The Hover Card Distraction
In recent updates, Google Chrome changed how it handles browser tabs. If you move your mouse cursor over an inactive tab at the top of the screen, Chrome will instantly pop up a large “Hover Card.” Depending on your specific version and flags, this card might just show the page title and URL, or it might show a massive, memory-heavy image preview (thumbnail) of the entire webpage.
If you have dozens of tabs open, simply moving your mouse across the top of the screen triggers a chaotic flurry of massive popups that block your view of the actual webpage you are trying to read. This UI element is incredibly distracting for power users. While Chrome frequently changes how this feature is disabled, you can turn off the visual previews using Chrome Flags.
How to Disable Tab Hover Cards
You must dive into the hidden experimental flags menu to turn off these tooltips.
- Open Google Chrome on your desktop.
- Click into the URL address bar at the top of the screen, type the following exactly, and press Enter:
chrome://flags- At the top of the Flags page, you will see a “Search flags” box. Type Hover into this box.
- Look through the results for a flag named Tab Hover Cards (or “Tab Hover Card Images”).
- Click the dropdown menu next to it and change the setting from “Default” to Disabled.
- A large button will appear at the bottom of the screen saying Relaunch. Click it.
Chrome will immediately close and reopen. When it restarts, you can safely move your mouse across your tabs without triggering massive visual previews. Note: Google periodically removes flags in newer updates. If you do not see this flag, Google has unfortunately hardcoded the feature into your current browser version.