Open tabs vs. bookmarks: keep them on separate screens

Open tabs are “what I am working on now”; bookmarks are “what I kept for later”. When both sit in one long list, it is easy to lose track of which is which. Chrome keeps them in different places: tab search (Ctrl+Shift+A) for open tabs, and the bookmarks side panel or Bookmark Manager for saved pages. In LB TAB Layers 2.9.0 the view bar gives each its own full-height screen in the same panel: Tabs for open tabs you have not saved yet, and Bookmarks for your saved groups. Prefer to see both at once? Choose Combined. All of this is free.

Picture a list where some items are open pages and some are saved links. Before you close anything, you have to work out which kind it is and whether closing it loses something. Do that fifty times a day and it adds up, even if each decision takes a second.

Keeping the two apart removes that question. On one screen, everything is open. On the other, everything is saved.

How Chrome separates them

This separation is clear, but the two live in different places, and moving tabs from “open” to “saved” means picking a folder in the star dialog page by page, or bookmarking a whole window at once.

The Split Layout: one screen each

LB TAB Layers 2.9.0 adds a view bar above your group list with four buttons. Tabs, Bookmarks and Notes make up the Split Layout, one list per screen; Combined shows both lists together:

The view bar appears while the mode at the top of the panel is Tabs (the first of Tabs, Clean, Shots, AI and DB). Note that the view bar’s Tabs button is a different control from that mode button with the same name.

On the Tabs screen, the bar with Solo Tabs, Today’s History and Notes also holds the Solo Tabs tools on its right: Group all into a new group (a folder-plus icon) and the More actions menu (⋯) with Auto Group by Domain and Close all tabs except active.

Move a tab from Tabs to Bookmarks

Saving a tab puts it in a group as a Chrome bookmark. The tab stays open, but it leaves the Solo Tabs list because it is now saved, so the Tabs badge counts down as you go.

Drag it onto the Bookmarks button

1. On the Tabs screen, start dragging a tab.
2. Hold it over the Bookmarks button. The button lights up, and after a moment the Bookmarks screen opens.
3. Keep holding and drop the tab on a group.

Dropping the tab on the button itself just switches screens; the save happens when you drop it on a group. Rows in Today’s History can be dragged the same way.

Use the Save to Folder button

1. Hover over a tab. A folder-plus icon, Save to Folder, appears on the right.
2. Click it. A small menu offers Save to Folder and Close Tab.
3. Click Save to Folder and pick a group from the list (subgroups are indented). You will see “Saved to folder ✓”.

Right-clicking a tab row opens the same menu. To save every Solo Tab at once, use Group all into a new group; see how to save all open tabs.

When Combined is the better choice

Splitting the lists suits focused work. Seeing both at once suits sorting sessions, when you are moving lots of tabs into groups. In Combined, you drag tabs from the bottom straight into a group on top. The resize handle between the two areas and the collapse button are available in this layout; see panel layout for how they work.

Combined is also handy with notes: groups on top, a checklist in the Notes tab below.

Switch and arrange the bar

• Click a button to switch. Your choice is remembered next time you open the panel.
• Drag the buttons left or right to reorder them (“Click to switch view · Drag to reorder”). Put the one you use most first.
• The button at the left end of the icon row under the mode bar also toggles between Split and Combined.
• In Settings → Display & Theme → Display Elements → Screen Layout, choose Split (Tabs / Bookmarks) or Combined (Top & Bottom).
• In the Split Layout, New Group takes you to the Bookmarks screen automatically.

If you used LB TAB Layers before version 2.9.0, you are still in the Combined Layout, and a banner offers Try Split View. New installs start on the Tabs screen of the Split Layout. The Split Layout is about how the panel is arranged; it is different from viewing two web pages side by side.

A simple daily routine

1. Morning: on the Bookmarks screen, press ▶ on the group for today’s project to open its tabs.
2. During the day: glance at the Tabs badge. It tells you how many open tabs are not saved anywhere yet.
3. End of the day: on the Tabs screen, save what you want to keep, then close the rest. On the Bookmarks screen, press ■ on a group to close its tabs; they stay saved for tomorrow.

Prefer a list on a second monitor? The same view bar works in a standalone window.

Chrome’s official help

• Manage tabs in Chrome — Google Chrome Help
• Create, find and edit bookmarks in Chrome — Google Chrome Help
• Manage Chrome side panel — Google Chrome Help

Frequently asked questions

Q. How can I see open tabs and bookmarks separately in Chrome?

In Chrome, use tab search (Ctrl+Shift+A) for open tabs and the Bookmark Manager (Ctrl+Shift+O) or the bookmarks side panel for saved pages. In LB TAB Layers, the view bar gives each a full-height screen in the side panel: Tabs for open tabs that are not saved yet, Bookmarks for your saved groups.

Q. Can I see both at the same time?

Yes. Press Combined in the view bar to see your groups on top and your Solo Tabs below. The resize handle and collapse button work in this layout.

Q. Does saving a tab close it?

No. The tab stays open, moves out of the Solo Tabs list and is saved in the group as a Chrome bookmark. Press ■ on the group when you want to close its tabs; they stay saved.

Q. Is the Split Layout free?

Yes. The view bar, both layouts and the Save to Folder button are free. Today’s History, one of the tabs at the bottom of the Tabs screen, is a PRO feature, available to everyone during the 3-month free trial.

▶ See it in action

Managing bookmarks and tabs together in the sidebar. (The video shows the Japanese UI.)