Manage tabs in Chrome

You can open multiple tabs in Chrome. You can also check and switch between all your tabs. When you open a new tab, Chrome opens a personalized New Tab page.

Some of the ways you can customize your New Tab page content are with:

  • Different themes
  • Your cart
  • Your shortcuts
Learn how to personalize your New Tab page.

Learn how to manage suggested articles.

Manage tabs in Chrome

Open a new tab
  1. On your iPhone or iPad, open Chrome Chrome.
  2. Tap More More and then New tab New tab.

Open an inactive tab

If you have tabs that haven't been used in a while, they'll move to the Inactive Tabs section.

To manage your inactive tabs:

  1. On your iPhone, open Chrome Chrome.
  2. Tap Switch Tabs Switch tabs and then Inactive Tabs
    • The Inactive Tabs section is only available if you have inactive tabs to view.
  3. Select the tab you want to open.

Tips: 

  • Inactive tabs are sorted newest to oldest.
  • Once a tab becomes active again, the active tab count will be updated.
  • You can’t reorder tabs in the inactive tab section.
  • Inactive tabs are located at the top of the Tab Switcher.
Close tabs on iPhone

Close a tab

  1. On your iPhone, open Chrome Chrome.
  2. At the bottom, tap Switch tabs Switch tabs.
  3. At the top right of the tab you want to close, tap Close Close.

Close all tabs

  1. On your iPhone, open Chrome Chrome.
  2. At the bottom, tap Switch tabs Switch tabs.
  3. At the bottom left, tap Close All.
Close tabs on iPad
  1. On your iPad, open Chrome Chrome.
  2. On any tab you want to close, in the upper right corner, tap Close Close.

Close all inactive tabs

Close inactive tabs

  1. On your iPhone, open Chrome Chrome.
  2. Tap Switch Tabs Switch tabs and then Inactive Tabs.
  3. At the bottom of your screen, tap Close All Inactive and then Close All.
    • To reopen the tabs that you’ve closed, at the bottom left, tap Undo.

Manage inactive tabs

  1. On your iPhone, open Chrome Chrome.
  2. Tap More More and then Settings .
  3. Tap Tabs and then Hide Inactive Tabs.
  4. Select the time period when you want to hide inactive tabs.
    • To turn off this feature, select Don’t Hide.
Pin a tab

You can pin your favorite sites for easy access later. To pin sites that you browse on Chrome:

  1. On your iPhone, open Chrome Chrome.
  2. Tap Switch Tabs Switch tabs.
  3. To select the tab you want to pin, press and hold on the tab.
  4. Select Pin Tab Pin.
  5. When you open the Tab Switcher, find your pinned tab at the bottom of the screen.
Tip: Once a tab is pinned, it won’t appear among selectable tabs in the Tab Switcher.

Drag to pin a tab

You can drag to pin tabs from selectable tabs in the Tab Switcher.

  1. On your iPhone, open Chrome Chrome.
  2. Tap Switch Tabs Switch tabs.
  3. Press and hold to select the tab you want to drag.
  4. Drag the tab towards the bottom of the screen.
  5. Drop the tab:
    • Next to other pinned tabs in the blue field.
    • On top of the text, “Drag to Pin Tab.”
Unpin a tab

When you unpin a tab, it won’t appear among your pinned tabs in the Tab Switcher.

  1. On your iPhone, open Chrome Chrome.
  2. Tap Switch Tabs Switch tabs.
  3. At the bottom of the screen, find the pinned tabs.
  4. Press and hold to select the tab you want to unpin.
  5. Select Unpin Tab Unpin.

Tip: Your unpinned tabs appear in the group of selectable tabs in the Tab Switcher.

Drag to unpin tabs

  1. On your iPhone, open Chrome Chrome.
  2. Tap Switch Tabs Switch tabs.
  3. Press and hold to select the tab you want to drag.
  4. Drag the tab towards the top of the screen.
  5. Drop the tab next to an existing tab.
Close pinned tabs

When you unpin a tab, it returns as a selectable tab in the Tab Switcher. If you want to remove the tab from the Tab Switcher, you can close the tab.

  1. On your iPhone, open Chrome Chrome.
  2. Tap Switch Tabs Switch tabs.
  3. At the bottom of the screen, find the currently pinned tabs.
  4. To select the tab you want to close, press and hold on the tab.
  5. Select Close Tab Close.
Switch tabs on iPhone
  1. On your iPhone, open Chrome Chrome.
  2. At the bottom, tap Switch tabs Switch tabs.
  3. Tap the tab you want to switch to.
Switch tabs on iPad
  1. On your iPad, open Chrome Chrome.
  2. Tap the tab you want to switch to.

You can also: 

  • Swipe left or right at the top to switch tabs. 
  • Select the Tab switcher Switch tabs to find all tabs and switch between them.

Reorder tabs

  1. On your iPad, open Chrome Chrome.
  2. Touch and hold the tab you want to move.
  3. Drag the tab to a different position.
Search open tabs
You can search for a keyword in your open tabs.
  1. On your iPhone or iPad, open Chrome Chrome.
  2. At the bottom, tap Switch tabs Switch tabs.
  3. At the top left, tap Search Search.
  4. To find the tab you want, enter related keywords.
Share & save tabs in Chrome
When you open one or more tabs, you can share, bookmark, or add it to your reading list.
  1.  On your iPhone or iPad, open Chrome Chrome.
  2. At the bottom of the screen, tap Switch tabs Switch tabs.
  3. To find the menu, press and hold the tab you want to use. 
  4. In the menu, tap your preferred option.
    • Add to bookmarks Bookmark this page.
    • Add to reading lists Reading list.
    • Share tab Share.
    • Close tab Close.
Tip: To move a tab, tap and drag it.
Drag URLs across apps
  1. On your iPad, open Chrome Chrome.
  2. At the bottom, tap Switch tabs Switch tabs.
  3. Open another app in Split View.
    • To drag a tab’s URL to another app: Touch and hold a tab, then drag it to another app. When you let go, the URL is pasted into the other app.
    • To open a URL from another app in Chrome: Touch and hold the URL in the other app, then drag it to the Chrome window. When you let go, a new tab is created in Chrome.
Reload tabs on iPhone
  1. On your iPhone, open Chrome Chrome.
  2. Tap More More and then Reload Reload.
Reload tabs on iPad
  1. On your iPad, open Chrome Chrome.
  2. At the top left, tap Reload Reload.

Use windows in Chrome on iPad

Open new windows
  1. On your iPad, open Chrome Chrome.
  2. Select More More and then New Window New window.
    • To open a link in a new window: Touch and hold the link.
    • To move windows around: Slide the divider between windows to the left or right.
Show or close all windows
  1. On your iPad, touch and hold Chrome Chrome.
  2. Select Show All Windows.
  3. To close each window, touch the window and swipe up.

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