04
Jan
2012
Re-enable Vertical Tabs (Side Tabs) on Google Chrome 16
My previous post “Using Side Tabs on Chrome and Firefox” outlined steps to switch website tabs from stretching horizontally across the top of your browser to a vertical stack on the side. The post outlines the many benefits of using this layout of tabs, however recently the Chrome team decided to take this feature off the browser.
Currently the only way to re-enable vertical tabs (side tabs) is to roll back to an older version of Chrome. Here are the steps:
- Uninstall Chrome
- Install version 16.0.899.0 from http://www.oldapps.com/google_chrom…old_chrome=6660
- Disable Chrome updates: http://www.chromefans.org/chrome-tu…tic-updates.htm
- Reactivate side tabs
I recommend you setup Chrome Sync before this process, so you can easily restore everything.
Once you are back up and running, you might get a “This version of Chrome is older than the user profile on this machine” message. To remove that message, follow these steps:
- Open Windows Explorer, show hidden files
- Browse to: C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\
- Delete the “Web Data” file
- Close and re-open Chrome
[...] “Side Tabs” option might not be available to you. If not, please view my “Re-enable Vertical Tabs on Google Chrome 16” [...]
You may also consider using Firefox. I have created an addon called Side Tabs, it was inspired by Chrome 15′s side tabs.
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/side-tabs
That is not a very clever solution… you will be quite vulnerable to drive by attacks, because you don’t get important security patches anymore! Please don’t do this.
Best regards, Alex
Alex,
This is only a temporary solution until Chrome releases their alternative to side tabs. Also, being several releases behind on Chrome is nothing compared to being up to date on the slower release cycles of Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari. Once side-tabs (or a similar solution) are reintroduced, I will be removing this post.
[...] Reactivate side tabs I recommend you setup Chrome Sync before this process, so you can easily restore everything. Disable Chrome updates: http://www.chromefans.org/chrome-tu…tic-updates.htm Once you are back up and running, you might get a “This version of Chrome is older than the user profile on this machine” message. To remove that message, follow these steps: Re-enable Vertical Tabs (Side Tabs) on Google Chrome 16 [...]
thank you for posting the last version where real vertical tabs are possible. but theres still one mandatory, but very important, feature missing: the possibility to change the tabs width! could anybody recompile this version just with a wider width?
i need that so much, i would pay for it
[...] major advantage of using Chromium instead of an old version of Chrome that has Side Tabs is that Chromium can be run side-by-side with the latest version of [...]
Chad,
why are you so sure that Chrome devs will reintroduce vertical tabs? They said there wasn’t enough demand for this (experimental) feature so they removed it entirely. Chrome extensions cannot alter Chrome’s UI, so I think waiting for native vertical tabs in Chrome is like waiting for Godot.
Don’t get me wrong, ever since the beginning of Chrome’s existence I am waiting for it to support a vertical tab bar (I have been using Opera for years; one of the reasons for this eing the native vertical tab bar, then switching to Firefox only because Opera on Mac wasn’t quite as stable as on Windows, and FF annoyed me with frequent crashes and sluggishness). Although I find Chrome’s stability and speed and UI superior to Safari, Firefox and Opera, I hate how the devs are like “we are as minimalistic as we can, and if only 30% of our users want vertical tabs, we’re not gonna do it, it’s not fitting into our concept”.
Or, in other words, “we know what our users want. You are a user, you don’t know about that. WE DO. So shut up already.”
I’m hoping for Chromium to integrate native vertical tabs though, as that is an open source project.
Jay,
Here is the official dev response to removing the side tabs: https://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=99332#c25
If you go up further in that thread you will notice one of the developers threw another developer under the bus for this decision. I get the impression that it was not a popular decision in the Chrome dev team, and Glen was primarily responsible for removing the feature. Several weeks after they removed vertical tabs they added more robust spellcheck features… that’s when I completely stopped using Chrome even with the solution I posted here, I’m tired of that team.
I currently have 26 tabs open using Firefox and the Side Tabs extension (http://side-tabs.com/). It’s much more sluggish than Chrome but it’s the only way I can work.
