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Close the tabs
Seriously though, whenever you feel like it’s getting out of control just start closing them.
If you think you might need the page later (you probably won’t) just bookmark it. I use “Reading List” in Safari which means I just need to hit a button and it’s saved. Then I can close the tab and always come back to it later.
Also keep in mind that you should be able to find the page again using history search.
If you’re concerned you might forget about the page, ask yourself if it’s truly important? Time is limited. You probably don’t have time to visit those 100 pages in the future. New tasks and tabs will crop up. If it’s important you will remember.
If you absolutely must, save the URL somewhere in your todo system and close the tab.
Don’t use browser tabs as a todo list. Unless you want to. In which case having 100 open tabs should be fine and not something to worry about.
Thanks Marc! I like your philosophy about this, this is very inspiring :-D
Do or read it now or never.
I did not know about Reading List. I will use it as I like to read articles later.
Second this!
It’s more of an awareness instead of an organizational problem.
When you feel overwhelmed with something (not only browser tabs), take a step back and question whether or not what you’re thinking is essential or valuable.
Most of the time it’s not.
That’s how I keep my tabs just enough.
Third this! 😄
I always open a bunch of tabs, the Cmd+T shortcut feels so natural. After a while, I just close them all when no longer needed. Nothing to worry about, and browser history is always there to "hold your back", if you ever need what you've browsed before.
I find it comfortable to close the tabs by using "Scroll wheel click" or "Cmd+W"
youtu.be/EW5fE_JjMig
I group my tabs by activity with a Firefox extension named Simple Tab Groups I think, I'm away from my computer right now so I can't check.
I find it easier to organize myself and focus on one thing at a time. Now I only have between 3 and 20 tabs open at once and when I'm done with something I delete the tab group and forget about it.
On Chrome, Tab Groups help.
I spend some time once a while cleaning by tabs.
Here is my cleaning process
Usually, my tabs are there either because I am researching for a specific project/topic or I am just learning/watching/reading stuff.
I close any tab that has been open for more than a few days without me looking at it. Before closing the tab, I ensure I have saved that information.
If the tab is related to a project, I usually have project notes in "Joplin". I copy that URL and Title in the appropriate project notes and close the tab.
If the URL is some reading material, I send that URL to "Pocket" to read later.
If the URL is a Youtube video, I save it to "Watch later" and close it.
If Netflix, add that movie/series to my watchlist and close the tab, and so on.
Please understand that each tab that you have open is very important to you. You are not closing it because you fear losing all the information.
Try to figure out the purpose of these tabs. Save that information somewhere so that you can get it whenever you need it in the future.
Then closing the tab becomes less stressful.
i use onetab: chrome.google.com/webstore/de…
and i have keyboard shortcut of alt+w to put a single tab in onetab.
or you can just hit the onetab extension and all of the tab will be save
I've been using the Workona Tab Manager and Workona Tab Suspender Chrome Extensions since early 2021. They really fit the way I work. Workona lets me organize sets of tabs into workspaces, one (or more!) for each of my projects, and lets me suspend tabs until I need them. Available for Chrome, Firefox, and Edge.
workona.com/
workona.com/tab-manager/
workona.com/tab-suspender/
I used Arc Browser.