How to Organize Browser Tabs Like a Pro

Look at your browser right now.

How many tabs do you have open? Ten? Twenty?

I used to count over 100 tabs spread across multiple windows on my laptop.

It used to be a mess, and my laptop’s fan sounded like it was about to launch into orbit.

Frustrated by this, I went on a journey to find a solution and get over this hoarding habit.

Some proved remarkably effective, while others completely missed the mark.

What follows is my tested guide to organizing your browser tabs—no matter if you’re a casual surfer or a hoarder like me.

Why Tab Management Actually Matters

First off, this isn’t just about being neat and tidy. Poor tab management creates real problems:

Performance drain: Each open tab consumes memory (RAM). Too many, and your PC slows to a crawl.

Mental overload: A study in the Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction (Jahanian et al., 2021) found that having too many open tabs can make it harder to focus and get things done. (Source)

Lost information: Have you ever spent 10 minutes clicking through dozens of tabs trying to find that ONE article you need? That’s time you’ll never get back.

Battery life: On laptops, excessive tabs drain battery life fast. Each open tab uses system resources, even in the background, cutting down the time you can work unplugged.

Now let’s dig into solutions. I’ve organized these strategies from simplest to most advanced, so you can find your comfort level.

The Built-in Basics Every Browser Offers

Before downloading anything new, let’s explore what your browser already does.

These features cost nothing and require zero setup.

To make things easier, I’ve put together a comparison table that outlines the tab management features across different browsers.

This will help you see how your browser measures up and determine which tools you can use to stay organized.

Feature	Chrome	Firefox	Edge	Brave
Tab Groups	Yes	Experimental (v133+)	Yes	Yes
Pin Tabs	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Vertical Tabs	No (Requires extension)	Yes (v136+)	Yes	Yes
Session Restore	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Built-in Tab Search	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Multi-profile Support	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Reading List	Reading List	No	Yes (Collections)	No

Tab Groups (Chrome, Edge, Safari)

Let me tell you about my absolute FAVORITE browser feature – Tab Groups! If you haven’t tried tab groups yet, you’re really missing out!

What Are Tab Groups?

Tab groups let you bundle related tabs together and collapse them out of sight with a single click!
My browser went from a mess to organized bliss practically overnight.
If your browser is Chromium-based (like Chrome or Edge) or Safari, you have access to tab groups.

Here’s how to use them:

1. Right-click on a tab
2. Select “Add tab to new group”
3. Give your group a name and pick a color
4. To add more tabs to this group, right-click and select “Add to group”
   

Tab Groups for Firefox

Firefox users, I’ve got exciting news!

Starting with Firefox 133, you can now enjoy tab groups just like Chrome and Edge users.

While it’s not enabled by default yet (Mozilla is still perfecting it), you can easily activate this feature:

1. Open new Tab
2. Type “about:config” in your address bar
3. Accept the warning that appears
4. Search for “tabs.group”
5. Toggle “browser.tabs.groups.enabled” to “true”

Once activated, you can create tab groups by right-clicking on any tab and selecting “Add Tab to New Group.”

Name your group, pick a color, and you’re set!

Add tabs to existing groups by either dragging them in or right-clicking and selecting the group.

Remove tabs from groups just as easily by dragging them out or right-clicking and choosing “remove from group.”

Just a heads-up: Since this feature is still experimental, expect some quirks and bugs (like weird behavior when pinning tabs outside groups).

If you run into issues, you can disable it by toggling the same setting back to “false” in about:config.

How I Organize My Group Tabs

I’ve created three dedicated browser windows, each with its own purpose:

My Study Window – Contains groups like “Assignments,” “Research,” and “Readings.” When I’m studying, everything I need is right there!

My Work Window – Houses groups for “Research sites,” “Projects,” and ” Ideas.”

My Personal Window – Where I keep “Shopping,” “Social Media,” “Banking,” “Leisure reading,” and “News.” All my personal browsing stays neat and tidy.

What’s great about tab groups is that you can collapse the entire group when you’re not using it, instantly decluttering your tab bar.

Remember: You can right-click on a tab group to move all tabs in that group to a new window if you need more space.

Vertical Tabs

Are you tired of squinting at microscopic tab titles when you’ve got twenty tabs open?

Vertical tabs might be your solution!

This feature moves your tabs from the top of the browser to a sidebar on the edge.

The first time I switched to vertical tabs, I couldn’t believe how much clearer everything became.

Let me share what makes vertical tabs special:

• Readable titles: Each tab gets enough horizontal space to display complete or nearly-complete page titles
• Better organization: You can see more tabs at once without them shrinking to unusable sizes
• Efficient screen usage: Maximizes your vertical screen space, which is especially valuable on widescreen monitors
• Quick access: Many implementations include search functionality to jump directly to the tab you need

To enable vertical tabs in Microsoft Edge:

1. Right-click on any empty area of the tab bar
2. Select “Turn on Vertical Tabs”

While Edge makes vertical tabs easily accessible, I was thrilled to find that Firefox has embraced this feature too.

No more third-party extensions or workarounds needed!

