4 ms·

I currently have 2014 tabs in my session (almost all unloaded, using around 2GB of ram that I wouldn't use otherwise). I had 1600 tabs a few days ago. They are

I currently have 2014 tabs in my session (almost all unloaded, using around 2GB of ram that I wouldn't use otherwise). I had 1600 tabs a few days ago. They are links I clicked on in other apps or browsed to over the past few months. When I get a chance to plow through a few dozen/hundred of these tabs I can read/view them and close them very quickly. Notice all the UI stuff I don't have to do: I never had to perform the the actions of saving a bookmark, opening a list of bookmarks, opening a specific bookmark, or deleting a bookmark. I clicked a link once upon a time, and I will close the tab some time in the future. When I switch to and close ten tabs, all I have to do from a UI perspective is type q ten times.

xzlzx 11y ago
Why don't you use something like Pocket? It seems like you are the ideal use case for their software. I use it religiously.
- scottjad 11y ago
  I do use pocket. Some of these links will end up in pocket, when I get around to looking at them closer if I decide they are long and I want to read them on my mobile devices.
octatoan 11y ago
Wh-whoa . . . I think you just set some sort of a record over there.
rexf 11y ago
In terms of UI stuff, how do you find a tab among a thousand? When the tab page title shrinks and all I see is favicon, I feel lost.
- xixixao 11y ago
  You can of course search open tabs from the address bar. But at least my workflow is to browse through the old tabs and read / close one by one. Also in Firefox the tabs never shrink to just favicon, the tab heads become a scrollable list. Much better than Chrome imo.
  - grimman 11y ago
    Unless you specifically tweak the UI to enable really small tabs, which is among the first things I do on a fresh install. Favicon + a small number of pixels for padding, way way less than Google allows me to get away with! Slap on a bunch of tab groups and I'm set. I'm quite comfortable with a tab group filled to the point where the tab bar only displays favicons, but hasn't gotten to the point where it lets me scroll yet. That way I can rely on spatial memory to get to the right tab, without necessarily seeing the title! Of course, searching for the right tab is an option, just like you said. I love the fact that Firefox also activates the correct tab group automatically.
  - mmebane 11y ago
    I use Tree Style Tab for this, although I hate the actual tree functionality - it just happens to be the only reasonable vertical tab solution I've found. Unfortunately, it seems to get a little bit laggy with more than a couple hundred tabs.
- barnacs 11y ago
  I don't quite have that many tabs open but I find that grouping tabs into separate browser windows and taking advantage of your window manager goes a long way.
  - revenz 11y ago
    ctrl-shift-e should open a canvas like area where you can group tabs. Similar to a file folder, I prefer it to bookmarks
    - barnacs 11y ago
      Interesting, but seems to be very basic. I still prefer using a wm. I can use different layouts, group windows into hierarchies, display them side by side, take advantage of tiling, use workspaces and have configurable keys for each of these actions. You know, functions that a wm is built for. And I can always switch to a different wm altogether if I'm not comfortable.
      - grimman 11y ago
        Once you get used to the tab groups they can be very powerful. I use them for contexts myself; one for casual browsing, one for development for client x, one for client y etc, one for research, and the list goes on. Obviously you can easily achieve the same thing in separate windows as well, so ultimately I suppose it doesn't make a huge difference, but it's the way I find makes for the biggest difference in separating workspaces.
  - zo1 11y ago
    If you are interested in grouping the tabs, have a look at this addon: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/tree-style-tab/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/tree-style-ta... It allows you to use your tab-list in a hierarchical way, sort of like a filesystem. I group things under obvious roots, and then collapse it till needed.
- scottjad 11y ago
