Tabs & Bookmarks

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What Are Tabs?

Tabs are like having multiple browser windows, but organized at the top of a single window. Each tab is a different webpage.

[Tab 1: Google] [Tab 2: News] [Tab 3: Recipe] [+]

You can switch between them instantly by clicking on the tab you want.

🎯 Fun Fact: Tabbed browsing was invented in 1994, but didn’t become standard until Firefox popularized it in 2004. Before that, people opened separate windows for each website - imagine the clutter!

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Opening New Tabs

All the Ways to Open Tabs

Method	How to Do It
Keyboard shortcut	Ctrl + T (Cmd + T on Mac)
Click the + button	Next to your existing tabs
Right-click a link	Choose “Open link in new tab”
Middle-click a link	Click with the scroll wheel
Ctrl + click a link	Cmd + click on Mac

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Try This Now: Tab Practice

1. Press Ctrl + T to open a new tab
2. In the new tab, type “news.google.com” and press Enter
3. Click on any headline (opens in the same tab)
4. Press Ctrl + T again for another new tab
5. Notice you now have multiple tabs at the top
6. Click between tabs to switch

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Managing Your Tabs

Switching Tabs

• Click on a tab to switch to it
• Ctrl + Tab moves to the next tab
• Ctrl + Shift + Tab moves to the previous tab
• Ctrl + 1, 2, 3… jumps to that numbered tab

Closing Tabs

Method	How to Do It
Click the X	On the tab you want to close
Middle-click the tab	Closes it instantly
Ctrl + W	Closes the current tab

🎯 Fun Fact: Some people regularly have 50+ tabs open! There’s even a browser extension that shows a cute picture of “too many cats” when you have too many tabs.

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Rearranging Tabs

You can drag tabs to rearrange them:

1. Click and hold on a tab
2. Drag it left or right
3. Release where you want it

You can even drag a tab out of the window to create a new window, or drag it back in to combine.

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Try This Now: Tab Management

1. Open three new tabs (Ctrl + T, three times)
2. Close the middle tab (click the X or Ctrl + W)
3. Bring it back! (Ctrl + Shift + T)
4. Drag one tab to rearrange it
5. Close all tabs with Ctrl + W repeatedly

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Bookmarks: Your Favorites List

Bookmarks (also called Favorites) are saved links to pages you want to visit again.

Why Use Bookmarks?

• Websites you visit daily - Email, news, banking
• Pages you want to return to - Recipes, articles, shopping
• Resources you use often - Work tools, guides, documentation

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Creating a Bookmark

Method 1: Keyboard Shortcut

1. Go to the page you want to bookmark
2. Press Ctrl + D (Cmd + D on Mac)
3. Give it a name (or keep the default)
4. Choose a folder (or leave in default)
5. Click Done or Save

Method 2: Star Icon

1. Look for the star icon (⭐) in the address bar
2. Click it
3. Edit the name if you want
4. Click Save

Method 3: Drag and Drop

1. Find the icon to the left of the web address (often a padlock or letter)
2. Drag it to your bookmarks bar
3. Done!

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The Bookmarks Bar

The bookmarks bar is a toolbar just below the address bar that shows your favorite sites as clickable buttons.

Making the Most of the Bookmarks Bar

• Shorten names - Right-click a bookmark and rename it to just a few letters or an emoji
• Just use icons - Delete the name entirely to show only the site’s icon
• Create folders - Right-click the bar and choose “Add folder” for categories

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Try This Now: Bookmark Setup

Let’s create a useful bookmark:

1. Go to weather.com (or your preferred weather site)
2. Press Ctrl + D to bookmark it
3. Rename it to just “Weather” or “🌤️”
4. Make sure “Bookmarks bar” is selected as the location
5. Click Save
6. Now look at your bookmarks bar - one click and you’re there!

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Organizing Bookmarks

Creating Folders

1. Right-click on the bookmarks bar
2. Choose “Add folder”
3. Name it (e.g., “News,” “Work,” “Recipes”)
4. Drag bookmarks into the folder

Managing All Bookmarks

• Chrome/Edge: Ctrl + Shift + O opens Bookmark Manager
• Firefox: Ctrl + Shift + O opens Library
• Safari: Cmd + Shift + B opens Bookmark Editor

Here you can:

• Delete old bookmarks
• Rearrange them
• Create more folders
• Search through all your bookmarks

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Suggested Bookmark Organization

Here’s a starter structure:

Bookmarks Bar:
├── 📧 Email (Gmail, Outlook)
├── 📰 News Folder
│   ├── BBC
│   └── Local News
├── 💰 Banking/Finance Folder
│   ├── Bank
│   └── Bills
├── 🛒 Shopping Folder
│   └── Favorite stores
└── 📚 Learning Folder
    └── This course!

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Syncing Across Devices

• Chrome: Sign in with Google account
• Edge: Sign in with Microsoft account
• Safari: Uses your Apple ID via iCloud
• Firefox: Create a Firefox account

🎯 Fun Fact: The term “bookmark” comes from physical bookmarks used to mark pages in books. The alternative name “Favorites” was used by Internet Explorer since 1995.

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Tab + Bookmark Shortcuts Summary

Tab Shortcuts

Action	Windows	Mac
New tab	Ctrl + T	Cmd + T
Close tab	Ctrl + W	Cmd + W
Reopen closed tab	Ctrl + Shift + T	Cmd + Shift + T
Next tab	Ctrl + Tab	Cmd + Option + →
Previous tab	Ctrl + Shift + Tab	Cmd + Option + ←

Bookmark Shortcuts

Action	Windows	Mac
Add bookmark	Ctrl + D	Cmd + D
Show/hide bookmarks bar	Ctrl + Shift + B	Cmd + Shift + B
Open bookmark manager	Ctrl + Shift + O	Cmd + Option + B

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Key Takeaways

• Tabs let you have multiple pages open at once - Ctrl + T for new, Ctrl + W to close
• Ctrl + Shift + T reopens accidentally closed tabs
• Right-click links to open them in new tabs without losing your place
• Ctrl + D bookmarks the current page
• Organize bookmarks into folders for easy access
• Sign in to your browser to sync across devices

Next up: Understanding downloads - where files go and how to find them!