I admit it. I have a browser tab problem. As I write this, my current count is 56 open tabs…and that’s not counting those in other browsers I use to separate work and social media monitoring.

Switching between tabs was inconvenient. But I recently woke up to a tiny but very handy feature: a drop-down list of all your open tabs. Page names are also displayed. You can quickly scroll with your mouse and find what you are looking for.

To access this list, head to the top right corner of a Chrome window. Look for a small open arrow pointing down, just to the left of the minimize button. Click on it to see the list of your tabs (those currently active as well as those recently closed). There is also a search function to speed up your hunt.

Using this dropdown is much faster than trying to select a tab from an overwritten list.

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Other browsers have similar functionality – Firefox and Opera are probably the closest. Firefox also has a small open arrow pointing down in the upper right corner of the window. However, it only appears when all your active tabs exceed the number that can be displayed at the same time. (Bonus tip: When you have too many tabs to see them all at once, you can hover your mouse over them, then use your scroll wheel to scroll back and forth.)

Opera fans should look for a magnifying glass icon (rather than an open arrow) next to the minimize button. A large, easily readable screen will appear that allows you to find and browse your active tabs, as well as open recently closed tabs.

Edge is more esoteric. For a Chrome-like experience, you have two options. The first is to change your layout to vertical tabs, which will run down the left side of your window. When you hover your mouse over the tabs, a list with all their names will appear. If you have multiple tabs open, you can then scroll through them with your mouse. The alternative is to go to Edge’s Settings menu and then enable Show tab actions menu. (Type that setting name in the search bar to bring it up quickly.) A new rectangular icon will appear on the far left of your window. Click it to find your active tabs or reopen recently closed ones. You will need to combine these two options to achieve an effect similar to Chrome, Firefox or Opera.

Choosing to show the tab actions menu causes a small icon to appear at the start of your open tabs. (Shown here with vertical tabs.)

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Microsoft is probably betting that most people leave Edge’s multitasking enabled. It lets you switch between open tabs by pressing ALT+TAB on your keyboard. But if you’re like me, you immediately turned it off in Windows 10 or 11 settings, because having only a few recent tabs in the mix of your open windows isn’t helpful, and seeing all tabs is… well… a hot mess.