How to manage too many browser windows on a Mac

Switching between browser windows

• **⌘</kbd>** cycles through the windows of the front app; <kbd>⌘</kbd><kbd>⇧</kbd><kbd> goes back.
• App Exposé (⌃↓) shows every window of the browser at once, minimized ones included.
• The Window menu lists open windows by the title of their current tab.

Name your Chrome windows

In Chrome, right-click an empty part of the tab strip and choose Name window… to give the window a name, such as "Research" or "Client A". The name shows in Chrome's Window menu and in window switchers that list titles, instead of whatever tab happens to be open.

Merge and split

• Safari: Window → Merge All Windows pulls every window into tabs of one window. Window → Move Tab to New Window splits one out.
• Chrome: drag a tab out of the tab strip to make a new window; drag it onto another window's tab strip to put it back. Right-click a tab → Move tab to another window sends it to a window you choose.

Profiles instead of windows

If your windows are really separate contexts (work and personal, two clients), use profiles. Each profile has its own logins, history, bookmarks and extensions, and opens in its own window with its own name.

• Chrome: click your profile picture at the top right → Add.
• Safari (macOS 14 Sonoma and later): Safari Settings → Profiles.

Tab groups instead of windows

For topics within one context, tab groups keep things in one window: Chrome's right-click on a tab → Add tab to group, or Safari's tab groups in the sidebar. A collapsed group takes one slot in the tab strip.

Close what you don't need

• ⌘W closes a tab, ⌘⇧W closes the window.
• ⌘⇧T brings back the last closed tab or window in Chrome and Safari, so closing is low-risk.

Seeing more than one window at a time

Sometimes you need two browser windows visible together: a doc and a dashboard, a ticket and the app you're testing. On macOS 15 and later, Fn⌃← and → put them side by side. Beyond two, they start covering each other again.

A scrolling window manager handles more. In Ribbon, every browser window is a column on a horizontal strip, alongside your other apps. A new window adds a column instead of landing on top; ⌃⌥← / → moves between them whatever app they belong to, and the strip indicator shows an icon for each, so you can see at a glance how many browser windows you've got. Stack two browser windows in one column (⌃⌥]) to see them one above the other. Try it in the live demo; pricing is $9.99 once.