First Look: We Tried Chrome’s Hidden "Vertical Tabs" Feature

Google Chrome’s long-awaited Vertical Tabs feature now appears in the latest Canary version for desktop. We first reported this in July based on a Chromium Gerrit change. The feature now works in an early form and gives a clear view of how Chrome plans to add sidebar-style tab management.

A new “Show tabs on side” option appears when you right-click the tab bar. This option moves the tab strip to the left sidebar and replaces the top tab layout.

Inside the vertical layout, the Tab Search button sits at the top. Tab groups and the plus button for new tabs are at the bottom. A collapse and expand control is available at the top of the sidebar. The Tab Search button, tab groups, and the new tab button all work in this early view.

When you right-click inside the vertical tab area, Chrome shows another option: “Show tabs at the top.” This option switches the browser to the horizontal tab layout. The same menu includes actions such as Close tab and Close other tabs, which confirms that Chrome gives full tab control inside the sidebar.

In our tests, we could switch between horizontal and vertical layouts without issues. The layout still feels rough for daily use, but the main structure exists.

Browsers with Vertical Tabs usually give users a simple toggle inside the right-click menu, clear tab titles in the sidebar, access to Tab Search, and the ability to open or close tabs inside the same area. Chrome now follows this approach.

Chrome already includes Tab Search, Tab Groups, and the collapse or expand control inside Vertical Tabs. These tools give users a clearer way to handle many tabs on large screens.

This is an early version of Chrome’s Vertical Tabs. The layout, options, and placement may change before Google makes the feature available for public testing.

Microsoft Edge added Vertical Tabs in 2021. Vivaldi had sidebar tabs from the start, and Brave, Firefox, and Arc now include their own versions of Vertical Tabs. Chrome users often use extensions for this layout, so a built-in version could give them a simpler way to manage many tabs.

Correction: An earlier version of this article stated that Firefox, Brave, Vivaldi, and Arc added Vertical Tabs after Microsoft Edge introduced the feature in 2021. Vivaldi, though, supported sidebar tabs before Edge. The line has been updated for accuracy.