Chrome is borrowing two browser features that many people have wanted for years: vertical tabs and a full-page reading mode. Google says both are now rolling out more widely, and while they are hardly new ideas, they should make Chrome less annoying for anyone who juggles a lot of tabs or spends too much time staring at cluttered article pages.
That matters because Chrome is still the dominant desktop browser, and these additions close gaps with rivals such as Arc, Safari, and Firefox. Chrome is late, but late is still better than never.
How Chrome’s vertical tabs work
The new tab layout moves open tabs from the top bar into a sidebar, which frees up horizontal space and makes long tab lists easier to scan. Google says you can enable it by right-clicking inside a Chrome window and choosing ”Show Tabs Vertically.”
There is also a more stripped-down view for people who like their browser to disappear into the background. The sidebar can be shrunk to show only favicons, which is about as close as Chrome gets to pretending it is not full of buttons and menus. That is a smart move for power users, who tend to care more about finding the right tab than admiring the toolbar.
- Tabs move from the top row to a sidebar
- The address bar shifts higher in the window
- The sidebar can be reduced to favicons only
Chrome’s reading mode strips away clutter
The second addition is a full-page reading mode designed to remove most of the visual noise around an article. Google says it can be opened by right-clicking on a page and selecting ”Open in reading mode.”
That is a pretty direct admission that modern websites often ask too much of the page. Between pop-ups, sticky headers, and other attention traps, a cleaner reading view is less a luxury than basic hygiene. Google is not inventing the wheel here; it is finally bolting it onto Chrome.
Chrome is catching up to Arc and friends
Vertical tabs became a headline feature partly because Arc made them feel modern instead of merely practical. Arc also puts the address bar inside the sidebar, which squeezes even more utility out of the screen and gives the browser a more coherent feel. Chrome’s version is simpler, which is probably wise for a product that has to work for hundreds of millions of people, but it also means Google is still copying the broad idea rather than the better execution.
For Chrome users, that may be enough. Browsers do not win loyalty by being flashy; they win by shaving seconds off repetitive tasks. If Google keeps borrowing the right ideas from rivals, the bigger surprise may be how many people never bother switching away in the first place.
What Google still needs to copy next
The obvious gap now is the kind of workspace organization that turns a browser into a system rather than a tab pile. Arc’s Spaces helped make that pitch feel complete, and Chrome still has nothing as polished on that front. If Google wants these updates to feel like more than catch-up patches, the next round should be about control, not just convenience.