Vertical tabs will appear in Google Chrome

Google is preparing to launch vertical tabs in Chrome, a feature that rivals like Microsoft Edge, Firefox, Brave, and Vivaldi have long offered. The new option has appeared in Canary, where Google tests experimental features of the browser.

In this mode, tabs are moved from the top panel to the left sidebar. To activate vertical display, you need to right-click on the classic tab bar and select “Show tabs on the side.” After switching, the tabs are built in a column to the left, and the quick search button and collapse switch appear at the top of the panel. The buttons for creating a new tab and managing groups remain at the bottom.

Since the feature is in early testing, its interface and behavior are still subject to change. You can return to the traditional tab layout through the same context menu by selecting “Show tabs on top.”

It was previously reported that Google is working on two important improvements to Chrome that will make the browser more convenient – especially for those who keep dozens of tabs open or are tired of intrusive notifications. The updates will appear in both the desktop versions of Chrome and the mobile version of Android.

Optimizing work with tabs

Previously, the Chrome browser “froze” it when switching to another tab to save resources. At the same time, the browser cleared part of the RAM (the Memory Purge on Freeze function).

However, recent tests have shown that this only slows down the reopening of tabs, since the page has to be reloaded.

Google is now completely disabling Memory Purge on Freeze by default.

• Freezed tabs will remain in memory and will be restored instantly, without a reboot.
• Chrome will be able to “hold” more tabs at the same time, without overloading the processor and RAM.
• System performance does not decrease – this is evidenced by tests on Windows, macOS and Chromebook.

This is great news for users who are used to keeping dozens of sites open – now switching between them will become noticeably faster and smoother.

Chrome will become “quieter”

The second update concerns notifications that are often annoying while browsing sites. Now Chrome will automatically disable notification permissions for sites with which the user hardly interacts.

This feature expands the Safety Check system, which already controls access to the camera, microphone and geolocation. According to Google, less than 1% of notifications receive a user’s reaction, the rest are just distracting and create noise.

After the update, the browser will:

• revoke notification permissions for inactive sites;
• notify the user;
• allow you to manually restore or disable notifications through the Safety Check section.