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How to Enable Vertical Tabs in Chrome

Learn how to turn on Chrome vertical tabs using Chrome Flags, then switch between vertical and horizontal tab layouts.

  • chrome
  • browser
  • vertical-tabs
  • chrome-flags

Chrome now has a vertical tabs feature, but depending on your browser version, you may not see it in the right-click menu yet. If the option is missing, you can enable it from Chrome Flags.

This guide shows how to turn on vertical tabs in Chrome, switch your tabs to the side, and disable the feature again if you do not want to use it.

Quick answer

Open chrome://flags, search for Vertical Tabs, set it to Enabled, relaunch Chrome, then right-click the tab bar and choose Show tabs vertically.

Step-by-step text guide

First, open Google Chrome.

Right-click on the tab bar at the top of the browser. If you see Show tabs vertically, you can click it directly.

If you do not see that option, you need to enable it from Chrome Flags.

Type this into the Chrome address bar:

chrome://flags

This opens Chrome’s experimental features page.

In the search box, type:

vertical

Find the Vertical Tabs option and change it to Enabled.

After that, click Relaunch to restart Chrome.

When Chrome opens again, right-click the top tab bar and select Show tabs vertically.

How to turn vertical tabs off

To switch back to the normal horizontal tab layout, right-click the tab bar again and choose Show tabs horizontally.

To completely disable the feature, go back to chrome://flags, search for Vertical Tabs, and set it to Disabled.

Extra tips

Chrome Flags are experimental settings, so some features may change, disappear, or become enabled by default in future Chrome versions.

If you do not see the vertical tabs option even after enabling the flag, make sure Chrome is updated and try restarting the browser again.

FAQ

Why do I not see Show tabs vertically in Chrome?

Your Chrome version may not have the feature enabled by default yet. You can enable it manually from chrome://flags.

Is Chrome vertical tabs a stable feature?

It may still be experimental depending on your Chrome version. That is why it appears inside Chrome Flags.

Can I switch back to normal tabs?

Yes. Right-click the tab bar and choose Show tabs horizontally.

Can I fully disable vertical tabs?

Yes. Open chrome://flags, search for Vertical Tabs, and set it to Disabled.