AskVG

[Fix] Google Chrome Tab Switcher UI Changed to Basic Horizontal List on Android

- Last updated on by

SUMMARY: If you are using Chrome app in your Android mobile phone and you are getting a basic horizontal list of tabs in tab overview, this tutorial will help you in restoring default card tab switcher UI in Chrome. On the other hand, if you find the default card tab switcher UI distracting and want to enable a clean and minimal tab switcher UI in Chrome, this tutorial will also help you.

Recently an AskVG reader contacted me regarding this annoying problem. He was using an Android mobile phone. When he opened Google Chrome app, he noticed that the tab switcher (or tab overview UI) suddenly changed to a very basic horizontal list of tabs without webpage thumbnail previews.

Normally if we tap on the tab button or swipe down from the address bar or toolbar in Chrome app on Android, it shows the default card tab switcher UI showing web page titles and thumbnail previews as shown in following screenshot:

Advertisement

Default_Card_Tab_Switcher_UI_Chrome_Android.png

But when this problem occurs, the tab switcher automatically changes to a basic horizontal list of tabs showing web page titles and URLs only without page screenshots as shown in following image:

Accessibility_Tab_Switcher_UI_Chrome_Android.png

Some people may like the new basic horizontal list of tabs as it is less distracting and provides a clean and clear list of all running tabs. But some people may prefer the old classic card UI of tab switching which shows the web page thumbnails to easily find out the desired page.

Actually the new basic horizontal list of tabs is not a bug or issue. This UI is called Accessibility Tab Switcher or Simplified View of tabs which can be activated using Chrome Settings or Chrome://flags page. Sometimes Chrome automatically activates this new tab switcher UI if certain accessibility services (e.g. TalkBack, Switch Access) are enabled in a mobile phone.

Today in this article, we’ll tell you how to enable or disable this accessibility tab switcher or simplified view of tabs feature in Chrome on Android smartphones.

If you want to disable basic UI and restore the default card tab switching UI in Chrome on Android, this tutorial will help you. Or if you like the basic UI and want to manually enable it in your Chrome app on Android, this tutorial will also help you.

Advertisement

Following steps will help you in enabling or disabling the basic horizontal tab switcher UI in Chrome on Android:

STEP 1:

Launch Chrome app in your mobile phone and tap on 3-dots menu and select Settings option. It’ll open Chrome Settings page.

Open_Chrome_Settings_Android_Mobile_Phone.png

STEP 2:

Now scroll down to bottom and under “Advanced” section, tap on Accessibility option.

STEP 3:

Now you’ll see an option labelled as “Simplified view for open tabs“.

Disable_Simplified_View_Open_Tabs_Chrome_Android.png

If you want to disable basic horizontal tab switcher UI and bring back default card UI, disable this option.

If you want to enable the basic horizontal tab switcher UI, enable this option.

STEP 4:

Some Chrome users may not find the above mentioned option in Chrome Settings page. In such case, you’ll need to enable/disable the tab switcher UI using Chrome://flags page.

Open Chrome and type chrome://flags in address bar and tap on Go. It’ll open Chrome Experiments page where you can turn on/off several features.

Now type Accessibility in Search flags box and it’ll show following result:

Accessibility Tab Switcher
Enable the accessibility tab switcher for Android – Android
#enable-accessibility-tab-switcher

Disable_Accessibility_Tab_Switcher_UI_Chrome_Android.png

If you want to disable basic horizontal tab switcher UI and bring back default card UI, tap on the drop-down box and select “Disabled” option from the list.

If you want to enable the basic horizontal tab switcher UI, tap on the drop-down box and select “Enabled” option from the list.

Chrome will ask you to restart the browser. Click on “Relaunch Now” button to relaunch Google Chrome.

That’s it.

IMPORTANT NOTE 1: If the tab switcher UI is not changed, completely close Chrome app using Recent apps button on your mobile phone and close all running apps. Now relaunch Chrome and you’ll get the desired tab switching UI.

IMPORTANT NOTE 2: You can also use Chrome://restart command in address bar to completely restart Google Chrome and apply changes.

UPDATE: New versions of Chrome app come with a new grid layout of tab switcher screen. Following tutorial will help you in restoring old classic tab switcher in Chrome:

New_Grid_Layout_Tab_Switcher_Screen_UI_Chrome_Android_Mobile_Phones.png

[Tip] Restore Old Tab Switcher Screen UI in Chrome on Android

Also Check:

[Tip] Enable Bottom Tab Switcher Toolbar in Chrome on Android

[Tip] Activate Hidden Secret Tab Switcher UIs in Chrome on Android

[Tip] Enable Hidden Secret “Chrome Duet” Bottom Toolbar in Chrome on Android

[Tip] Enable Hidden Secret “Developer Options” Menu in Chrome Settings in Mobile Phones

[Tip] Enable Dark Mode UI on All Websites in Chrome on Android Mobile Phones

Published in: Google Chrome, Mobiles and Internet

About the author: Vishal Gupta (also known as VG) has been awarded with Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) award. He holds Masters degree in Computer Applications (MCA). He has written several tech articles for popular newspapers and magazines and has also appeared in tech shows on various TV channels.

