{"id":7702,"date":"2009-05-26T22:13:10","date_gmt":"2009-05-26T16:43:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/?p=7702"},"modified":"2026-10-13T13:37:03","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T08:07:03","slug":"manage-tabs-firefox-extensions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/05\/manage-tabs-firefox-extensions\/","title":{"rendered":"Best Firefox Extensions to Manage Tabs (Plus Built-in Tab Groups)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Do you end every day with 50 tabs open in Firefox? You&#8217;re not alone. When this list of Firefox extensions to manage tabs was first published in 2009, you needed add-ons for almost everything. Today Firefox has built-in tab groups and vertical tabs, and the best tab manager extensions do much more. Here&#8217;s how to manage tabs in Firefox in 2026, with the built-in features first and then the best extensions.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-63296\" src=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/manage-tabs-firefox.webp\" alt=\"Firefox extensions to manage tabs\" width=\"1200\" height=\"630\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/manage-tabs-firefox.webp 1200w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/manage-tabs-firefox-300x158.webp 300w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/manage-tabs-firefox-1024x538.webp 1024w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/manage-tabs-firefox-150x79.webp 150w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/manage-tabs-firefox-768x403.webp 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Quick answer:<\/strong> Start with Firefox&#8217;s built-in <strong>tab groups<\/strong> (drag one tab onto another) and <strong>vertical tabs<\/strong> (Settings \u2192 General \u2192 Browser layout). For more power, the best Firefox extensions to manage tabs are <strong>Sidebery<\/strong> or <strong>Tree Style Tab<\/strong> for tree-style sidebars, <strong>OneTab<\/strong> to save memory, and <strong>Tab Session Manager<\/strong> to save and restore sets of tabs.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_89 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6aeb60f0ead38\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"ez-toc-cssicon\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #1a202c;color:#1a202c\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #1a202c;color:#1a202c\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6aeb60f0ead38\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/05\/manage-tabs-firefox-extensions\/#Built-in_Firefox_tab_management_features\" >Built-in Firefox tab management features<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/05\/manage-tabs-firefox-extensions\/#Tab_groups\" >Tab groups<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/05\/manage-tabs-firefox-extensions\/#Vertical_tabs\" >Vertical tabs<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/05\/manage-tabs-firefox-extensions\/#Other_handy_built-in_tricks\" >Other handy built-in tricks<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/05\/manage-tabs-firefox-extensions\/#Best_Firefox_extensions_to_manage_tabs_in_2026\" >Best Firefox extensions to manage tabs in 2026<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/05\/manage-tabs-firefox-extensions\/#1_Sidebery\" >1. Sidebery<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/05\/manage-tabs-firefox-extensions\/#2_Tree_Style_Tab\" >2. Tree Style Tab<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/05\/manage-tabs-firefox-extensions\/#3_OneTab\" >3. OneTab<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/05\/manage-tabs-firefox-extensions\/#4_Tab_Session_Manager\" >4. Tab Session Manager<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/05\/manage-tabs-firefox-extensions\/#5_Auto_Tab_Discard\" >5. Auto Tab Discard<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/05\/manage-tabs-firefox-extensions\/#6_Firefox_Multi-Account_Containers\" >6. Firefox Multi-Account Containers<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-12\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/05\/manage-tabs-firefox-extensions\/#7_Tab_Stash\" >7. Tab Stash<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-13\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/05\/manage-tabs-firefox-extensions\/#What_happened_to_the_2009_tab_extensions\" >What happened to the 2009 tab extensions?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-14\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/05\/manage-tabs-firefox-extensions\/#Frequently_asked_questions\" >Frequently asked questions<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-15\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/05\/manage-tabs-firefox-extensions\/#Does_Firefox_have_tab_groups\" >Does Firefox have tab groups?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-16\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/05\/manage-tabs-firefox-extensions\/#How_do_I_turn_on_vertical_tabs_in_Firefox\" >How do I turn on vertical tabs in Firefox?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-17\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/05\/manage-tabs-firefox-extensions\/#Which_Firefox_tab_manager_uses_the_least_memory\" >Which Firefox tab manager uses the least memory?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Built-in_Firefox_tab_management_features\"><\/span>Built-in Firefox tab management features<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Tab_groups\"><\/span>Tab groups<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Since Firefox 137 (2025), you can group tabs natively. Drag a tab onto another tab, or right-click a tab and choose <strong>Add tab to new group<\/strong>. Give the group a name and colour, and click its label to collapse or expand it. Mozilla&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/support.mozilla.org\/kb\/tab-groups\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">tab groups guide<\/a> explains the details.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Vertical_tabs\"><\/span>Vertical tabs<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Firefox 136 added vertical tabs in a sidebar, which is much easier to read when you have dozens of tabs open. Go to <strong>Settings \u2192 General \u2192 Browser layout<\/strong> and choose <strong>Vertical tabs<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Other_handy_built-in_tricks\"><\/span>Other handy built-in tricks<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Search open tabs:<\/strong> type <code>%<\/code> and a space in the address bar, then a word from the tab&#8217;s title.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Reopen closed tabs:<\/strong> press <strong>Ctrl+Shift+T<\/strong> (Cmd+Shift+T on Mac).