Tabs or windows on a Mac: when to use which
Fifty tabs in one window, or ten windows of five? When tabs help, when separate windows are better, and how to get tabs for any app's windows.
Tabs hide things too. A window with forty tabs is as cluttered as forty windows, just smaller.
Tabs are good for
- Things of the same kind you flip between: search results, a set of documents.
- Things you look at one at a time.
Windows are good for
- Things you need to see at the same time.
- Separate tasks: one browser window per project instead of one window for everything.
Mac tabs you may not know
Many Mac apps can merge windows into tabs: Window menu, Merge All Windows. Desktop & Dock settings has Prefer tabs when opening documents.
Tabs for any windows
ClutterFreeMac can turn a column into a tabbed column with ⌃ ⌥ ⇧ T. The windows in it share the space and show as tabs at the top, even if they come from different apps. Good for chat apps, or two reference documents you flip between.
Questions
Should I use tabs or separate windows?
Tabs for things you look at one at a time, windows for things you need to see together.
Read next
- Guide
Too many windows open on your Mac? How to stop losing them
Windows pile up, the one you need is always underneath, and Mission Control only shows the mess. What macOS gives you, and a layout where nothing can hide.
Read › - Guide
Too many browser windows on your Mac? Keep them in order
One window per project, five projects, and they all look the same. How to keep many Chrome or Safari windows apart and find the right one quickly.
Read › - Guide
Mac app opens at the wrong size or position? How to fix it
A window that opens tiny, huge, off screen or on the wrong display. Why macOS apps do it, the fixes that work, and how to make every window open in a set place.
Read ›