  I said tab but I don't actually use the UI concept of a "tab", though I could by M-x tab-bar-mode, because you're right it doesn't scale very well to large numbers, in my experience I use buffers (in Conkeror). Buffers are just tabs without the actual tab UI. So unless I'm switching buffers, the only visible UI difference between having one buffer and 2000 buffers is the string "[2011/2011]" in my status-line showing my current buffer number and total number of buffers. I can press C-x b (switch-to-buffer, I bind to M-a) to show a filterable list of my current buffers (favicon, url, title). I can type part of the url or page title (even when tab is unloaded) to filter my buffer list before switching to one. I can also navigate tabs "spatially" (from tab #2 to either tab #1 or #3) or by recently used (bury/unbury-buffer or switch-to-recent-buffer which shows buffer list in most recently used order) or by domain (next-buffer-same-host) or by whether the buffer is playing audio (switch-to-audio-buffer). Also, in the vast majority of cases I only access recent tabs near the end of the list. I can press 9 or 0 to go to my second-to-last or last buffer.
- justincormack 11y ago
  The favicon is ok. I close them when there is no space to display the favicon.
- Alphasite_ 11y ago
  In all honesty chrome is by far and away the worst at handeling large numbers of tabs of all the browsers (bar perhaps version of IE).
  - Dylan16807 11y ago
    Chrome is pretty special. "Oh, you have too many tabs to fit, time to hide the favicons."
    - mmebane 11y ago
      Ironically, Chrome on Android handles this better than Chrome on the desktop. I have 15 tabs open on desktop Chrome right now, and it's getting a bit cramped. My Note 4? 33.
- tototomtoboro 11y ago
  I use the "Tree Style Tab" add-on
Gmo 11y ago
Wow, I thought I was in the top "tabbers" with my 300 tabs or so (well, 300 at work and 300 at home), but I see I am far from that ! Nonetheless, that's why I like firefox, I can do that, not so possible with Chrome. So like other said, I really really hope that they take into account this use case.
nicolasp 11y ago
How do you find out the number of open tabs?
- grimman 11y ago
  "Open Tab Count" works nicely for me.
zo1 11y ago
What extension do you use to unload your tabs? Or keep them unloaded, not sure of your workflow in that regard.
- grimman 11y ago
  I use one called UnloadTab. Works a treat, and does exactly what it says on the box!
- mmebane 11y ago
  I use Session Manager [1] for this. It has a "restore tabs on demand" option. I usually end up restarting the browser every week or two, either due to Windows updates, Firefox updates, or getting enough active tabs that the browser crashes. When it reloads, I only have one loaded tab, and start the cycle over again. I think the lazy loading on session restore has been built in to Firefox for a while now, but I still use Session Manager. It shows me the number of tabs in the session before I choose to restore it, and if I hit a problematic page that is making the browser immediately crash, I can remove that page from the session before restoring, as well. [1]: https://addons.mozilla.org/En-us/firefox/addon/session-manager/ https://addons.mozilla.org/En-us/firefox/addon/session-manag...
higherpurpose 11y ago
Sounds like you'd need something like this: https://www.one-tab.com/ https://www.one-tab.com/ I use it all the time whenever I get to 10-15 "idle" tabs I don't need that day anymore.
- agumonkey 11y ago
  There's tabvention, automatic 'tab list' backup as bookmark folders if you reach a certain (configurable) number. https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/tabvention/kcjmdpjhajmekeodflehfiikjndhmhho?hl=en https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/tabvention/kcjmdpj...
- scottjad 11y ago
  I like being able to switch to any of my tabs using the exact same UI technique as I would for any other tab, and press qqqqqqqqqq to view and kill many of tabs in succession.
Alphasite_ 11y ago
I used to do somethingng similar but I've been using reading lists and a little more self control to manage most of my favs now.
mozumder 11y ago
So what you want is for bookmarks to be automatically created and accessible from the top menubar.
- Sharlin 11y ago
  Yes, that's called "tabs". Especially now that tab content is not autoloaded and autorendered. The bookmark metaphor simply doesn't fit everyone's mental model; tabs work much better.