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Pin tabs:<\/strong> right-click and choose <strong>Pin Tab<\/strong> to keep Gmail or other always-open sites small and on the left.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Mute tabs:<\/strong> click the speaker icon on a noisy tab.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Firefox View:<\/strong> shows recently closed tabs, history and tabs open on your other devices.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Select many tabs:<\/strong> Ctrl+click or Shift+click tabs to move, bookmark or close them together.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Best_Firefox_extensions_to_manage_tabs_in_2026\"><\/span>Best Firefox extensions to manage tabs in 2026<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"1_Sidebery\"><\/span>1. Sidebery<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/addons.mozilla.org\/firefox\/addon\/sidebery\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Sidebery<\/a> turns the sidebar into a powerful tab manager with nested tree tabs, panels for different projects, container support and snapshots. If you open lots of tabs while researching, it&#8217;s the most complete option.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"2_Tree_Style_Tab\"><\/span>2. Tree Style Tab<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/addons.mozilla.org\/firefox\/addon\/tree-style-tab\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tree Style Tab<\/a> shows tabs in a sidebar tree, so links you open appear under the page they came from. It&#8217;s a long-time favourite and works well with Firefox&#8217;s vertical tab layout.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"3_OneTab\"><\/span>3. OneTab<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/addons.mozilla.org\/firefox\/addon\/onetab\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">OneTab<\/a> collapses all your open tabs into a single list with one click, freeing memory. Restore them individually or all at once when you need them again.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"4_Tab_Session_Manager\"><\/span>4. Tab Session Manager<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/addons.mozilla.org\/firefox\/addon\/tab-session-manager\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tab Session Manager<\/a> saves your windows and tabs as named sessions and can auto-save them, so you never lose a set of tabs after a crash or restart.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"5_Auto_Tab_Discard\"><\/span>5. Auto Tab Discard<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/addons.mozilla.org\/firefox\/addon\/auto-tab-discard\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Auto Tab Discard<\/a> unloads tabs you haven&#8217;t used for a while to save memory and battery, while keeping them in the tab bar ready to reload.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"6_Firefox_Multi-Account_Containers\"><\/span>6. Firefox Multi-Account Containers<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Mozilla&#8217;s own <a href=\"https:\/\/addons.mozilla.org\/firefox\/addon\/multi-account-containers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Multi-Account Containers<\/a> colour-codes tabs into containers such as Work, Personal and Shopping, each with separate cookies. You can be logged in to two accounts on the same site in different tabs.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"7_Tab_Stash\"><\/span>7. Tab Stash<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/addons.mozilla.org\/firefox\/addon\/tab-stash\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tab Stash<\/a> stashes groups of tabs into bookmarks so they sync across devices, a tidy alternative to OneTab for people who like to keep reading lists.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_happened_to_the_2009_tab_extensions\"><\/span>What happened to the 2009 tab extensions?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Our original list included Fox Tab (3D tab browsing), Colorful Tabs, Firefox Showcase, Tab Renamizer, New Tab Homepage, Duplicate Tab, Basics, Tab Popup, Close and Forget and Too Many Tabs. When Firefox moved to its modern WebExtensions system in 2017 (Firefox Quantum), most of these old add-ons stopped working. Many of their features are now built into Firefox: duplicate a tab by right-clicking it and choosing <strong>Duplicate Tab<\/strong>, set any page as your new tab page in settings, and use tab groups and colours instead of Colorful Tabs.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Frequently_asked_questions\"><\/span>Frequently asked questions<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Does_Firefox_have_tab_groups\"><\/span>Does Firefox have tab groups?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Yes. Firefox added native tab groups in 2025. Drag a tab onto another to create a group, then name it and pick a colour.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_do_I_turn_on_vertical_tabs_in_Firefox\"><\/span>How do I turn on vertical tabs in Firefox?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Open Settings, go to General, and under Browser layout choose Vertical tabs. You can switch back to horizontal tabs the same way.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Which_Firefox_tab_manager_uses_the_least_memory\"><\/span>Which Firefox tab manager uses the least memory?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>OneTab and Auto Tab Discard help most with memory, because they unload tabs you aren&#8217;t using.<\/p>\n<p><em>This post was first written in 2009 by guest author Himanshu and has been fully updated for 2026.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Do you end every day with 50 tabs open in Firefox? You&#8217;re not alone. When this list of Firefox extensions&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":63296,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"default","_kad_post_title":"default","_kad_post_layout":"default","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"default","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"default","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[44,52],"class_list":["post-7702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tips","tag-guest-posts","tag-popular"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7702","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7702"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7702\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65293,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7702\/revisions\/65293"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}