brand new tab to the group, you can right-click the tab group at the top and then click New tab in group. This will open a new tab within the group.

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If you want to continue organizing the tabs you already have opened, then you can add an open tab to your group. To do this:

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After this, you may not notice your tabs bar getting any smaller. To minimize your tab group, click the tab group title or, if you haven’t titled the tab group, click the colored circle of the tab group.

How to group tabs on the Chrome mobile app

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The Google Chrome mobile app for Android and iOS devices also allows you to group tabs. Internal RAM is much more limited on smartphones, so it isn’t like you will have a ton of tabs to manage.

The standard method

Open Google Chrome and press the tabs button in the top right corner.

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Next, on the tabs page, press the ⋮ button in the top right corner. From the subsequent dropdown, select Group tabs.

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Each tab will have empty circles in the top right. Select whichever tabs you want to group by tapping them; this will highlight them and add a checkmark within their empty circles.

When you have finished selecting tabs, press the Group button in the top right.

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The faster way to group Chrome tabs on mobile

There is actually a faster way to group tabs.

First, open Google Chrome on your phone and then, like in the previous method, press the tabs button in the top right corner. This looks like a box with the number of tabs you have open inside.

Now, on the tabs screen, long-press (press and hold) one of the tabs you want to group.

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While holding the tab, drag it directly on top of the other tab you want to group it with. When you see a larger box appear around both tabs, release the tab to drop it into your new tab group.

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The keyboard shortcut for opening a Chrome tab on Windows is Ctrl + t.

The keyboard shortcut for opening a Chrome tab on Mac is ⌘ Command + t.

What is the shortcut for closing a tab in Chrome?

The keyboard shortcut for closing a Chrome tab on Windows is Ctrl + w.

The keyboard shortcut for closing a Chrome tab on Mac is ⌘ Command + w.

What does pin tab mean in Chrome?

Pinning a tab on Google Chrome will lock it to the leftmost side of the Chrome tab bar. It will also only show its icon; you will not be able to see any text on the tab.

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