Google has begun to activate the Vertical tabs in Chrome for desktopThis feature, which had been on many users' wish lists for years and until now could only be enjoyed through extensions, experimental versions, or alternative browsers, is accompanied by an improved reading mode designed to make it easier to consult long articles and documents without so much visual clutter.
This move finally puts Chrome in the same league as competitors like microsoftedge, FirefoxVivaldi or Bravewhich have offered vertical views for some time. Although the idea isn't new, the fact that the most widely used browser in Europe and Spain is adopting it natively could mark a turning point in how we organize our daily work on the web.
What are Chrome's vertical tabs and why are they arriving now?
The new vertical tabs relocate the classic horizontal row of tabs that appears at the top of the browser and move it to a sidebar located, by default, on the left side of the windowInstead of seeing a series of increasingly compressed tabs, with truncated titles and only favicons, the user now has a vertical list where the titles are more clearly read.
Interestingly, This is not the first time Google has experimented with this ideaOver a decade ago, the Chrome design team tested a similar system, but the project didn't make it past the testing phase. At the time, the company argued that tabs should be at the top and function almost like the title bar of each window, reinforcing the feeling that each tab was a separate application.
For years, this vision led Google to resist officially integrating vertical tabs, relegating the feature to third-party extensions or the Canary version, intended for advanced users. Meanwhile, the competition was paving the way: Edge added vertical tabs in 2021Firefox did it more recently, and browsers like Vivaldi, Brave, or Arc made that arrangement a central part of their offering.
That market pressure, coupled with increasingly multitasking browsing, has ultimately pushed Google to to change their strategyNow, vertical tabs are no longer an experiment but a stable option available to any user of the desktop version of Chrome, in a phased rollout affecting all markets.
How to enable vertical tabs in Google Chrome
Activating this new view is very simple once it's available in your browser. Simply right-click on any Chrome tab and select the "Show tabs vertically" option. Immediately, all tabs will move to the left side, occupying a vertical bar that you can manage as you wish.
Once activated, the vertical tabs are set as default settings until the user decides to revert to the classic design. The change applies to the current window, and you can still open new tabs, pin them, group them, or close them from the same context menu you're already familiar with, only now in a vertical format.
If the option doesn't appear yet—which is quite likely in the first few days of rollout in Spain and the rest of Europe—you can use the advanced settings. By entering chrome://flags/#vertical-tabs The address bar leads to the experimental features page; there you can change the status of the corresponding entry to "Enabled" and restart the browser to force its availability.
It should be noted that Google is rolling out this feature gradually. On the desktop version (Windows, macOS, Linux, and ChromeOS), it may take hours or even several days to reach all users. This type of staggered rollout is standard practice for the company, allowing them to detect potential problems before activating the new features on a large scale.
How to use them in everyday life: side panel, drag and drop, and groups
Once activated, the tabs are displayed in a left sidebar where each entry includes the favicon and full title of the page. From there, the operation is very similar to the classic horizontal view: simply click to change tabs or press the close button when you want to discard it.
The sidebar is fully interactive. The user can drag and drop any tab To change their order within the list, which is especially useful when working with many sites open simultaneously and you want to place the most important ones at the top. You can also continue using tab groups, which are integrated into the vertical view, displaying their associated pages in a more organized way.
Another practical aspect is the possibility of resize the side panelBy hovering the pointer over the border separating the tab bar from the main content, you can drag to increase or decrease the panel's width. This allows you to find a balance between the readability of the headings and the available space for the page you are viewing.
When even more space is needed, Chrome includes a button at the top of the bar that allows curl your eyelashes until they are barely visibleNormally limited to icons, this mode frees up a larger area for web content, which can be useful on small or laptop screens, while still allowing you to quickly switch tabs.
Returning to the traditional layout is just as easy as the initial change. Simply right-click on any tab and select "Tabs to top" to revert to the usual horizontal row. Chrome thus proposes a fairly flexible system, in which the user decides which view best suits each moment without having to complicate things with advanced settings.
Real advantages for those who open many tabs
The main target audience for this new feature is those who tend to accumulate a large number of open tabs: users who work with several online tools at the same time, students, journalists, technical profiles or professionals who consult documentation and control panels in parallel. With the traditional horizontal bar, dozens of tabs end up reduced to small, unreadable blocks.where the site icon is barely distinguishable.
The vertical view largely solves that problem, since It allows you to display many more tabs without compressing your information as much.With more vertical space available, page titles remain visible for longer, making it easier to quickly identify what you're looking for. This reduces both the time wasted locating the right tab and the stress of dealing with a cluttered interface.
Another advantage is seen when vertical tabs are combined with the Chrome tab groupsIn the horizontal layout, grouping several tabs took up a significant portion of the top of the window, and with multiple active groups, the feeling of clutter intensified. In contrast, in the vertical format, groups can be expanded without putting so much strain on the space, displaying related pages in a relatively organized way.
Furthermore, this view fits better with the current web usage pattern, very oriented towards vertical scrollingAs more websites adopt long, scrollable layouts, freeing up horizontal space can be key, especially on laptops and monitors with low resolutions. Relocating tabs to the side and leaving the top area clearer makes reading and content consumption more comfortable.
That doesn't mean the solution is perfect. On devices with smaller screens, for example, an overly wide sidebar can make some websites feel cramped. Similarly, Those who browse with only a few tabs open may not perceive such a clear benefit.Ultimately, it's just another option to adapt Chrome to different usage styles, not a requirement for all users.
