Tab Search is a button in Chrome’s tab strip on computers that opens a searchable list of your open tabs. Open it with Ctrl + Shift + A on Windows or Linux, or ⌘ + Shift + A on a Mac, or select the Tab Search button. Type a few letters of a page title or site, then select a tab to jump straight to it. It is on by default, according to Google’s tab help.
What you can do in the Tab Search panel
- Find a tab. Enter keywords for the site you want and select it from the list.
- Close tabs from the list. Find the tab in the list and select Close on its right.
- Get back a closed tab. The panel has a Recently Closed section. Select an entry to reopen it.
Tab Search works the same way if you show your tabs vertically down the side of the window.
Where is the Tab Search button?
It sits in the tab strip at the top of the Chrome window, and its tooltip reads Search tabs. If you can’t find it, it may have been unpinned. To bring it back:
- Select the three-dot More menu > Settings.
- Select Appearance.
- Turn on Show tab search button.
To remove it instead, right-click the button and select Unpin. If you don’t see the setting at all, update Chrome and look again.
Other ways to search tabs
- From the address bar: type
@tabs, press Tab or Space, then type what you’re looking for. - On a phone or tablet: the tab switcher has its own search. On Android, use the Search your tabs field; on iPhone and iPad, tap Search at the top left of the tab switcher.
For step-by-step instructions on every device, including keys that jump straight to a tab by its position, see how to find an open tab in Chrome.