My present version of Google Chrome.
If you are like me and have a lot of active default windows in your browser, and this browser is Google Chrome of the latest version, then you might run into the same problem as I did the other day after some updates. Google Chrome updates automatically in the background.
My default pinned windows.
I have 49 default windows pinned to the screen, which is a 24″ iMac, and set in Preferences to be my startup pages. Might seem like a lot, but those are the ones I check in on every day.
Tab-less browserwindow
If you open yet another browserwindow, and the screen isn’t wide enough to show the latest one, you won’t see its tab on screen. It looks as if it doesn’t have any tab.
It does have a tab though if you drag at the rightmost edge of the browserwindows.
Disappeared tabs.
If you then drag again at the rightmost edge of the browser-window, ALL TABS DISAPPEAR.
The same thing happen if you restart Google Chrome with a browser-window that is wider than your screen. It starts up with just the first, active tab. No other tabs are visible. First time I experienced that I almost panicked.
The first time that happened to me, I though something was broken in Google Chrome and did all kinds of error-solving actions, like restarting the browser, restarting the Mac, resetting Google Chrome to its default and rebuilt the tabs and re-pinned them… Nothing helped.
Restored browserwindow.
Then I chanced to resize the browser-window… and there they were again, all my pinned tabs.
Easy solution but not obvious. I have so far not found any other way to do it. If anybody knows another way, tell me please.
For a while there I thought I’d have to switch to another browser than Google Chrome (Firefox? Safari?), but there is no longer any need for it now that I know what Chrome does to the tabs.
PS. I have now documented (screenshot of the prefs in Google Chrome) all urls to all my active windows, just in case they would REALLY disappear and I’d have to start from scratch, in Google Chrome, or another browser.
Thanks for posting this!!!
I have the same problem too. Using Chrome extensions for quick fix. Still waiting for Google to fix this issue.
I wish Google would solve that problem. It has been going on much too long now.
Here it is…. 2018 and I had this problem… and of course you nailed perfectly. Thank you.
Some posts just keep on giving!
I was having the same problem. Then realized that it was my screen resolution. The tabs were there just hidden because the browser was outside the screen size. Set the screen display to another resolution. Boom, there were all my tabs.
If changing the screen resolution helps or not depends on how many tabs you want to have active at the same time. Mostly it doesn’t help one bit. Particularly as Chrome has a tendency to load same tabs several times. That problem still exists. The only way to make tabs appear as you want them is to enlarge the width of all tabs open until you see them all and close any superfluos ones.
Me too. Maybe I’ll have to go back to using IE. Fix it Google or will have no other option.
I don’t see any way to drag the screen!!
You drag the window, not the screen. On the Mac you fetch the namebar of the window by pressing and holding and dragging the window.
try adjust screen resolution
That has no effect.
I am om a Windows 10 PC and have the same issue. I press the F11 key and it turns the tabs back on for awhile.
I have this same issue. Man, what a dumb design changed. Due in part to this disappearing tabs problem, I’ve switched over to Brave browser (which I ended up liking more anyways so it’s a happy ending I suppose).
For me, it was just a matter of adjusting screen resolution (right-click on desktop, Display Settings, Scale and Layout).