Firefox users rejoice! As of version 136, Firefox now includes built-in vertical tabs with a simple activation method:

1. Right-click on any empty area of the tab bar
2. Select “Turn on Vertical Tabs”

What I love about Firefox’s implementation is how thoughtfully designed it is.

You can collapse the sidebar to show only icons, move it to the right side of the screen via “Customize Sidebar,” and toggle it on/off without ever leaving your current page.

For Chrome users, you’ll need an extension like “Vertical Tabs” from the Chrome Web Store.

In my workflow, vertical tabs completely transformed how I manage research projects.

When I’m comparing multiple sources, I can actually read what’s in each tab without hovering over tiny icons.

The sidebar takes a bit of getting used to, but after a week, you’ll wonder how you ever managed without it.

Pinning Important Tabs

Have websites you visit every single day? Pin them!

Pinned tabs are a incredibly useful for organizing your most frequently used sites.

When you pin a tab, it transforms into a compact icon that stays anchored to the left side of your browser window.

This simple feature offers several significant advantages:

• Space efficiency: Pinned tabs shrink to just their favicon (website icon), freeing up valuable tab space.
• Persistence: They stick around when you restart your browser, so your essential sites are always waiting for you
• Priority placement: Pinned tabs automatically move to the far left, making them instantly accessible
• Protection: They’re harder to close accidentally, which I appreciate when I’m rapidly cleaning up tabs

To pin a tab, right-click on it and select “Pin Tab.” Simple as that.

In my personal setup, I keep Gmail, my calendar, and my team’s project tools pinned at all times.

This creates a consistency that remains stable no matter how many research rabbit holes I dive into throughout the day.

This small habit has saved me countless minutes of searching for and reopening these essential sites.

Browser Extensions That Changed My Tab Life

While built-in features are helpful, the right extensions can transform how you manage tabs. After testing dozens, these are the standouts that earned permanent spots in my browser.

Sidebery: Firefox Tab Management Solved

If you’re a Firefox user looking for the ultimate tab management solution, I cannot recommend Sidebery enough.

After switching to Firefox for its privacy features, I desperately missed having a powerful tab manager—until I found Sidebery.

This extension transformed my browsing experience so dramatically that it’s now become one of my main reasons for sticking with Firefox!

What makes Sidebery special:

• Tree-style tab management with nested hierarchies (parent/child relationships)
• Powerful vertical sidebar with customizable panels
• Tab grouping
• Visual tab thumbnails that make identification instant

The nested tab structure is a game-changer for research work.

When I click on a link from one page, the new tab appears as a “child” of the original, creating a visual hierarchy that perfectly represents my browsing journey.

This makes it incredibly easy to track how I got to a particular page and maintain context between related tabs.

What truly sets Sidebery apart is its panel system. You can create multiple panels (think of them as separate tab containers) and switch between them with a click.

Each panel can have its own tree of tabs, essentially giving you multiple browsers in one.

Sidebery also shines with its bookmark integration. You can view and manage your Firefox bookmarks directly from the Sidebery sidebar.

Unlike many tab managers that slow down your browser, Sidebery is impressively lightweight.

Even with hundreds of tabs spread across multiple panels, Firefox stays fast and responsive.

Sidebery offers the organization system you’ve been dreaming of—and it’s completely free.

OneTab: For Instant Tab Cleanup

Got a million tabs open? Click OneTab’s icon, and all your tabs convert into a single, easy-to-read list.

Just download the extension and pin it.

What OneTab Actually Does:

When you click the OneTab icon, your browser instantly frees up memory by closing your tabs while saving them as clickable links.

This process helps your PC run faster while keeping your browsing session intact.

Beyond Just Saving Tabs:

Using OneTab offers many benefits beyond basic tab management:

1. Bulk restoration: Click the “Restore all” button to reopen an entire session
2. Easy sharing: Use “Share as web page” to create a shareable URL with all your grouped tabs
3. Advanced organization options (click “More”):
   • Lock this tab group: Prevent accidental deletion of important collections
   • Star this tab group: Highlight priority groups for easy identification
   • Set to open as a browser tab group: Use Chrome’s native colored tab groups
   • Copy links to clipboard: Export multiple links for sharing elsewhere

The memory savings are impressive.

In my tests, converting 50 tabs to a OneTab list reduced RAM usage by over 2GB.

That’s enough to noticeably speed up an older PC.

Before I Go…A Few Final Tips

By now, you have plenty of tools to help you manage your tabs. But good tab management isn’t just about using the right features—it’s also about building better habits. Here are a few final tips to keep your browser under control:

1. Set a Tab Limit – Try capping open tabs at 15. If you hit the limit, close or save tabs before opening new ones.
2. Use Bookmarks – Instead of keeping tabs open, save useful pages to bookmarks or a reading list. Organize them into folders for easy access.
3. Disable “Restore Previous Session” – If your browser reopens all previous tabs at startup, consider turning it off to prevent tab overload. Use a session-saving extension instead.
4. Close Unused Tabs – If a tab has been sitting open for days, close it. Your browser history or bookmarks can help you find it later.
5. Use Read-It-Later Apps – Save articles to apps like Pocket or Instapaper instead of keeping them open in tabs.