DocsTabs and layouts
Tab layouts
Choose whether your tabs live in the sidebar, in a row on top or in a dock, and switch whenever you like.
Luma has three layouts. They change where the tabs and the controls are; your tabs, groups and workspaces stay the same whichever you use.
Sidebar
Tabs are in a list on the left of the window, with their full titles. Above the page, a bar across the window holds Back, Forward and Reload, the address bar and, at its right end, the window buttons. The sidebar under it starts with a row for downloads and pinned extensions (when there are any), then come your Essentials, the current workspace with its pinned tabs, its tabs and groups, and New tab. At the foot of the sidebar are the workspace buttons (with a single workspace, just the + to create one), Settings and the ⋯ menu.
If you’d rather have nothing above the page, set Settings › Appearance › Layout › Address bar to In the sidebar: Back, Forward, Reload, the address bar and the window buttons move to the top of the sidebar, and the page reaches the top of the window. On top puts them back in the bar.
Drag the right edge of the sidebar to make it wider or narrower, or set Sidebar width in Settings › Appearance › Layout. The sidebar is the only layout with compact mode, which hides it until you need it.
On top
Tabs are in a row along the top of the window, as in most browsers, with the window buttons at its right end and the toolbar under them: Back, Forward, Reload, the address bar, extensions, downloads, Settings and the ⋯ menu. Pinned tabs and Essentials come first in the row. There are no workspace buttons in this layout: your workspaces are at the top of the ⋯ menu.
Dock
The page fills the window, and everything else is in one bar on an edge of it, like the Windows taskbar: the privacy shield, the workspaces, Back, Forward and Reload, your tabs as icons, the address bar and the tools. This is the layout the first-run setup recommends. See The dock.
Side by side
| Sidebar | On top | Dock | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tab titles | In full, in a list | In the tab row | Icons; the title shows on hover |
| Address bar | In a bar on top, or at the top of the sidebar | In the toolbar under the tabs | In the dock |
| Workspaces | Buttons at the foot of the sidebar | In the ⋯ menu | Buttons in the dock |
| Tab groups | Shown | Shown | Not shown: tabs appear one by one |
| Dragging tabs | Yes | Yes | Yes, along the dock and onto a workspace |
| More room for the page | Compact mode | No | Floating dock |
Switch layout
- Open the ⋯ menu, choose Layout and pick Sidebar, On top or Dock.
- Or open Settings › Appearance › Layout and choose under Tabs.
The window changes at once. If you skipped the first-run setup, you’re on the sidebar layout, with the address bar on top.
Other layout settings
In Settings › Appearance › Layout you’ll also find:
- Tab size: Normal or Compact, which makes the rows of tabs lower.
- Show bookmarks bar, also with Ctrl+Shift+B.
- Show workspaces, to hide the workspace buttons and the + (see Workspaces).
- With the dock: Dock position, Floating dock and Magnify icons. With the sidebar: Address bar (On top or In the sidebar), Sidebar width and Compact mode.
- Theme file: Import… and Export… save or load your appearance, layout and toolbar settings in one file, to back them up or share them.