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ZDNET Highlights
- Chrome has a new vertical tabs feature.
- Vertical tabs are currently only available in Chrome Canary.
- This feature frees up screen space for spreadsheets or documents.
Several months ago, reports surfaced that Google would soon roll out the long-requested feature – vertical tabs – for its Chrome browser. The time has come, and you can officially try vertical tabs on Chrome.
The move of tabs from the traditional top spot to the sidebar may seem like a small change, but the feature is a fan-favorite among browser enthusiasts and some other browsers like Edge, Vivaldi, Firefox, and Brave have had it for a while.
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One small caveat is that right now this feature is only available in Chrome Canary, which is an experimental version of Chrome that changes daily. canary is free to downloadHowever, and it works almost exactly the same as the regular version of Chrome.
It was already technically possible to have vertical tabs on Chrome, but you had to go through third-party extensions that weren’t always reliable.
How to Use Vertical Tabs on Chrome
It’s easy to try out a new feature. If you’re running the latest version of Canary, right-click on your tab strip that runs across the top of your browser window. Click “Show tabs on side” and you’ll see the sleek new vertical tab stack.
Vertical tabs work just like traditional horizontal tabs. The general consensus is that if you’re often working with a lot of tabs open (take a look at our list of the best browsers for tab management), it’s easier to see, access, and manage them if they’re laid out vertically. As a Chrome user, I’d never tried this option before, but now that I’ve seen it in action I can see its appeal. If you frequently use spreadsheets or documents, this means a little more space on your screen to see what you’re working on. This also means that if you are reading an article you have to scroll a little less.
The feature is only in Canary right now, but since it’s Google’s testing ground for new features, it probably won’t be long before it starts rolling out to the regular version of Chrome.
