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
| Option | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Sidebar style | In-page | In-page floating sidebar (default) or Chrome’s native side panel — set under “Sidebar style” in Options |
| Sidebar side | Right | Dock the in-page sidebar to the left or right edge of the page |
| Sidebar resting state | Full | Full stays open; Collapse shrinks to a favicon strip (hover to peek); Hide tucks off-screen (slide to edge to reveal) |
| Search bar in header | Off | Show 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?
Will my tabs sync across devices?
How do I open the sidebar?
Can I reorder tabs by dragging?
Does it work with tab groups I already have?
Related Features
Smart Tab Grouping — Auto-Group by Domain
Press Alt+G to instantly group all open tabs by domain. Auto-collapse inactive groups to keep your tab bar clean. Undo everything with Alt+Shift+G.
Tab Deduplication — No More Duplicate Tabs
Detects when you navigate to an already-open page and prompts you to switch to the existing tab instead of creating a duplicate.
Tab Search — Command Palette for Chrome
Press Alt+K for a full-page search across open tabs, bookmarks, and history. Falls through to web search if nothing matches. Arc's command palette for Chrome.
Browser Workspaces — Save and Switch Tab Sessions
Save named sets of tabs, switch between them instantly. Preserves tab groups, pinned tabs, mute states, and group colors — stored locally, no account needed.
From the Library
Chrome Vertical Tabs Missing Workspaces? 7 TESTED Extensions (2026)
Chrome 146 ships vertical tabs but skips workspaces and keyboard search. We tested 7 extensions — ranked by features, permissions, and real performance.
Workona vs SuperchargeNavigation: Which Do You Actually Need? (2026)
Workona limits workspaces on the free tier and requires an account. SuperchargeNavigation gives unlimited workspaces with 50 auto-snapshots, free, no account.