Google is Overhauling How Tabs Work in Chrome

The next version of Google Chrome will include a new feature called tab groups that should seem suspiciously familiar. Since, you know, legacy Edge had similar functionality.

“There are two types of people in the world: tab minimalists who have just a few tabs open at a time and tab collectors who have significantly more,” Google’s Edward Jung writes. “For minimalists and collectors alike, we’re bringing a new way to organize your tabs to Chrome: tab groups. This feature is available now in Chrome Beta.”

Google says it has been testing tab groups for several months and has found that some people like to group tabs by topic, while others group by urgency, progress, or other methods. Using the feature looks easy enough: You can right-click on a tab to see options adding a tab to a group, and groups can be named and color-coded as needed.

Taking a cue from the Windows Insider program, the Chrome team will basically A/B test tab groups when the feature rolls out in the stable version of the browser next week. “Chrome’s stability and performance are important to us, so we’re releasing tab groups slowly in our upcoming version of Chrome,” Jung explains. “Tab groups will be available for Chrome on desktop across Chrome OS, Windows, Mac, and Linux.”

Of course, if you want to preview tab groups today, it’s available in Google Chrome Beta.