How to Search Open and Recently Closed Tabs in Microsoft Edge

When conducting extensive web research, working with cloud services, or managing multiple client accounts, modern browsing sessions can easily result in dozens of open tabs spread across multiple windows. When horizontal tab labels compress into tiny icons, locating a specific document or webpage becomes tedious and time-consuming. In Microsoft Edge, you do not need to manually click through dozens of tabs. Using the built-in Search Tabs tool, you can instantly search through all currently active tabs and recently closed sessions using fuzzy keyword matching.

Why Use Search Tabs in Microsoft Edge?

The Search Tabs menu provides significant multitasking advantages:

• Cross-Window Searching: Queries all active tabs across every open Microsoft Edge window simultaneously, not just the currently focused window.
• Recently Closed Recovery: Includes a dedicated tab history section that lets you restore recently closed tabs or entire window groups with a single click.
• Audio Indicators: Highlights which specific tab is actively playing audio or video so you can jump to it or mute it immediately.
• Keyboard Navigation: Open, search, navigate, and switch tabs entirely using keyboard shortcuts without touching your mouse.

How to Open Search Tabs in Microsoft Edge

Microsoft Edge provides both mouse and keyboard shortcuts to trigger the Search Tabs overlay:

1. Keyboard Shortcut (Fastest): Press Ctrl + Shift + A (or Cmd + Shift + A on macOS). A search box immediately pops open in the upper corner of your browser.
2. Via the Tab Actions Menu: In the top-left corner of the browser window (to the left of your first tab), click the Tab actions menu icon (represented by an open tab with an arrow, or vertical tab switcher), and select Search tabs.

How to Search and Switch Between Active Tabs

Once the Search Tabs overlay is open:

1. Type any keyword matching the webpage title, domain name, or URL path into the search input field.
2. As you type, Edge dynamically filters your open tabs in real time.
3. Use the Up and Down arrow keys on your keyboard to navigate through the matching results.
4. Press Enter (or click the result with your mouse). Edge immediately switches to that tab and brings its parent window to the foreground.

How to Close Open Tabs Directly from the Search Menu

If you notice redundant or duplicate tabs while searching, you can clean them up without switching windows. Hover your cursor over any matching tab in the search results list, and click the Close (X) button on the right side. The tab closes immediately in the background.

How to Search and Restore Recently Closed Tabs

If you accidentally closed a webpage or need to retrieve a tab from earlier in your session:

1. Open the Search Tabs menu (Ctrl + Shift + A).
2. Look at the lower section of the popup under the heading Recently closed.
3. Scroll through the list of closed tabs and multi-tab groups.
4. Click on any entry to reopen it instantly in your current window.

You can also use the classic shortcut Ctrl + Shift + T to restore recently closed tabs in reverse chronological order.

Using Search Tabs with Vertical Tabs

If you prefer using Microsoft Edge’s vertical tabs layout (enabled via Tab actions menu > Turn on vertical tabs), the Search Tabs feature integrates natively. You can dock the tab search at the top of your vertical sidebar, giving you instant access to open tab indexing while preserving maximum horizontal screen real estate for wide web applications and spreadsheets.