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BrowserOS supports vertical tabs — a side panel that lists all your open tabs along the left edge of the browser window. Instead of shrinking tab titles into a cramped horizontal strip, vertical tabs give each tab its own full-width row so you can read titles at a glance, even with dozens of tabs open.

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Why Vertical Tabs?

Modern screens are wide, not tall. A horizontal tab bar wastes vertical space you could use for content, and tabs quickly become unreadable as they shrink. Vertical tabs solve both problems:

Read every tab title

Tabs stack vertically with full-width labels, so you always know what is open — no squinting at favicons.

Handle many tabs

Open 30, 50, or 100 tabs without the strip becoming unusable. The side panel scrolls naturally.

Reclaim vertical space

The horizontal tab bar disappears, giving web pages more room on widescreen monitors.

Stay organized

Combine vertical tabs with tab groups to visually separate work, research, and personal browsing.

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Enabling Vertical Tabs

Toggle vertical tabs on or off from the Customization settings page.
1

Open Settings

Go to chrome://browseros/settings in the address bar.
2

Go to Customization

In the left sidebar, select Customization.
3

Toggle Use Vertical Tabs

Flip the Use Vertical Tabs switch to on. The browser immediately moves your tabs to a side panel.
Vertical tabs toggle in BrowserOS Customization settings
To switch back, return to the same setting and turn the toggle off. Your tabs move back to the horizontal strip instantly.

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How It Works

When vertical tabs are enabled, the tab strip relocates from the top of the window to a collapsible side panel on the left. Each tab is displayed as a row showing the page favicon and full title.
  • Click a tab row to switch to it.
  • Right-click a tab for the standard context menu (pin, mute, close, move to group).
  • Drag tabs up or down to reorder them, or drag them into and out of tab groups.
  • The panel can be collapsed to show only favicons, freeing up even more horizontal space.

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Vertical Tabs + Tab Groups

Vertical tabs pair naturally with tab groups. Groups appear as collapsible sections in the side panel, making it easy to keep projects separate and fold away tabs you are not actively using.