Introduce an Option to Open New Tab Next to Current One (#398159668)

[Yash Arya]

Hi Chromium Dev Team,

I’d like to bring attention to issue #398159668 regarding an option to open new tabs next to the current tab instead of at the end. This small yet impactful change could improve the browsing experience for many users who rely on efficient tab management.

Proposed Setting:

• Option: Open New Tab Next to Current Tab
• Behavior: When enabled, new tabs open adjacent to the active tab instead of at the end of the tab strip.
• Implementation Details:
  • Location: chrome://settings (possibly under Accessibility or Tabs)
  • Control: Toggle button to enable/disable this behavior
  • Testing: Initially rolled out via a Chrome feature flag for experimentation before a full release

Why This Matters?

• Enhances workflow for power users who frequently work with multiple tabs.
• Aligns with user expectations—many users instinctively expect new tabs to appear next to the current one for better organization.
• Reduces friction when managing related tabs (e.g., researching a topic across multiple tabs).

Seeking Developer Input

I would love to hear thoughts from the Chromium team on:

1. Technical feasibility – Would modifying the tab-opening behavior impact existing functionality or performance?
2. Implementation approach – What would be the best way to introduce this without affecting users who prefer the current behavior?
3. Potential concerns – Are there any UX or engineering challenges that should be considered?
4. Interest in moving this forward – Could this be an experiment under chrome://flags for initial testing?

I believe this feature could meaningfully improve tab management in Chrome. Looking forward to feedback and discussion on how we can make this happen.

Best,
Yash Arya

[Sean Maher]

Hello,

Just to let you know, this already exists. On MacOS, the keybind is Cmd-Ctrl-T. I'm not sure what the keybind is on windows.

Sean

--
--
Chromium Developers mailing list: chromi...@chromium.org
View archives, change email options, or unsubscribe:
http://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/group/chromium-dev
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Chromium-dev" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to chromium-dev...@chromium.org.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/d/msgid/chromium-dev/33aaf3d2-22b1-4be8-aa0c-8392d147dfe8n%40chromium.org.

[Yash Arya]

Well, I can't seem to use Ctrl + Cmd + T in my mac. Do I have to turn it on somewhere in the settings?

[PhistucK]

Does not work for me, either?

☆PhistucK

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/d/msgid/chromium-dev/CADf6XiaNk17eU3SkvJzAHwEj4RexGy%3DM%3DouRJoGiCjPTzWx1HQ%40mail.gmail.com.

[Greg Thompson]

I don't see it in the accelerator mapping, but there is a menu item for it in the tab context menu.

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/d/msgid/chromium-dev/CABc02_JmaQbvxGd6Cu_pWTH0xy%2Bz2Pj1dx%3DidSdoYSaOXgYfkA%40mail.gmail.com.