If you regularly have 20, 30, or even 50 tabs open in Google Chrome, you know how quickly the tab bar becomes an unreadable mess of tiny icons. Finding the right tab turns into a frustrating game of guessing and clicking. You might accidentally close the wrong tab, lose track of important research, or waste minutes scrolling through a row of indistinguishable favicons.
Google Chrome has a built-in feature called Tab Groups that solves this problem. Tab Groups let you organise related tabs into colour-coded, labelled clusters directly in the tab bar. You can collapse entire groups to hide them from view, reopen them when needed, and visually separate different tasks so your browser stays organised.
How to Create a Tab Group
- Right-click on any open tab in the tab bar.
- Select Add tab to a new group from the context menu.
- A small coloured dot will appear to the left of the tab. Click on it to name the group (for example, “Work”, “Research”, “Shopping”) and choose a colour.
- Press Enter to confirm.
The tab will now be visually grouped with a coloured underline and a label. Any new tabs you open while browsing within this group will automatically join it.
Adding More Tabs to an Existing Group
To add another tab to a group you have already created:
- Right-click on the tab you want to add.
- Select Add tab to a group.
- Choose the name of the existing group from the list.
You can also drag and drop tabs directly into a group. Simply click and hold on a tab, then drag it into the coloured section of an existing group. This is often the fastest method when reorganising multiple tabs.
Collapsing and Expanding Groups
One of the most useful features of Tab Groups is the ability to collapse them. When you collapse a group, all the tabs inside it are hidden from the tab bar, replaced by a single compact label. This dramatically reduces visual clutter.
To collapse a group, simply click on the group name label in the tab bar. The tabs will fold up and disappear. Click the label again to expand and reveal all the tabs.
Collapsed tabs remain fully loaded in the background. They are not closed or unloaded — they are simply hidden from view. When you expand the group, every tab reappears exactly as you left it.
Choosing Effective Group Colours and Names
Chrome offers eight group colours: grey, blue, red, yellow, green, pink, purple, and cyan. Strategic colour coding makes a significant difference in usability:
- Red for urgent or high-priority tasks.
- Blue for work-related browsing.
- Green for personal browsing or shopping.
- Yellow for research or reference material.
- Purple for creative projects.
- Grey for miscellaneous tabs you want to keep but do not need immediately.
Keep group names short — one or two words is ideal. Names like “Work”, “Budget”, “Travel”, or “Project X” are far more useful than lengthy descriptions that get truncated in the tab bar.
Moving and Rearranging Tab Groups
Tab groups can be moved around the tab bar by clicking and dragging the group label. This lets you place your most important groups on the left (where they are most visible) and less critical groups further to the right.
You can also move individual tabs between groups by dragging them from one coloured section to another. To remove a tab from a group without closing it, right-click the tab and select Remove from group. The tab will return to being an ungrouped, standalone tab.
Closing and Deleting Tab Groups
To close all tabs in a group at once:
- Right-click the group label.
- Select Close group.
This closes every tab inside the group and removes the group itself. If you only want to remove the group label and colour but keep all the tabs open, right-click the group label and select Ungroup. The tabs will remain open but will no longer be grouped.
Saving Tab Groups for Later
Chrome now allows you to save tab groups so they persist even after you close and reopen the browser. When you save a group:
- Right-click the group label.
- Enable Save group (toggle it on).
Saved groups appear in Chrome’s Bookmarks bar area and in the Tab Groups section when you open a new tab. You can reopen a saved group at any time by clicking on it, even across different Chrome windows or after restarting your computer.
This is especially useful for recurring workflows. For example, if you start every work day by opening the same five tabs (email, project management tool, calendar, documentation, and chat), you can save them as a group called “Morning Startup” and open them all with a single click.
Using Tab Groups Across Multiple Windows
Tab groups are window-specific. If you have two Chrome windows open, each window has its own independent set of tab groups. You can move a tab group from one window to another by right-clicking the group label and selecting Move group to another window, or by dragging the group label to the other window.
Practical Organisation Strategies
The Project-Based Approach
Create one group per project or task. When working on a website redesign, group all the relevant tabs (design tool, client feedback, competitor examples, colour palette). When the project is finished, close the entire group at once.
The Context-Based Approach
Separate personal and professional tabs into different groups. Keep a “Work” group for email, documents, and tools. Keep a “Personal” group for shopping, social media, and entertainment. Collapse whichever context you are not currently using.
The Research Approach
When researching a specific topic, create a temporary group to collect all relevant sources. Once you have finished and taken notes, close the group. This prevents research tabs from permanently cluttering your browser.
Tab Groups and Chrome Memory Saver
Chrome’s Memory Saver feature (previously called “Tab Discarding”) works alongside Tab Groups. When you collapse a group, Chrome may eventually unload the tabs from memory to save system resources. When you expand the group again, the tabs will reload automatically. This means collapsed groups have minimal impact on your computer’s performance, even if they contain dozens of tabs.
Tab Groups are one of Chrome’s most underused productivity features. If you spend most of your day working in a browser, investing five minutes to organise your tabs into logical groups will save you significant time and frustration every day.