I’ve felt for some time that Google had a case (though, until now, a less virulent version) of the Apple Disease. “WE know how you SHOULD use your computer. You will be assimilated into OUR Vision of how you should interact with your computer. Your pitiful delusions about your needs and what works for you are irrelevant to OUR Vision.”
It’s annoying – the lost of side tabs is *really* annoying. But if you want to use their product, you’re stuck with their “Vision”.
I reluctantly switched to Chrome on Linux because Firefox periodically explodes and devours all 6 gigabytes of RAM, locking up my computer until I can get enough cycles in a shell to kill -9 it. If Firefox fixes their memory problem before Chrome (if/when) restores the option for side tabs, I am gone, gone, gone, back to Firefox. The lack of side tabs is a constant, daily annoyance. (But at least it doesn’t crash.)
Mike,
I had no choice but to make the switch to Firefox, and ever since then my computer fans have been running like crazy. It eats the processor and memory, sometimes with only several tabs open. I tried all the tricks including creating a new profile, but it’s still terrible.
But a slow and sluggish Firefox with side tabs is better than a fast Chrome with no side tabs.
I second that.
Thanks for the former chrome tip too
I’m turning into a complete hater of Firefox for it’s instability and memory hogging ways. But I’m still using it, only because the Chrome apparently developers know better than I (the user) how valuable side tabs are to productivity if you use more than three or four tabs at a time.
Arrogance, thy name is Google.
ditto, ditto, ditto. FF user who tolerates slowness and runaway memory/cpu consumption because FF has got side tab. come on, guys.
I’d also go to chrome if side tabs were available, although with firefox V12, they may have got things fixed… Now, I’ll probably stay with firefox, rather than going through the hassles of setting up chrome again.
#
I’ve been using Firefox’s side tabs for several years. I finally decided to switch to Chrome, never dreaming that side tabs would not be an option. This is a deal-killer for me. Even though I spent the morning setting up extensions and learning where everything is in Chrome, I can’t live without side tabs. So I’m going back to Firefox, although I may use the workaround presented in this post (thank you!). Chrome Developers, please bring back side tabs!!
Yet Another Unhappy Side-Tabber
Stick in fork in it!
Let’s FORK the chromium team!
Time to fork the project.
Viva la open revolution!
As I also consider it nearly essential to have vertical tabs (ideally with ability to collapse child tabs at the parent in tab trees), I am stunned to have read this. Thanks for this excellent coverage of an issue that is important to me. I’ll need to determine if any issues are present to the earlier version used in the work around that was presented, but it may be back to FF for me, too. :<
The last couple versions of Firefox have been amazing, and it is only getting better and better. It no longer eats memory like it used to and it can smoothly handle large amounts of open tabs. I still use Chrome for browser testing, however even if they add vertical tabs back I will be sticking with Firefox.
I, too, consider it essential to have side tabs.
I had gone from FF to Chromium because FF used so much memory, and had gotten very slow…
So when the Chrome devs so rudely removed side tabs, I moved over to Opera and LOVE IT!
A few websites don’t like Opera, and the FF DownThemAll download manager is 1000x faster than Opera AND Chrome downloads (Ok, literally it is about 3 times faster in my experience), so I’ve brought FireFox back just for downloads and finicky websites… I’ve found it HAS gotten much faster, and is actually usable again.
Bye Bye Chrome!
Hooray for “sidewise tree style tabs”!
This extension adequately resolves the fact that newer versions of chrome do not contain side tabs. Its great. I use it every day. Search the Chrome web store for it.
You don’t have to worry about installing old versions of Chrome any more.
Feel free to add to this
https://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=167599&thanks=167599&ts=1356553169
I couldn’t find any extension that worked like Vertical Tabs on firefox, so I create one.
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/vertical-tabs-popup/cajhlgkpfinedhdkhecjkkcjgdjnkijf
Unfortunately it doesn’t seem possible to create a sidebar in Chrome. Instead it has to be in a popup window. Works well enough for me though.