Lifehacker has spilled a lot of digital ink over the years trying to help you get your browser tabs problem under control. How to use tabs more efficiently on Chrome. How to reopen your tabs after a browser crash. How to get an intervention for your tabs addiction. How to save all your tabs before you close them. The best browser extensions to make opening a new tab better. But today I’m sharing a bold take that you might not like: You should just close all of your tabs regularly, without poring over them first. Just close ‘em all.
I don’t say this lightly. I have been known to keep browser tabs open for weeks—even months—before finally plowing through that New Yorker long read or adding those best albums of the year to my Amazon Music queue. But with the expectation of getting a new work laptop today, I decided to do a little browser maintenance over the weekend, and after 10 minutes of trying to deal with each tab before closing it out, I finally just said “screw it’ and closed them all...and I felt instantly free. (Well, freer. Everything is still terrible.)
Writers and psychologists have mused at length about why we all have so many open browser tabs. According to Digital Information World, clinical psychologist Marc Hekster observed that computers and phones now serve as an “extension of our brain”; you can think of open tabs like your subconscious noodling away at something you don’t have time to devote your full attention to. Metro UK’s Ellen Scott likens the functionality to “task-switching”; it allows us to move on to a new activity when we grow bored—but also invites distraction.
But at a time when I am already particularly distracted—by the increasingly bizarre news, increasingly intrusive social media, my increasingly demanding children who have been stuck at home for nine months—the last thing I need is more distraction. Those tabs lurking at the top of my browser bar not only make it harder to find the various windows I need, they actively encourage me to do anything but focus.
If tabs are also troubling you—or turning your browser into an unwieldy system-hogging beast—just close them all without looking at them. Do it at the end of every work day, or before you go to bed, or multiple times in-between. If it turns out you really did need one of those tabs, a record of it will still be there in your browser history. For all the rest: out of sight, out of mind.
An upcoming SwiftKey Android update finally adds a long-requested sliding cursor control, and it makes us once again question our Gboard allegiance. B
I’ve never been a fan of how Samsung treats beta operating system updates. Admittedly, I’m saying that out of jealousy, because it seems that I’m neve
Ring just added end-to-end encryption (E2EE) to a select number of its smarthome cameras, protecting videos recorded by your Ring devices with an extr
Slack has launched a new direct-messaging feature that allows people from different companies to talk to one another. No problems there, right? The se
Google just released a new Google Drive desktop app for Windows and Mac to replace the Backup and Sync and Drive File Stream tools, which are shutting
Google’s RCS Chat text messaging protocol is quickly replacing the outdated SMS messages we’ve been stuck with for decades. RCS enables tons of user-f
Apple’s M1 Macs are known for speed, and for good reason: They wake up immediately and churn through tasks, often without breaking a sweat. You might
If you hate digging through Windows 11’s menus to find a tool or setting tucked away in the Control Panel or System Settings, try turning on the hidde
We are a comprehensive and trusted information platform dedicated to delivering high-quality content across a wide range of topics, including society, technology, business, health, culture, and entertainment.
From breaking news to in-depth reports, we adhere to the principles of accuracy and diverse perspectives, helping readers find clarity and reliability in today’s fast-paced information landscape.
Our goal is to be a dependable source of knowledge for every reader—making information not only accessible but truly trustworthy. Looking ahead, we will continue to enhance our content and services, connecting the world and delivering value.
