The Internet provides a never ending flow of information and continuously stimulates the human instinct to absorb and collect as much as possible. For most of us this is reflected in countless bookmarks and open browser tabs. While having dozens of tabs constantly open is a condition rather than an achievement, it is often necessary to work with many open tabs and switch back and forth between them. But what do you do when the amount becomes hard to manage?

Tab Expose is a Google Chrome extension that addresses the challenge of navigating multiple tabs. The add-on is inspired by the Mac OS X Expose style. It shows all open tabs with thumbnail previews in a single tab or popup. You can close tabs or switch to them via the Tab Expose window.

How To Use Tab Expose?

Once you installed Tab Expose via the Chrome Web Store, its icon will show up in the top right of the browser, next to the URL bar. Per default, it shows the number of open tabs.

Left-clicking the icon will open a popup or tab with thumbnails of all your open tabs. Click a tile to switch to the respective tab or close it via the X button in its top right corner. You can also open the Tab Expose popup or tab by using a keyboard shortcut, the default one being [CTRL] + [SHIFT] + [E].

How Does Tab Expose Behave?

The Tab Expose popup or tab will show all tabs open under a specific Chrome user, even if the tabs are distributed across different windows. Note that Tab Expose can not maximize a minimized window. However, if you select the thumbnail of a tab open in a different window in the background (not minimized), the window will come to the foreground, with the respective tab in focus.

How To Change Default Settings?

As with all Chrome add-ons, you can access Tab Expose’s options by right-clicking the add-on icon and selecting Options from the menu. Tab Expose allows you to open the selection page in a new tab rather than the default popup. You can also switch the theme from Mac to Windows. The tab count on its icon can be turned off. Finally, you can set a custom hotkey.

Conclusion

Tab Expose is a useful Chrome add-on if you frequently need to navigate between multiple browser tabs. It’s straight forward and apart form the ugly Windows theme only offers features that are absolutely necessary. One thing I found missing was the option to rearrange tabs, i.e. change their order in a given window. Also, it might be good if Tab Expose could help the user to visually distinguish between tabs open in different windows. Overall, the extension functions well and is recommended for anyone who struggles with switching between open tabs.

Additional Resources

Need more advice on how to deal with browser tabs? Look no further, we’ve got it covered!

• Hate Open Tabs? Save Webpages For Later With These 3 Lightweight Extensions [Chrome]
• How To Organize Open Tabs With Tab Sugar In Chrome And Firefox Panorama
• Tab Shutter: Save Open Tabs & Prevent Tab Clutter [Chrome]
• The 10 Best Extensions For Chrome Tab Management
• Take Control And Manage Your Tabs Automatically With Tab Wrangler [Chrome]
• Two Chrome Extensions For Working With Multiple Links & Tabs
• 3 Easy-to-Use Browser Extensions To Backup Your Open Tabs
• How To Restore Tabs In Chrome & Firefox Across Machines With TabCloud
• Seamlessly Move Your Browser Tabs Between Computers Using The Surfon Plugin

Are you addicted to keeping too many tabs open? How do you manage?