Google will make it easy to switch to vertical tabs in Chrome
Browser tabs have been positioned in a horizontal strip in just about every browser since they first appeared, Chrome included. There have been various attempts to disrupt this – and to cater to different tastes and needs – by introducing vertical tabs, and Google is still working on this feature.
As is so often the case, the preview builds of Chrome give a very good sign of things to come, and this is where we have already seen vertical positioning of the tab strip. While this is still very much a work in progress, details have emerged about changes that have already been made.
In the first version of vertical tab positioning, Google made users turn to a context menu to switch between horizontal and virtual. While this made a degree of sense, it was not something that was particularly user friendly, and did not sit very well in the realm of UX. And so, it is changing.
As Windows Report shares, Google is taking the sensible decision of introducing an option within Settings to make it easier to switch modes. Having all settings accessible in the same place seems entirely logical, and it is somewhat odd that this was not the case from the offset – even if you factor in the fact that this is something that is still in development.
Chrome now includes a setting called “Tab strip position” inside Appearance settings, which lets users choose whether the tab strip appears at the top or on the side.
The Tab Strip Position setting appears inside Settings > Appearance, under the “Show bookmarks bar” option. Users can choose “Top” or “Side” from the dropdown. Chrome switches to the selected layout instantly, as shown in the video.
This setting also lets users set a preferred layout as the default. For example, users who want to use Vertical Tabs for all browsing sessions can enable it here and return to the classic horizontal layout at any time. The active tab in vertical layout displays a red close icon, which does not appear in the standard horizontal view.
Does the option to move the tabs bar to the side of the screen make sense to you? If you are a Chrome user, is this an option you will be taking advantage of? And do you envision switching between horizontal and vertical positioning depending on what you’re doing? Share your thoughts below.