Napier Lopez is an American writer. He is interested in tech, science and photography and he likes to yo yo (show all). Napier Lopez is a New York City-based writer. He is interested in all things tech-related, including science and photography, and enjoys yo-yoing in his spare time. Follow him on TwitterThere are two types of people on the internet: those who keep their browsers clean and tidy and those who drown under a sea of tiny slivers. You should really change that. I don't think I have ever seen anyone who kept their tabs clean. I don't.Yes, I have tried. Over the years, I've tried many tab grouping techniques. I've also tried horizontal double-layer tabs. I've tried many extensions that let you quickly search for tabs and manage them. Vertical tabs, which is the topic of this post, have been given a shot in several iterations.However, I have always returned to the default tab layout. I find it just as annoying to devote a few brain cells for organizing tabs into groups as it is to actually agglomerate them. Other tab layout options tend to waste too many space.Microsoft Edge then added vertical tabs.Yes, I am one of those oddos who uses Edge as their main browser. It was almost an accident that I switched from Chrome to Edge a while back. To try new features, I made Edge my default browser. Since Edge does the same thing but is a lot more efficient and has a longer battery life, I never had to change back.However, it was Edge's vertical tabs implementation that made me realize I couldn't go back. At least, not without Chrome offering something comparable.Edges vertical tabs offer all the functionality of regular tabs but take up less space. This makes it easier to navigate through your 11 thousand pages.It's easy to do. Your tabs will now be placed on the Y-axis by clicking on the button for vertical tabs in the upper left corner. They will take up most of your screen space on the left by default. However, tapping the little arrow at top of the list will reduce the size of the tabs to the width of the icons. You can hover over the icons to expand your entire list of tabs or titles.That doesn't sound all that exciting. After using the feature for several months, I realized that Microsoft had the perfect solution. I didn't have to do anything extra. This was my main issue with tab grouping. It made it much easier to sort through the mess of open websites. The latest beta of Edge gives you the ability to hide the tab title at the top of your browser window, allowing you to regain precious vertical pixels.I will summarize some of the subtle reasons why Im now a vertical tabstan.Even with a screen size of 3:2, I am more dependent on vertical space than horizontal. Having tabs to the side makes it easier for me to use modern website layouts. This way, I preserve more useful real estate.I can see all of my tab titles regardless of how many tabs I have open. There's no need to hover over each tab individually in order to see which tab it is.As they are easily identifiable, I don't often need to arrange or rearrange tabs.It is easy to see all tabs and muffle a noisy tab, even if there are many open.Edges vertical tabs are smaller than other browsers and take up very little horizontal space when they're collapsed. However, they can still be easily accessed.Multiple tabs can be closed faster and easier in one session, with fewer accidental closings.If I have only a few tabs open at a time, I find it helps to keep tab titles hidden until I need them.Chrome's vertical tab extensions are not as seamless integrated.It's strange to feel a subtle stress when my tabs shrink as I dig deeper into a topic (AKA go down the Wikipedia rabbit hole) in most browsers. Vertical tabs have this effect. Edge makes it easy to manage all the tabs I have open. Edge also automatically puts unused tabs into sleep mode.Perhaps there is a better solution. I didn't think I would stick to vertical tabs. We are here.Although I don't expect everyone to feel this way, I felt the need to share my experience with vertical tabs. Vertical tabs may be the solution to your tab-inferno.Did you know that we have a newsletter dedicated to consumer tech? It's called Plugged In, and you can sign up right here.
