Google just gave Chrome users vertical tabs and a smarter reading mode — and it only took a decade
If you have ever squinted at a row of tiny, favicon-only tabs and thought there has to be a better way — Google has finally heard you. On Tuesday, the company announced two new productivity features rolling out to Chrome users— vertical tabs and a revamped full-page reading mode. It is a quiet but meaningful upgrade for anyone who lives inside a browser for most of the day.
For years, tab chaos has been one of the most universally mocked aspects of modern browsing. Power users, researchers, writers, and students have long relied on third-party extensions to do what Chrome simply would not — organize open tabs in a way that actually makes sense. That era may now be coming to an end.
What Vertical Tabs Actually Do
The concept is straightforward. Instead of cramming tabs into a shrinking horizontal bar at the top of the browser window — where page titles eventually disappear entirely — vertical tabs move everything to the side panel, stacking them in a scrollable list. Each tab displays its full title alongside its favicon, making it far easier to find what you need without hovering over every single one.
Enabling the feature requires no settings deep dive. Simply right-click anywhere on a Chrome window and select Show Tabs Vertically. That is it. Chrome will remember the preference until the user decides to switch back. The vertical layout supports tab groups just as the horizontal bar does, meaning existing workflows carry over without disruption.
Here is what the vertical tab panel brings to everyday browsing
- Full page titles visible at a glance — no more icon-only tabs
- Scrollable tab list that scales with any number of open pages
- Full compatibility with existing Chrome tab groups
- Persistent preference — set it once and Chrome keeps it that way
- No hard limit on the number of tabs, beyond what the user’s hardware can handle
The feature is especially useful for anyone who routinely opens multiple tabs from the same website — a situation where favicons become completely useless for navigation. With vertical tabs, the distinction is immediate and readable.
Reading Mode Gets a Full-Page Upgrade
Chrome’s reading mode has existed in some form for a while, but its previous implementation split the screen between a stripped-down text view and the full original webpage — an awkward middle ground that defeated the purpose of focused reading. The new version fixes this entirely.
Activating the updated reading mode now transforms the entire browser window into a clean, distraction-free interface. Ads, autoplay videos, newsletter popups, subscription banners — all of it disappears. What remains is the text and relevant links, presented in a calm, readable layout. To access it, right-click any webpage and select Open in Reading Mode.
The timing is pointed. Web pages — particularly those belonging to news outlets — have grown increasingly cluttered as publishers chase revenue through aggressive advertising. Chrome‘s new immersive reading experience arrives as a direct response to that trend, giving readers a cleaner path to content without leaving the browser or installing anything extra.
Chrome Plays Catch-Up — and Means It This Time
Vertical tabs are not a new idea. Microsoft Edge has offered them for years, and the now-discontinued Arc browser built much of its identity around panel-based browsing. Chrome experimented with a version of side tabs over a decade ago, but the feature never made it past testing. What is different now is the commitment — this is a stable, default-accessible release, not a hidden flag buried in experimental settings.
The move also puts pressure on the extension ecosystem. Tools like OneTab, Toby, and Workona have thrived precisely because Google Chrome’s native tab management has been so thin. With vertical tabs and improved reading mode now built in, some of those extensions face a narrowing value proposition — at least for casual users. Where extensions will continue to shine is in areas Chrome still does not address natively, such as cross-device session export, full tab group backup, and granular auto-save rules.
How to Turn It On Right Now
Both features are available in the latest version of Chrome today. Getting started takes seconds
- Update Chrome by going to the menu, selecting Help, then About Google Chrom`e
- Once updated, right-click any Chrome window and select Show Tabs Vertically to enable the side panel
- To activate reading mode, right-click any webpage and choose Open in Reading Mode
- Both settings can be reversed at any time through the same right-click menu
Google Chrome remains the world’s most widely used browser by a significant margin, which means these two features will land in the hands of more people than any competing browser update — regardless of how long rivals have had similar tools in place.
For the everyday user drowning in open tabs, the upgrade is long overdue. But it is here now — and it works exactly the way it should have all along.