In summary:
- Google Chrome is finally introducing vertical tabs and a new reading view, bringing features that have been available in competing browsers to its platform.
- PCWorld reports that users can enable vertical tabs by right-clicking on any Chrome window and selecting ‘Show Tabs Vertically’ for better tab management.
- This update matters for Chrome’s 49.5% US market share users who want improved organization with full page titles and easier tab group management.
Vertical tabs have long been a feature among Google Chrome’s competitors in the PC browser market. Now, Chrome is finally getting them as well.
Google announced the addition of vertical tabs and a new reading view in a short blog post on Tuesday afternoon. The company didn’t name which version of Chrome would add the new vertical tabs, however, and it didn’t appear in a test version I downloaded Tuesday afternoon.
“Just right-click on any Chrome window and select ‘Show Tabs Vertically,'” Google wrote. “By moving your tabs to the side of your browser window, you can read full page titles and manage tab groups with ease — even when your tab count hits double digits.”
Google also announced a new “full page interface” for its reading mode, a feature that has graced several browsers for years.
Vertical tabs are an odd omission for Chrome, which dominates the American browser market with a market share of 49.5 percent, according to Statcounter. Vertical tabs and other groupings have been a staple of other browsers, such as Vivaldi, for almost as long as the browser has been in existence. Instead, Google has focused more on AI than on fundamental changes to the browser itself — something its rival, Microsoft Edge, has done as well.
The new vertical tabs do seem to have a bit of innovation: they can show the condensed titles of each tab, but they can also be shrunk further to simply show the icons of each tab. (Vivaldi’s side panel does something similar, but for apps.) Regardless, it’s one of those head-scratchers that makes you ask, “Chrome didn’t have vertical tabs?” Now it does, and the world is better for it.
Author: Mark Hachman, Senior Editor, PCWorld
Mark has written for PCWorld for the last decade, with 30 years of experience covering technology. He has authored over 3,500 articles for PCWorld alone, covering PC microprocessors, peripherals, and Microsoft Windows, among other topics. Mark has written for publications including PC Magazine, Byte, eWEEK, Popular Science and Electronic Buyers' News, where he shared a Jesse H. Neal Award for breaking news. He recently handed over a collection of several dozen Thunderbolt docks and USB-C hubs because his office simply has no more room.