How to Set up Designated Browser Tabs 💻
Optimize your browser efficiency for streamlined workflows
How much of your workday is spent inside an internet browser?
The average office worker spends the majority of their day doing browser-based work. Even those not chained to a desk for 8+ hours are likely to open up an internet browser on a daily basis.
So increasing your efficiency in this area can make a big difference, and designated browser tabs are one way to save both time and mental bandwidth, while also getting a couple additional perks along the way!
What are designated browser tabs, you ask? They are a set of sites or services that are open and ready to go as soon as you open your web browser. Not only does it save time + energy (no need to remember the various sites required to do your job!) but can also be a great way to establish certain habits or routines.
For example, when I sit down at my computer in the morning and open up Google Chrome, my browser will launch and instantly open my:
Personal email inbox
Work email inbox
Google Calendar
Microsoft To-Do
Google Drive (open specifically to my work files)
My Habit Tracking Spreadsheet (in Google Sheets)
My 2024 Content Spreadsheet (in Google Sheets)
These align with the types of tasks I want to complete at the start of my day, such as my Power Up Routine, which helps me update my systems and make a plan for the day. But it also helps me jump into daily routines, such as assessing which habits I’ll complete that day.
Not sure what you’d include in your Designated Browser Tabs? Try some of these ideas:
🤔 Think about your workflow as soon as you sit down at your desk. What types of tasks do you like to perform early in the day? Or perhaps you have a specific routine you want to start the day with?
💡 If you feel most focused in the morning and enjoy doing deep work, have your browser open your ongoing research folder in Google Drive and the draft of your manuscript in Google Docs at start-up, rather than your inbox or other sites you find distracting.
🤔Think about any habits or routines you want to establish, such as habit tracking, being more strategic with your content, learning a new language, maintaining inbox zero, or networking with your peers.
💡 What sites or services would help you prioritize those things? This might mean having Duo Lingo or another language learning app open automatically along with a site like Big Timer set to 20 minutes. If you want to start your day by adding 500 words to the fictional novel you’ve been working on, have your browser open to the Word Doc with your first draft along with Noisli, which provides ambient background sounds (I love the coffee shop one!).
Once you have an idea of how you’d like to set up your Designated Browser Tabs, my step-by-step guide + video tutorial are here to help! The tutorials below are using Google Chrome (the browser I use and recommend), which you can download for free here, but the steps are similar in most browsers:
First, prep your browser:
Open your Google Chrome browser and ensure you are logged into your Google Profile (note: you can have unique start-up tabs for each Chrome User on your device, and switch between them or have multiple open at once, which is really handy for different clients or personal/work profiles!).
Open new tabs across the top for each website/service you'd like to have auto-open.
Sign in to each website/service and navigate to the exact page or dashboard you want opened (ex. a specific Google Sheet, a new post on your blog, etc.).
Drag and drop the tabs into an order that makes sense for your workflow (the tab furthest to the left will be visible on start-up).
Set up Designated Browser Tabs in Google Chrome.
Once you have your tabs set up how you’d want them, go to the three dots in the top right of your browser and select "settings" from the menu.
Along the left side, navigate to "On Startup."
Click the option for "Open a specific page or set of pages."
Then choose "Use current pages."
It will auto-populate all of your current tabs into a list.
The next time you start your browser, it will open up this set of tabs for you.
Return to settings > on start-up to edit or delete any of your saved tabs.
Click on this video for a short (2:38) video showing these steps.
If you’re about to head to my comment section to tell me about how you always have 50 tabs open and you never restart your browser for fear of losing them…stop right there. Next week we’ll talk about Bookmark Folders and how they can help alleviate your digital overwhelm.
Want my interactive habit tracking spreadsheet (shown in the video!)? My updated 2024 version is free for paying subscribers over in this Post + Tutorial and is always dated for 12-months from when you download it. Happy organizing!
If you enjoyed this post you might also enjoy these tutorials:
Organize Your Work With User Profiles 👨🏻
How to Set up Bookmark Folders 🗃
Did you find this helpful? What types of sites or services did you put into your Designated Browser Tabs and how are you hoping they help transform your day? Are there other ways you’ve found browser tabs helpful? Share below (click the 💬 icon if you’re in email).
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Finally got around to setting these - It was so easy! Thank you for the tutorial!