xzlzx 11y ago

Why don't you use something like Pocket? It seems like you are the ideal use case for their software. I use it religiously.

scottjad 11y ago
I do use pocket. Some of these links will end up in pocket, when I get around to looking at them closer if I decide they are long and I want to read them on my mobile devices.

octatoan 11y ago

Wh-whoa . . . I think you just set some sort of a record over there.

rexf 11y ago

In terms of UI stuff, how do you find a tab among a thousand? When the tab page title shrinks and all I see is favicon, I feel lost.

xixixao 11y ago
You can of course search open tabs from the address bar. But at least my workflow is to browse through the old tabs and read / close one by one. Also in Firefox the tabs never shrink to just favicon, the tab heads become a scrollable list. Much better than Chrome imo.
- grimman 11y ago
  Unless you specifically tweak the UI to enable really small tabs, which is among the first things I do on a fresh install. Favicon + a small number of pixels for padding, way way less than Google allows me to get away with! Slap on a bunch of tab groups and I'm set. I'm quite comfortable with a tab group filled to the point where the tab bar only displays favicons, but hasn't gotten to the point where it lets me scroll yet. That way I can rely on spatial memory to get to the right tab, without necessarily seeing the title! Of course, searching for the right tab is an option, just like you said. I love the fact that Firefox also activates the correct tab group automatically.
- mmebane 11y ago
  I use Tree Style Tab for this, although I hate the actual tree functionality - it just happens to be the only reasonable vertical tab solution I've found. Unfortunately, it seems to get a little bit laggy with more than a couple hundred tabs.
barnacs 11y ago
I don't quite have that many tabs open but I find that grouping tabs into separate browser windows and taking advantage of your window manager goes a long way.
- revenz 11y ago
  ctrl-shift-e should open a canvas like area where you can group tabs. Similar to a file folder, I prefer it to bookmarks
  - barnacs 11y ago
    Interesting, but seems to be very basic. I still prefer using a wm. I can use different layouts, group windows into hierarchies, display them side by side, take advantage of tiling, use workspaces and have configurable keys for each of these actions. You know, functions that a wm is built for. And I can always switch to a different wm altogether if I'm not comfortable.
    - grimman 11y ago
      Once you get used to the tab groups they can be very powerful. I use them for contexts myself; one for casual browsing, one for development for client x, one for client y etc, one for research, and the list goes on. Obviously you can easily achieve the same thing in separate windows as well, so ultimately I suppose it doesn't make a huge difference, but it's the way I find makes for the biggest difference in separating workspaces.
- zo1 11y ago
  If you are interested in grouping the tabs, have a look at this addon: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/tree-style-tab/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/tree-style-ta... It allows you to use your tab-list in a hierarchical way, sort of like a filesystem. I group things under obvious roots, and then collapse it till needed.
scottjad 11y ago
I said tab but I don't actually use the UI concept of a "tab", though I could by M-x tab-bar-mode, because you're right it doesn't scale very well to large numbers, in my experience I use buffers (in Conkeror). Buffers are just tabs without the actual tab UI. So unless I'm switching buffers, the only visible UI difference between having one buffer and 2000 buffers is the string "[2011/2011]" in my status-line showing my current buffer number and total number of buffers. I can press C-x b (switch-to-buffer, I bind to M-a) to show a filterable list of my current buffers (favicon, url, title). I can type part of the url or page title (even when tab is unloaded) to filter my buffer list before switching to one. I can also navigate tabs "spatially" (from tab #2 to either tab #1 or #3) or by recently used (bury/unbury-buffer or switch-to-recent-buffer which shows buffer list in most recently used order) or by domain (next-buffer-same-host) or by whether the buffer is playing audio (switch-to-audio-buffer). Also, in the vast majority of cases I only access recent tabs near the end of the list. I can press 9 or 0 to go to my second-to-last or last buffer.
justincormack 11y ago
The favicon is ok. I close them when there is no space to display the favicon.
Alphasite_ 11y ago
In all honesty chrome is by far and away the worst at handeling large numbers of tabs of all the browsers (bar perhaps version of IE).
- Dylan16807 11y ago
  Chrome is pretty special. "Oh, you have too many tabs to fit, time to hide the favicons."
  - mmebane 11y ago
    Ironically, Chrome on Android handles this better than Chrome on the desktop. I have 15 tabs open on desktop Chrome right now, and it's getting a bit cramped. My Note 4? 33.
tototomtoboro 11y ago
I use the "Tree Style Tab" add-on

Gmo 11y ago

Wow, I thought I was in the top "tabbers" with my 300 tabs or so (well, 300 at work and 300 at home), but I see I am far from that ! Nonetheless, that's why I like firefox, I can do that, not so possible with Chrome. So like other said, I really really hope that they take into account this use case.

nicolasp 11y ago

How do you find out the number of open tabs?

grimman 11y ago
"Open Tab Count" works nicely for me.

zo1 11y ago

What extension do you use to unload your tabs? Or keep them unloaded, not sure of your workflow in that regard.

grimman 11y ago
I use one called UnloadTab. Works a treat, and does exactly what it says on the box!
mmebane 11y ago
I use Session Manager [1] for this. It has a "restore tabs on demand" option. I usually end up restarting the browser every week or two, either due to Windows updates, Firefox updates, or getting enough active tabs that the browser crashes. When it reloads, I only have one loaded tab, and start the cycle over again. I think the lazy loading on session restore has been built in to Firefox for a while now, but I still use Session Manager. It shows me the number of tabs in the session before I choose to restore it, and if I hit a problematic page that is making the browser immediately crash, I can remove that page from the session before restoring, as well. [1]: https://addons.mozilla.org/En-us/firefox/addon/session-manager/ https://addons.mozilla.org/En-us/firefox/addon/session-manag...

higherpurpose 11y ago

Sounds like you'd need something like this: https://www.one-tab.com/ https://www.one-tab.com/ I use it all the time whenever I get to 10-15 "idle" tabs I don't need that day anymore.

agumonkey 11y ago
There's tabvention, automatic 'tab list' backup as bookmark folders if you reach a certain (configurable) number. https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/tabvention/kcjmdpjhajmekeodflehfiikjndhmhho?hl=en https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/tabvention/kcjmdpj...
scottjad 11y ago
I like being able to switch to any of my tabs using the exact same UI technique as I would for any other tab, and press qqqqqqqqqq to view and kill many of tabs in succession.

Alphasite_ 11y ago

I used to do somethingng similar but I've been using reading lists and a little more self control to manage most of my favs now.

mozumder 11y ago

So what you want is for bookmarks to be automatically created and accessible from the top menubar.

Sharlin 11y ago
Yes, that's called "tabs". Especially now that tab content is not autoloaded and autorendered. The bookmark metaphor simply doesn't fit everyone's mental model; tabs work much better.