Google Chrome For Android Rolling Out Tab Search And Tab Group Sync

Google is rolling out the straightforward ability to search your open tabs, as well as Tab Group sync, to Chrome for Android.

In the tab switcher, you’ll see a new search bar above the grid of open sites. This pill-shaped field stays docked to the top of your screen.

Tapping takes you to a search screen, with Chrome first listing “Last open tabs.” Entering a term shows any open site, as well as results from “Bookmarks,” “History,” and “Search the web.” A click simply loads that tab. This is also available with Incognito mode, while desktop Chrome has offered this basic functionality for quite some time.

We’re seeing tab search rolled out with Chrome 133 for Android in a curious Friday afternoon/evening rollout. If it’s not yet live on your end, force stop Chrome.

Meanwhile, Google looks to have widely rolled out Tab Group sync in recent days. At the top of the tab grid, you’ll see a new 2×2 icon. This shows available groups from devices signed into Chrome, including from desktop.

Under Settings > Advanced > Tabs, you’ll see an “Automatically open tab groups from other devices” preference that you can toggle off. It’s enabled by default, but not ideal if you just want device-specific Tab Groups.

Meanwhile, you might also have pages that have not been used for 21 days (default increment) moved into an “Inactive tabs” section/card above the grid. You can disable this (“Never”), or set to After 7 or 14 days. There’s also:

Archive duplicate tabs: All duplicate tabs will now also be archived, with the exception of the most recently used copy.
Close after 60 days: Inactive tabs will automatically be closed. You can always find them in History.