Stop Losing Important Browser Tabs: How to Organize Chrome With Tab Groups

A browser with dozens of open tabs can become difficult to navigate. You may have shopping pages mixed with work documents, research articles, email, and websites you intended to read later.

Google Chrome includes a feature called Tab groups that can help organize this clutter.

Create your first tab group

Open Chrome on your computer. Right-click a tab and select Add tab to group. Create a new group. Give it a descriptive name, such as Work, Research, or Shopping. Choose a color if you want to make the group easier to recognize.

Google documents these controls in its Chrome tab-management instructions.

Add more tabs

Drag related tabs into the group. You can also right-click another tab and add it to an existing group.

For example, a research group might contain several reference websites, while a shopping group contains products you are comparing.

Collapse groups you are not using

Click the group label to collapse its tabs. This reduces the amount of space occupied in the tab bar without requiring you to close everything. Expand the group when you need those pages again.

Understand the difference between closing and deleting

Chrome's tab-group controls may allow you to close a group while preserving it for later access. Deleting a group is a different action.

Review the menu option before selecting it, especially if the group contains pages you have not bookmarked elsewhere.

The bottom line

Tab groups will not make every website load faster, but they can make a crowded browser easier to navigate. Start with two or three meaningful groups rather than creating a complicated organizational system.

Sources and further reading

Google — Manage tabs in Chrome: https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/2391819