The Edge browser has integrated many helpful and accessibility features for its users. It has a feature similar to Windows OS taskbar customization that allows moving the browser tabs from the top horizontally to vertically on the left side.
It is dubbed as Vertical Tab allows you to shift all your tabs to the left menu bar instead of the earlier horizontal one. As a result, the horizontal bar with your tabs will only display the currently opened tab’s name and icon.
Apart from that, there are a couple of other handy options baked into it that we will be discussing here. But first, let’s check out the steps to enable this new Vertical Tabs feature in the Microsoft Edge browser.
Enable Edge Vertical Tabs
The vertical tabs are not enabled by default. However, we can enable it from the Appearance setting in the Edge browser. Here are the steps to enable it:
- Launch the Edge browser on your PC.
- Click on More
for the menu list. - Select the Settings option from the list.
- Click on the Appearance tab from the left menu bar.
- Scroll down to the Customize toolbar section.
- Click on the button next to Show vertical tabs for all current browser windows.
- Enable the Show tabs action menu toggle button.
It will enable the tab’s action menu in the header. - Click on the Tabs actions menu, and select the Turn on vertical tabs option.
All your tabs will shift to the left menu bar, and tabs in the header will be disabled.
Customize the Vertical Tabs
Now that you have enabled this functionality, let’s check out the steps to make full use. First, as you might have noticed, all the vertical tabs are condensed, with only their icons visible by default.
However, you could quickly expand them by hovering your mouse cursor over these tabs. Doing so will make the title of the tabs visible and bring up the associated tab preview window.
Moreover, there’s also an option to constantly keep the vertical tab in its expanded state. For that, you need to click on the Pin icon situated at the top right.
Using the simple toggle switch under the Edge’s Appearance menu, you can hide the title bar and icon while using vertical tabs. Enable the toggle button for the ‘Hide title bar while in vertical tabs’ option.
Turn Off Microsoft Edge Vertical Tabs
If you wish to revert to the original horizontal tabs at any point, you can disable the verticle tabs option to switch back to horizontal tabbing. Here are the steps to do so:
- Launch the Edge browser on a computer.
- Click on the Tab Actions menu in the vertical bar.
- Select the Turn off vertical tabs option.
It will shift the vertical tabs to their original horizontal top space.
To permanently disable the tab actions menu, open Microsoft Edge’s Settings > Appearance and disable the Show tabs action menu option.
It will remove the tab actions menu and shift the horizontal tabs to their original position.
Bottom Line
You can click on the button or button under the Appearance settings menu for the ‘Show vertical tabs for all current browser windows’ option to customize the appearance of the tabs in the Edge browser.
So with this, we conclude the guide on Vertical tabs in the Microsoft Edge browser. It is a welcome move from Microsoft to incorporate this unique but handy feature into its browser.
As per my personal usage experience, I initially found it reluctant to switch since the horizontal tabs were all used since the initial phase. However, it soon became my preferred choice after giving it a try.
What are your views about the vertical tabs in the Edge browser? Are you willing to make a switch?
Lastly, if you've any thoughts or feedback on How to Enable and Use Vertical tabs in Microsoft Edge, then feel free to drop in below comment box. You can also report the outdated information.
