How to move multiple tabs in your web browser of choice

Martin Brinkmann
Jan 27, 2014
Internet
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5

You can move tabs around in your web browser of choice easily. Just use drag and drop to move it to another location on the tab bar, or outside of the current browser window to create a new instance of the browser.

But once you want to move more than one tab, things get a bit blurry. Why? Because there is no visual aid that helps you do so.

While you can move each tab individually to another location or browser window, it is not the best of options if you ask me.

This guide looks at how you can move multiple tabs in Firefox and Google Chrome. Why only those two browsers and not Internet Explorer or Opera? Because there does not seem to be a way to move more than one tab at the same time in those browsers.

If you know a way, let me know.

Move tabs in Google Chrome

chrome move tabs

Google Chrome seems to be the only browser that comes with this functionality build in. It uses the same shortcuts that you can use in Windows Explorer to select multiple files.

  • Press Ctrl and hold it down
  • Select all the tabs that you want to move with the left mouse button
  • Release Ctrl and move the tabs to another location while holding down the left mouse button to do so.

There is only a light indicator that multiple tabs have been selected, which can be easily overlooked, especially if you try it out for the first time. You can also use Shift instead of Ctrl to select a range of tabs automatically instead.

Move tabs in Firefox

multiple-tab-handler

Firefox users can install an add-on for the browser to add multi-tab operations to it. The Multiple Tab Handler extension for the browser adds that functionality, and a lot more to it.

It enables the functionality that Chrome features natively to Firefox. Hold down the Ctrl-key to select individual tabs that you want to move at the same time, or the Shift-key to select a range of tabs instead.

Both of these options, and many other, can be modified in the preferences that the extension offer.

The Firefox add-on visualizes the selected tabs, which makes it easier to use than the Chrome solution, even though you will notice the highlighting of selected tabs in the Google browser as well once you get used to the color.

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Comments

  1. Anon said on November 14, 2016 at 12:40 pm
    Reply

    If you do not know how to, in IE or Opera, then why this misleading title?

  2. Jon said on May 25, 2015 at 12:08 pm
    Reply

    Do you know how to do it on a touch screen? the on-screen keyboard’s ctrl-click or shift-click don’t work in chrome or firefox. When I attach a keyboard to my computer, it works. multiple touching doesn’t work either. using windows 8.1.

  3. Dwight Stegall said on January 27, 2014 at 8:17 pm
    Reply

    Just a thought…maybe this will cause problems in Firefox if you have Tab Mix Plus installed and have it set to Freeze Tab when holding down the CTRL key. Worth checking out anyway.

  4. Joel said on January 27, 2014 at 8:00 pm
    Reply

    Thank you!!

  5. Ray said on January 27, 2014 at 7:29 pm
    Reply

    This actually does not work in Google Chrome for OSX. I’ve been wishing that some awesome developer out there would fix it for about a year now.

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