Tab Groups in Microsoft Edge work better, thanks to vertical tabs

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Microsoft Edge is getting Tab Groups functionality just like Google Chrome and other Chromium-based browsers. Chromium developers started to add support for tab groups in May 2020, and improved it since with new features such as Tab Groups Collapse. Tab Groups are now part of Google Chrome Stable.

Microsoft enabled Tab Groups in the Canary version of its Edge browser back in December 2020. The feature needed to be enabled back then, but in recent versions, Tab Groups is enabled by default in Edge 93. The only tab groups related feature that is not yet available is the auto grouping of tabs, something which Chrome does support (the flag is there in Edge, but it does not work when enabled).

All it takes is to right-click on a tab and select the "add tab to group" option to get started. The functionality is identical to that of Google Chrome: you can name group and assign colors to them.

Groups can be collapsed to free up space on the tab bar, without losing information or tabs in the process.While the tab grouping functionality is identical to that of Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge does have the edge when it comes to tab groups, thanks to its vertical tabs option.

Edge users may use the default horizontal tabs bar to display tabs in the browser, or switch to a vertical tabs layout that displays tabs vertically; the latter works well on widescreen displays, as most websites limit the maximum width in which they are displayed.

Vertical tabs and tab groups works well together, here is why. The main advantage that you get is that it is way easier to manage tab groups and tabs. Drag and drop has more targets that you may use without having to scroll, as more tabs are displayed at the same time on the vertical tabs bar compared to the horizontal tabs bar.

Add group collapsing to the mix, and you get excellent control and manageability of tab groups in Microsoft Edge.

Closing Words

Chrome and Edge are not the only browsers that support tab grouping. Vivaldi supported tab stacking from the get-go, and the functionality that is available in Vivaldi is still better thanks to numerous improvements, such as the ability to display a second tab bar with all tabs of a stack, the ability to display all tabs of a group on a single page using tiling, and more.

Mozilla introduced support for tab groups, called Panorama, way back, but removed the feature again. Firefox users may use addons such as Tiled Tab Groups to add grouping functionality, but extensions are limited in what they can do (you won't see groups on the tab bar).

Now You: to group or not to group, that is the question.
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