You are here: Home » Google Chrome » [Fix] Google Chrome Tab Switcher UI Changed to Basic Horizontal List on Android

Comments

NOTE: Older comments have been removed to reduce database overhead.

  1. VG
    That’s brilliant!
    Couldn’t find this anywhere in any google help!
    Mind you didn’t know it was a “card ui” which didn’t help. Phew my deck of cards is restored! Your fix is the ace in the pack 😉

    Thanks
    Don

  3. Mine has refused. At start I had to install the Accessibility Suit because it had none such settings. Then I had to put on the Accessibility Switch. I then went to chrome and found out that setting ‘Simplified view for tabs” but still I am getting the horizontal list not cards.

  5. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! Omg… I have reset my settings disabled all chrome flags and reinstalled the Chrome browser multiple times now and nothing had fixed this issue, not until I read this article. Thank you!

  7. omg this is driving me nuts. what happens if I cant find neither of those 2 options u mentioned either in settings or chrome://flags? cause i dont have either of those options. im using a oneplus 6. please help!

    thank you

  11. Thank u so much, I don’t like the horizontal view of tabs, u had clearly explained how to switch it to default card UI, THANKS

  12. *GRID TAB won’t quit*
    Hi! I’ve been struggling to set the American Android chrome browser back to stacked, which I guess is closest to the Accessibility Tab Switcher option mentioned above. I performed the keyword search on the Google flags page but am not coming up with any results matching the words ‘accessibility’ and ‘tab.’ I’ve also tried to access any way to change the tab view directly through the 3-dot menu for chrome browser >settings> accessibility. The only options there include captions, zoom, text size, and ‘simplified articles when available.’

    A previous comment from Shisma in February mentions installing an accessibility suite, -am I getting in over my head? I really do nOt care for the grid view of tabs that keeps reappearing multiple times throughout the day. I like my “jumbled mess, ” as some users call it. I need it. I love it. I cannot function with a horizontal tab view, or with a grid of the the tabs, much less have my tabs landing in groups of grids of tabs. My brain does not work this way. Since I don’t have a lot of time these days to use my device without some kind of pressing interruption, it’s more important than ever that I can get right to the places I need to be on my active web pages.
    I’m trying to pay bills, access customer service, order kids shoes, return to recipes, etc, you name it! Okay end-rant.
    What should I do next? For the record I’m on a Pixel 3, Android version 11.
    Thank you in advance Vishal Gupta(!) or any other users that have found a permanent fix for this. And thank you Mr. Gupta for this article! I still believe there must be a remedy for this problem. Fingers crossed.

  14. I had the flat list working. Somehow, it switched back to the card stack. Not only that, the Accessibility Tab Switcher option is no longer listed when I search in Chrome flags.

    Here’s another c.zy thing: looking at the app about info on my phone, it shows version 87.0.4280.101. In Google play store, it shows “update” for the app (as I have automatic updates turned off for everything by default, because if it ain’t broken, don’t update it). But the version number for the latest release, as of Jan 6, 2021, shows the same number as the version I have installed!

    Ugh. Why does app like this have to change when I haven’t done anything to change it? Have the machines finally become self-aware and simply enjoy doing things like this to torment me? Based on the frequency of how often I deal with tech headaches and nightmares, I would have to say yes, almost definitely.

  19. I have the same issue, I want to return my tab management back to set of cards vertically aligned one after another, and now i see the full tabs and I dont like that. I also cant find the accessibility thing in the phone. “Simplified view for open tabs” showing is disabled.

  21. THANK YOU! I don’t know how my Chrome switched to grid, but I have struggled trying to get it back to “cards”. This did the trick!

  22. Thanks VG, I was struggling from last one month and waiting for Chrome updates and assumed to get it fixed auto :p

  23. You are life saver , tried many things nothing works uninstall reinstall everything at last found the right solution
    Thanks a lot ☺️

  29. Actually, before using the switch access setting again (as I was doing before, but it kept randomly popping up some annoying full screen notification every other day on my phone), I wanted to be totally sure that the problem wasn’t just with Chrome app being restarted not being enough to change the tab switcher setting. I found another setting in Chrome://flags named “Tab Grid Layout”. I set that to disabled, restarted chrome a few times, even force quit the app and cleared cache. But it was still using the big cards for the tab switcher. so I tried rebooting my phone just in case. luckily, that did the trick. Now I have the simple text list of open tabs again in the switcher. yay!

  30. Omg this started to really bug me especially because sometimes it would switch to the tabs view out of nowhere only to tease me for a few times. Finally I decided to Google what is going on. Nice to see I’m not alone in this.
    Many many many blessings to you, you made my life even better now. It’s about those little things in life ya know.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

NOTE: Your comment may not appear immediately. It'll become visible once we approve it.