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Vertical Tabs for Chrome — Side Panel Tab Manager

Floating in-page vertical tab list, narrower than Chrome's panel. Drag-to-reorder, tab groups, compact favicon mode, auto-hide — all synced with Chrome.

Updated

Vertical tabs put your entire tab list in a floating in-page sidebar, giving you a persistent, scrollable view of every open tab, tab group, and pinned tab. Instead of squinting at compressed favicons along the top bar, you can read full tab titles and navigate your browser the way Arc and Edge have shown is genuinely better — vertically.

How It Works

When you click the SuperchargeNavigation toolbar button, the sidebar opens and displays your full tab list. On standard web pages, it appears as an in-page panel injected directly alongside the page content — floating over it rather than consuming a browser panel slot. On Chrome’s own pages (chrome://, the Web Store, the PDF viewer) where content-script injection is blocked, there is no fallback to Chrome’s native Side Panel. Instead, the extension opens or re-focuses a single helper tab at /in-page-sidebar/ and mounts the sidebar there. The panel stays open as you browse, updating in real time as tabs open, close, or change title.

Because the in-page sidebar has no minimum-width floor imposed by the browser, you can drag its edge narrower than Chrome’s native panel (which enforces a ~320 px minimum). The sidebar defaults to the right edge but can be docked left in Options. You can also resize it in three resting states: Full keeps it open at your chosen width; Collapse shrinks it to a 56 px favicon-only strip that peeks to full width when you hover; Hide tucks it off-screen and reveals it when you slide your mouse to the screen edge. Collapse and Hide are set under “Sidebar resting state” in Options and default to Full.

Tab groups appear as collapsible sections with their Chrome-assigned colors and names. Pinned tabs appear at the top of the list, separate from unpinned tabs, matching the mental model you already have from the standard tab bar.

Settings

OptionDefaultDescription
Sidebar styleIn-pageIn-page floating sidebar (default) or Chrome’s native side panel — set under “Sidebar style” in Options
Sidebar sideRightDock the in-page sidebar to the left or right edge of the page
Sidebar resting stateFullFull stays open; Collapse shrinks to a favicon strip (hover to peek); Hide tucks off-screen (slide to edge to reveal)
Search bar in headerOffShow a search bar at the top of the side panel; Alt+K opens Tab Search regardless

The panel syncs with Chrome’s built-in tab and tab group sync — no separate account or cloud service required.

When to Use This

Heavy researchers and readers accumulate dozens of tabs across multiple topics. Vertical tabs let you scan titles without hovering, spot duplicates at a glance, and drag related tabs together before grouping them.

Multi-workspace workflows benefit from seeing all tabs in context alongside Workspaces. You can drag a tab directly into a different position, then save the arrangement as a named workspace.

Anyone moving from Arc or Edge will find vertical tabs the most natural starting point. SuperchargeNavigation delivers the same persistent side-panel layout without locking you into a non-Chrome browser.

Multi-Select and Bulk Actions

Hold the standard OS modifier key and click tabs to build a selection. Bulk actions — close, move to group, pin, mute — apply to the entire selection at once. This makes cleaning up a cluttered session a matter of seconds rather than minutes.

Privacy

The vertical tab list reads your open tabs and tab groups directly from Chrome’s local tab APIs. No tab titles, URLs, or browsing activity leave your device. Everything stays in your browser’s own memory.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does vertical tabs replace Chrome's default tab bar?
No. The vertical tab list floats in an in-page sidebar alongside your existing tab bar. You can keep both or ignore the top bar — the choice is yours.
Will my tabs sync across devices?
Yes. SuperchargeNavigation uses Chrome's built-in tab and tab group sync, so your tabs and groups sync wherever you're signed into Chrome.
How do I open the sidebar?
Click the SuperchargeNavigation toolbar button. Because the extension has no popup, that button opens the sidebar directly — one click, no extra menu. On standard web pages the sidebar appears as a floating in-page panel. On Chrome's own pages (chrome://, Web Store, PDF viewer) where injection is not possible, it opens a single helper tab at superchargebrowser.com/in-page-sidebar/ and mounts the sidebar there instead.
Can I reorder tabs by dragging?
Yes. Drag any tab to a new position in the list; the change takes effect immediately with live updates as you drag.
Does it work with tab groups I already have?
Yes. All existing Chrome tab groups — including their names and colors — appear in the vertical list. You can expand or collapse groups directly from the panel.

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