Guide · Better Tab Switcher 1.0.0

List and grid

The switcher can show your tabs as a list or as a grid. Choose the view with the View buttons in the switcher's toolbar, or with View in the settings. The list is the default.

List

Each row shows the site's icon and the tab's title.

• Compact makes the rows shorter, so more tabs fit. It is off by default.
• Tabs shown before scrolling sets how many tabs the list shows before it scrolls: 6, 10 or 15 (10 by default). Fit the screen shows as many as the screen's height allows.

Grid

The grid adapts to the screen on its own, choosing the number of columns from the size of the window and the number of tabs. When there are too many tabs, it scrolls. Use Show to choose what each tile shows.

• Previews shows a tile for each tab, with its title above and a picture of the tab below. This is the default.
• Icons shows only each site's icon. The selected tab's title shows under the grid.

How previews are taken

When the grid shows previews, a tab's preview is taken when you open the switcher while you are on that tab. Until then, its tile shows the site's icon. So a tab gets its preview the first time you open the switcher from it, and the preview is updated every time you do it again. No preview is taken while you use the list or the grid of icons.

Previews are kept in memory only, never saved on your computer. A preview is deleted when its tab closes, when you choose Icons, or when the browser closes. Previews are not taken in incognito windows, nor on the pages where the switcher opens in its own window. Read more in Privacy.

Tab details

Each tab can show more details. Turn them on or off in Tab details.

• Pinned tab icon: an icon on pinned tabs. On by default.
• Playing audio icon: an icon on tabs that are playing sound. On by default.
• Inactive tabs: tabs the browser has unloaded to save memory get an icon and are shown in grey. On by default.
• Tab group color: the color of the tab's group, before its title. On by default.
• Last used: how long ago you used the tab, like “15 min ago”. On by default.
• Website address: the page's whole address, like github.com/giuvincenzi/better-tab-switcher, or only the site, like github.com, with Full address off. On by default. Long website addresses either Scroll on the selected tab and on the one under the mouse to show them whole (the default), or are Cut short with “…”.

The grid of icons shows only the icons, without these details.

The switcher's toolbar

The toolbar is the bar at the top of the switcher. From one end to the other, it has:

• in the list, the Compact button; in the grid, the Show buttons (Previews or Icons);
• the Website address and Last used buttons, except in the grid of icons;
• the search field, in the middle;
• the View buttons (List or Grid);
• the All settings button, which opens the settings page.

A change you make with these buttons takes effect at once and is saved, as if you made it in the settings. After you use them, the switcher stays open until you choose a tab.