How to group and organize your tabs in Chrome

One of the first things anybody learns when using Google Chrome is that tabs can seemingly multiply. For many of us, opening new tabs is like breathing — it just happens, whether we’re conscious of it or not. When you open so many tabs that you can barely recognize the text next to each icon, you may wonder whether there’s a better way to organize your browser. Luckily, there is a way to group tabs in Chrome.

When you aren’t actively keeping track of your open tabs in Chrome, things can quickly get out of hand. This goes for both the desktop and mobile versions of the browser.

In 2020, a Google Chrome update added a feature known as tab groups. On the desktop, each group can have a custom name and color, and in any case you can always choose to delete tabs from the group or move them out.

How to group tabs in your Chrome browser (desktop)

There are two steps in the process: starting a tab group and then adding other tabs to that group.

Starting a new tab group in Chrome

To start a new tab group, right-click any of your open tabs and click Add tab to new group.

Type in a name for the tab group in the Name this group field, then click one of the colored circles underneath to give the group a color.

Adding tabs to your tab group

You don’t have much of a group until you add other tabs to it. You can either add a brand new tab, or add tabs that are already open.

If you want to add a brand new tab to a group, right-click on the group and click New tab in group. You’ll have to navigate to a new URL.

If you want to add tabs that are already open, right-click on a tab that you want to merge.

Hover your cursor over the option that reads Add tab to group. From the extended menu, click on the name of the tab group you want to add it to.

How to group tabs in the Chrome mobile app

Before starting, make sure Android is up-to-date, and that you’ve also updated the Google Chrome app to the latest version. We won’t cover iOS here, since it doesn’t support the same functionality.

Open the Chrome mobile app and tap the Tabs button in the top-right corner.

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

Each tab will have empty circles in the top right. Select whichever tabs you want to group by tapping the empty circles; this will highlight them and check them off.

When finished, tap Group in the top right.

A faster way to group Chrome tabs on mobile

Open Google Chrome on your phone and press the Tabs button in the top right.

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

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

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