Learning keyboard shortcuts can help you become more productive and optimize your daily tasks. Let’s look at how to use keyboard shortcuts in various browsers to duplicate, detach, and merge tabs.
Duplicate, Merge, and Detach Browser Tabs with Keyboard Shortcuts
There are a couple of ways in which you can duplicate, merge, and detach browser tabs using keyboard shortcuts in Chrome, Edge, and Firefox, as given below:
1] Chrome
Duplicate a tab
To duplicate a tab on Chrome, you can use an add-on from the Chrome web store, which lets you use keyboard shortcuts. Follow the steps given below:
- Click here to add the extension and start duplicating tabs.
- Click the Add to Chrome button on the right. Click Add extension when prompted.
- To duplicate your current tab, press the keyboard shortcut keys Alt + Shift + D (or, on a Mac, Option + Shift + D). You can also customize the shortcut.
There are more shortcuts available, which you can configure and use simultaneously. There are shortcuts to open a new tab in a new window, pop the current tab (or multiple highlighted tabs) out to a new window, open a blank new tab to the immediate right of the current tab instead of to the right, etc.
Note: Even if you do not have this extension, you can still duplicate the tab you are currently on by middle-clicking the refresh button.
Detach and Merge a tab
Here, you can use keyboard shortcuts for merging and splitting tabs in Chrome using add-ons.
- Click here to add the Tab Merger Splitter extension to Chrome.
- Once added, you can use the Alt + Shift + X keys (MacOS: Option + Shift + X) to detach a tab from a browser window.
- To merge a single tab window with another browser window, press the Alt + Shift + Z keys (MacOS: Option + Shift + Z)
2] Microsoft Edge
Follow the methods given below to duplicate, detach, and merge tabs using keyboard shortcuts on Microsoft Edge:
Duplicate a tab
Duplicating tabs on Edge does not require extensions. All you need to do is click the CTRL + SHIFT + K keys together on the keyboard, and a duplicate version of the current tab will open.
Detach and Merge a tab
Here, you can use the Chrome extension, which we discussed above.
- Copy and paste this link on the Microsoft Edge address bar and click the Get button. Click Add extension when prompted.
- You can use the shortcut keys mentioned earlier to detach and merge a tab on your Edge browser.
3] Firefox
You can duplicate, detach, and merge tabs on Firefox using add-ons. Here is how:
Duplicate a tab
- Click here to open the add-on on Firefox to duplicate a tab.
- Click the Add to Firefox button. When prompted, click Add, and the add-on will be added to your Firefox Extensions.
- Click the Alt + Shift + D keys on your keyboard to duplicate the current tab on your Firefox browser. (Option + Shift + D on Mac).
Detach and merge a tab
- Click here to get the Firefox add-on to detach and merge a tab.
- Click Add to Firefox and click Add when prompted.
- On Linux and Windows, the standard keyboard shortcut for detaching a tab is Ctrl + Shift + Space (On Mac, Cmd + Shift + Space).
- On Linux and Windows, the standard keyboard shortcut for merging a tab is Ctrl +Shift + V (On Mac, Cmd + Shift + V).
Extensions can improve your browsing experience by including missing features. If you want more sophisticated tab management, look into the other extensions or use your browser’s built-in features.
