I just saw a coworker with something like 30 tabs open in Chrome. I also know someone who regularly hits the 500-tab limit on their phone, though I suspect that’s more about being messy than anything else.

When I’m researching something, I might have 10-50 tabs open for a while, but once I’m done, I close them all. If I need them again, browser history is there.

Why do people keep so many tabs open? Is there a workflow or habit I’m missing? Do they just never clean up, or is there a real benefit to tab hoarding? I’m genuinely curious. Why do people do that?

  • ohshit604@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    2·
    3 hours ago

    I do for work because I usually have to recall information and don’t want to look it back up every time.

    Pro tip: Auto-unloading the tabs (via extensions) certainly helps retain memory.

    • douglasg14b@lemmy.world
      1·
      1 hour ago

      Protip: Installing more ram makes for more convenience on keeping tabs alive forever

      There’s a reason I plopped in another 32GB stick

    • Omgpwnies@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      2 hours ago

      You know every modern browser has bookmarks, and I think all of them have a bookmark toolbar, and the ability to organize bookmarks into folders…

      right?

      • douglasg14b@lemmy.world
        1·
        1 hour ago

        Yeah, but they you gotta organize it, and garden it, and maintain it. Or it’s just another useless dump of probably useless information. This is difficult for folks with ADHD and similar.

        Not to mention that many tabs are transient, they are not meant to be permanent. Making them permanent means they are out of sight out of mind and will pile up even more

        • Omgpwnies@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          1 hour ago

          I have ADHD. Open tabs lose context, I forget why they’re open, so they are useless. Bookmarks are categorized and that organization keeps the context apparent. I currently have 5 tabs open, and after submitting this reply, it will be four.

      • ohshit604@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        1·
        1 hour ago

        You know every modern browser has bookmarks, and I think all of them have a bookmark toolbar, and the ability to organize bookmarks into folders…

        I’m fully aware, however, I am not about to start bookmarking job’s labelled as #20000 -> 50000 and all their PDF’s, documents an such. Some jobs last 2+ years, like bridge projects, whereas other last a couple weeks to a month, easier to just leave tabs open for what I am focusing on within that current month.

        Edit: If I really wanted to do that I could just self-host a bookmarking service that way bookmarks stay centralized, but then I’m taking work home, so screw that.