Long ago something revolutionary happened that would eventually change the way we use our web browsers forever. Something so simple in concept but powerful in impact. I am talking about tabbed browsing. Tabbed browsing started way back in the 1990s with a browser called SimulBrowse but Mozilla Firefox made it popular many years later. Tabs made it possible to have more than one webpage open at a time without having to have multiple browser windows open. This changed everything. I know that at times I tend to have several tabs open. I may have a video, a couple google searches, an article I want to read, and a social media account all open at once in their own tabs.

 

That’s not all though. Many of us have multiple devices. Most of you have some combination of desktop computers, laptops, smartphones, and tablets. For many of us our work, online to do list, and Google searches are definitely not contained to only one device. Whatever it is that you are doing online, wouldn’t it be nice to share it between devices easily if not seamlessly?

 

The solution to all of this is called syncing. Syncing your web browsers between your devices will allow you to share information from one device to another whether we are talking about your desktop, laptop, phone, or tablet. Sharing tabs between devices will allow you to:

 

• Pick up from where you left off when you switch devices.
• When you find something that you want to read later you can just send the tab to the device that you will be reading it on.
• If you find something on the web that you want to show others, you can send the tab to a device that you will show them on.

 

Before you can share tabs you will need to enable sync on your web browser. Syncing your browser allows it to share information and settings between devices. For example your saved passwords, history, bookmarks, and tabs. First we are going to go over how to set up sync on Chrome, Firefox, and Edge. After that we will get into how to share tabs.

 

How to enable sync on Google Chrome

 

Open Google Chrome on your PC.

 

 

 

Open the three dot menu.

 

 

 

Click Settings.

 

 

 

Click the “Turn on sync…” button.

 

 

 

Sign into your Google account.

 

 

 

Click the “Yes, I’m in” button.

 

 

 

Open Google Chrome on your mobile device.

 

 

 

Tap to open the three dot menu.

 

 

 

Tap Settings.

 

 

 

Tap “Turn on sync”.

 

 

 

Make sure you are signed in and tap the “Yes, I’m in” button.

 

 

 

How to enable sync on Mozilla Firefox

 

Open Mozilla Firefox on your PC.

 

 

 

Open the hamburger menu.

 

 

 

Click the “Sign In” button.

 

 

 

Sign into your Firefox account.

 

 

 

Click the “Show code” button. Then follow the on screen instructions.

 

 

 

How to enable sync on Microsoft Edge

 

Open Microsoft Edge on your PC.

 

 

 

Open the three dot menu.

 

 

 

Click Settings.

 

 

 

Click the “Sign in to sync data” button.

 

 

 

Make the appropriate selection and click the Continue button.

 

 

 

Open the Microsoft Edge mobile app.

 

 

 

Tap the accounts icon.

 

 

 

Tap the icon where it says Accounts.

 

 

 

Add or sign into your account and tap “Sign in to sync”.

 

 

Sharing Web Browser Tabs Between Google Chrome PC and Mobile

 

Sharing Google Chrome web browser tabs from your PC to your mobile device method 1

 

Right click inside the address bar and choose Send to (name of device).

 

 

 

You will now have a notification on the device that you sent the page to. Just tap on the notification and the webpage will open in a new tab.

 

 

 

Sharing Google Chrome web browser tabs from your PC to your mobile device method 2

 

Right click on any portion of the page and choose “Send to your devices”.

 

 

 

Click on the name of the device that you are sending the tab to.

 

 

 

You will now have a notification on the device that you sent the page to. Just tap on the notification and the webpage will open in a new tab.

 

 

 

Sharing Google Chrome web browser tabs from your mobile device to PC

 

Tap on the three dot menu.

 

 

 

Tap Share.

 

 

 

Tap “Send to your devices”.

 

 

 

Tap on the device that you want to send the tab to.

 

 

 

In Chrome on your PC click the “Open in New Tab” button.

 

 

Sharing Web Browser Tabs Between Mozilla Firefox PC and Mobile

 

Sharing Mozilla Firefox web browser tabs from your PC to your mobile device

 

Right click on the tab, point at “Send to Device”, and click on the device that you want to send the tab to.

 

 

 

You will now have a notification on the device that you sent the page to. Just tap on the notification and the webpage will open in a new tab.

 

 

 

Sharing Mozilla Firefox web browser tabs from your mobile device to PC

 

Tap on the three dot menu. Note that depending on how you set Firefox up the three dot menu may be on the bottom of your screen.

 

 

 

Tap the Share icon.

 

 

 

Tap on the device that you want to send the tab to.

 

 

Sharing Web Browser Tabs Between Microsoft Edge PC and Mobile

 

Sharing Microsoft Edge web browser tabs from your PC to your mobile device

 

Right click on the address bar and choose the option to send the page to your device.

 

 

 

On Edge mobile app tap the Ok button in the box that pops up.

 

 

 

Sharing Microsoft Edge web browser tabs from your mobile device to PC

 

Tap the three dot menu.

 

 

 

Tap “Send to devices”.

 

 

 

Select the appropriate device and tap the Send button.

 

 

 

Click the “Open in New Tab” button that appears.

 

 

 

The ability to share web browser tabs is an amazing feature of modern web browsers. It makes it convenient to share information between devices and to start working or reading where you left off from device to device. By the way, tab sharing works with both Android and iOS. Give it a try and let me know how it works out for you.