Google Chrome browser gets multitasking mode

Google is developing a new Split Tabs feature that will allow Chrome users to work with split tabs similar to Split Screen in Microsoft Edge and Vivaldi. This feature is currently being tested in Chrome Canary and allows you to place tabs next to each other via the context menu by selecting the Show side by side option.

The Split Tabs feature is designed to make it easy to compare the contents of two tabs. To activate it, you need to open several tabs, right-click on one of them and select Show side by side. After that, the pages will be located on both sides of the screen with a dividing line. You can exit the mode by calling the context menu again and selecting Exit side-by-side.

The new feature supports working with group tabs. A Split Screen button similar to the one used in Edge will appear in the Chrome interface, but at the moment it is not active.

To enable Split Tabs in Chrome Canary, you need to:

1. Close the browser if it is running.
2. Open the properties of the Chrome Canary shortcut.
3. In the Target field, add a space and the line: –enable-features=SideBySide.
4. Apply the changes and launch the browser through the modified shortcut.

Google is already replacing the name of the function in the code with Side by Side Split Tabs, so the final name may change. Currently, the function is in early testing, is not available via chrome://flags and may work unstable.

Previously, similar capabilities appeared in the Edge and Vivaldi browsers. In Edge, the active tab is displayed on the left, and on the right is a list of open or recently viewed pages. In Chrome, you can only split two tabs without selecting from the list.

Brave recently added a Split View feature, similar to Split Tabs. Previously, Chrome users had to use third-party extensions or Windows/macOS system features to split windows. Now the browser will get a built-in solution for multitasking.

In future versions of Chrome Canary, Split Tabs is expected to be available for testing via chrome://flags.