Comparison with Edge, Firefox, Vivaldi and other browsers
The arrival of vertical tabs in Chrome didn't happen in a vacuum. For years, Microsoft Edge has made this feature one of its main selling points., with a highly polished implementation that includes a tree view, better integration with workspaces, and preview options when hovering over each element.
In Edge, for example, it's possible to see the hierarchy of related tabs at a glance, collapse entire branches, and manage different workspaces in a fairly advanced way. Firefox, for its part, has been relying on extensions like Tree Style Tab to offer a similar experience to those who need it, while Vivaldi has opted for a highly customizable system where tabs can be stacked, displayed both vertically and horizontally, and adapted to the user's taste.
In light of all this, Google's initial proposal is noticeably more soberChrome's sidebar is currently limited to listing open tabs with a minimalist design, lacking advanced tree views or detailed previews. The focus seems to be on providing a simple and stable solution rather than offering a wide range of options.
That doesn't change the fact that for a large portion of users, the novelty is more than enough. Those who don't need complex configurations usually appreciate it. clear interfaces without too many adjustmentsIn that sense, Chrome's moderate approach may be a better fit for the general public, although it leaves room for improvement if the company decides to catch up with the more advanced offerings of the competition.
In any case, the general feeling in the industry is that Chrome It's late to a trend that others have been exploiting for yearsUntil now, some of the most demanding users had opted to migrate to Edge, Vivaldi, or productivity-focused browsers precisely because of these features. Google's native adoption of them doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it does solidify the vertical tab model as a de facto standard in modern browsing.
Impact on performance, tab limit, and user experience
One of the recurring issues surrounding Chrome is its resource consumption. The company itself acknowledges that the browser is especially demanding on RAM memoryThis becomes noticeable when managing dozens of tabs simultaneously. The arrival of vertical tabs doesn't fundamentally change this behavior, but it does help manage the situation better when the screen becomes full.
Google indicates that There is no specific limit on the number of tabs. These windows can be opened in portrait mode, regardless of the hardware limitations of each device. In practice, the more windows that are open, the greater the load on memory and processor, regardless of whether the view is horizontal or vertical.
The main advantage of the new interface is that, even with many tabs, The visual organization becomes less chaoticWhere titles previously disappeared entirely, now at least a more readable list is maintained, making the management of a large volume of pages much easier. It also reduces the risk of opening the same website multiple times simply because the original tab cannot be located.
In terms of pure performance, the minimalist approach helps prevent the sidebar from adding significant overhead. There are no complex animations or overly cluttered views, which is a welcome feature on less powerful machines. The real cost is still in the content of each tabespecially on sites with a lot of JavaScript, video, or dynamic elements.
For those who need to get the most out of their machine, it is still advisable to combine this new feature with other well-known resources: periodically closing unused tabs, using session managers, extensions that suspend inactive tabs, or simply a critical review of which pages need to be open all day.
A full-page reading mode for better concentration
The other big new feature that comes with vertical eyelashes is a revamped and more immersive reading modeChrome already had a similar feature, but its implementation left much to be desired: the content was displayed in a narrow sidebar, sharing space with the original page, which forced users to constantly adjust the width to achieve a reasonably comfortable reading experience.
With the current update, reading mode now uses a full page interfaceBy activating the "Open in reading mode" option from the context menu (right-click on the page), the browser transforms the site into a simplified version where ads, side menus, floating bars, and other secondary visual elements disappear.
This view focuses almost entirely on the text, which is especially useful for reading lengthy articles, reports, or documentation without distractions. The user can also adjust parameters such as font size, background color, or spacing to tailor the experience to your preferences or accessibility needs.
In some cases, Chrome also offers the possibility of listen to the content read aloudThis option can be very useful for people with visual impairments, for reviewing their own texts, or for continuing to read while performing another task. This combination of visual and auditory reading fits in with more intensive use of the browser as a work and study tool.
However, as with other browsers that offer similar features, Not all pages adapt perfectly.On highly complex sites or those with a lot of interactive content, some of the structure or useful elements may be lost in the simplification process. Even so, in most news outlets and websites, the result is usually clear and user-friendly enough.
Global deployment and availability in Europe and Spain
Both vertical tabs and the new reading mode are being gradually implementing it in the desktop version of ChromeGoogle has confirmed a global rollout, which includes Europe and, of course, Spain, although not all users will see the new features active at the same time.
Initially, the features appeared in trial versions such as Beta and Canarywhere they could also be activated using experimental flags. With the current update, the company has begun rolling them out to the stable version, but the process may take several days from the date of the official announcement.
To check if they are already available, simply Update Chrome to the latest version Then, test by right-clicking on the tab bar or the page you're visiting. If the options "Show tabs vertically" or "Open in reading mode" appear, it means the feature has already been implemented on that computer.
If that's not the case, there's still the option of using flags: introduce chrome://flags/#vertical-tabs Or, searching for "Reading mode" on that same experiments page can serve as a shortcut while the update is rolling out. In any case, Google's plan is for both new features to be permanently integrated, without needing to resort to these advanced settings in the medium term.
For now, the new developments focus on Chrome for desktopThere are no specific announcements about Android or iOS in this context, although it wouldn't be surprising if some of these changes, especially those related to reading mode, find their way to the mobile versions in future updates, adapted, of course, to the particularities of touch screens.
Google's move with vertical tabs and the new reading mode fits into a clear market trend: Browsers no longer compete solely on speed or compatibilitybut also how they help maintain order, focus, and productivity in an increasingly digital work environment. Although Chrome is arriving late compared to several rivals, its massive adoption in Spain and the rest of Europe means that these changes, however small they may seem, can have a significant impact on the daily routine of millions of people who live with their browser open all day.