In Chrome, there are all sorts of tab management tools that you can use to easily access and manage your opened tabs. It’s just that not all of these tools can efficiently manage your aggressive tabbed browsing behavior. If you are the type who always tends to open too many tabs in just one window, then you might as well consider using this free tab manager for Chrome called “Tabs Board”.

What is it and what does it do

Main Functionality

Tabs Board is a free Chrome browser extension that is designed to work as a simple yet efficient tab manager. Compared to other tab managers, this tool flaunts a distinctive UI that sorts out all of your opened tabs as cards on a semi-transparent board. Apart from this, Tabs Board also supports voice search so you can quickly find and access a tab just by stating the name of the site that you want. You can also use this extension to pin your important tabs.

Pros

• User-friendly, non-obstructive
• Neat UI – features a card-based theme with a semi-transparent board
• Smooth, stable and responsive
• Voice search support (for searching tabs)
• Built-in search tool (for searching tabs)
• Supports keyboard shortcuts
• Configurable options
• Supports two languages – English and Arabic

Cons

• The extension will repeatedly ask you to permit its access to your mic even if you’ve already done so in your previous session

Discussion

To use Tabs Board, you simply need to download and install it to your browser. After which, the extension will automatically add its icon to your omnibar. Just click on its icon to configure the extension’s language and keyboard shortcuts.

Now, take note of all your opened tabs. As I’ve already mentioned above, Tabs Board will sort out all of your opened tabs in a card-style layout. So if ever you’ve come to the point wherein you could no longer identify what each tab is meant for, just press the assigned keyboard shortcut for launching your semi-transparent tab manager. By default, you can open and view your board by pressing “Ctrl + Shift + A”.

On your semi-transparent board, you’ll see all of your opened tabs. Each of which are presented in a card-like manner. You can also preview the content of each tab. Just click on the tab preview to launch or open the actual tab. Just keep in mind that this extension will only manage your active tabs. If you close a tab, then it will be automatically removed from your tab manager.

Apart from the aforesaid features, Tabs Board also flaunts an extra board wherein you can drag and pin all of your important tabs. To open the extra board, just click on the subtle “open” icon that’s located right above the active board. After which, just drag and place the tab that you like to mark as “important”.

Another notable of this tool is its ability to search all of your opened tabs via voice command. Just type “Ctrl + Shift + B” on your keyboard. This will activate the extension’s voice search function. After which, just say the name of the website that you wish to open and the tool will do the rest of the work. However, keep in mind that this tool will only show you the tab that best matches your search. It won’t automatically open or load the tab on your browser. If you want to close your tab manager, just repeat the step that you did for opening it. It’s as easy as that.

All in all, I find this tool very easy to use plus it’s also smooth, stable and responsive. Most of time, its voice search function can easily recognize the sites or tabs that I wanted to open. However, its biggest downside would probably be the fact that it will always ask you to allow it to access your microphone even if you have already done so in your previous session.

Conclusion and download link

I like Tabs Board mainly because it is easy to use. It’s great for users who always tend to open multiple tabs at once. I also like the way how it presents all of your active tabs in a card-like layout. You can even delete a tab right within the board. I just don’t like the fact that it always ask for permission to access your microphone. Even so, this simple yet efficient tab manager for Chrome is still worth checking out.

Price: Free

Version reviewed: 1.3

Requires: Chrome on Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, Linux and Mac OS X

Tabs Board on Chrome Web Store