# How many browser tabs do you usually have open at once? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 12, 2012, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-browser-tabs-do-you-usually-have-open-at-once/624878 "2012-06-12T04:58:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kiros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/439d5e/32.png) [@Kiros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiros)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-browser-tabs-do-you-usually-have-open-at-once/624878/21 "2012-06-12T12:27:24Z")
Right now: two, because I just got set up at work for the day. Average: Between five and ten pretty consistently, whether at work or at home. I am almost equally confused by answers of “one” and “one hundred” on this one. ---
**Author:** ![bahia\_hombre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@bahia\_hombre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bahia_hombre)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-browser-tabs-do-you-usually-have-open-at-once/624878/22 "2012-06-12T12:32:12Z")
Is there a way to see a tab count in Firefox? From the dropdown list I’d estimate 35-40. ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-browser-tabs-do-you-usually-have-open-at-once/624878/23 "2012-06-12T12:44:43Z")
3-5 is the average for me. ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-browser-tabs-do-you-usually-have-open-at-once/624878/24 "2012-06-12T13:16:01Z")
Usually 3, occasionally 4. Always leave a tab for email open one for FaceBook, and 1 or 2 to browse. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-browser-tabs-do-you-usually-have-open-at-once/624878/25 "2012-06-12T13:19:05Z")
How do you keep track of so many tabs? Right now, I’ve got 18 tabs in three IE windows, and after a while, it can get to the point of ‘just open that site on another tab rather than looking for the existing one.’ I just can’t comprehend having 100 open tabs - I don’t even have that many favorites/bookmarks. ---
**Author:** ![Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nunzio_Tavulari)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-browser-tabs-do-you-usually-have-open-at-once/624878/26 "2012-06-12T13:29:42Z")
I have one that’s almost always open and one or two different ones that come and go. So three. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-browser-tabs-do-you-usually-have-open-at-once/624878/27 "2012-06-12T13:51:09Z")
Let’s see, three Opera windows open: 7, 6, 13. So 26 total. And I’ve been running like that a couple days now. That’s a pretty high number for me. Usually it’s 0-1 with occasional bursts to 10-20 like when I’m reading the Dope. So it seems a lot of people use tabs a lot. And yet Opera is the only browser that does tab minimization which I find absolutely necessary for dealing with multiple tabs. Plus it allows me to close the last tab, which is why I get down to 0 when I’m not doing any surfing. I like keeping things tidy. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-browser-tabs-do-you-usually-have-open-at-once/624878/28 "2012-06-12T15:23:50Z")
Right now, eight. I always have at least four (gmail, twitter, bitly, facebook), often six (+ pinterest and the Dope), and right now I’ve got two things pending (a page that I’m waiting for a correction to update, so I can let someone know the correction has been made, and a story I’ll need if I get a nibble on a quick job for someone). I’ll go up to 10 or 12 before I start bookmarking/closing. ---
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-browser-tabs-do-you-usually-have-open-at-once/624878/29 "2012-06-12T15:49:45Z")
Damn, and I thought five was a lot! At work, five is pretty typical. I have three in Firefox (a messaging service for IMing coworkers, the radio, and whatever I’m browsing for entertainment when I need a break from work) and two in IE (my work e-mail and usually another document repository or task management system that I use for work). I use two browsers because some functionality works better in one browser rather than the other. At home it’s usually less. The most I can imagine myself having open would be three: one with the weather, one with a youtube video if I decided to listen to a song I didn’t have in itunes, and one for whatever site I happen to be browsing at the time. I guess I’d just rather type the URL myself than click on a tab. It’d be easier to click the tab, but I just don’t like opening a browser and having a whole bunch of web pages load at once, and once I’m done looking at content on a site I don’t feel any desire to leave the tab open. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-browser-tabs-do-you-usually-have-open-at-once/624878/30 "2012-06-12T23:07:36Z")
At work, 6-8 at a time. At home, I hate tabbed browsing. I have 2 different sessions open and only end up with tabbed sessions when I click on links. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-browser-tabs-do-you-usually-have-open-at-once/624878/31 "2012-06-12T23:12:45Z")
1 to 3. Around ten is probably my record ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-browser-tabs-do-you-usually-have-open-at-once/624878/32 "2012-06-12T23:19:55Z")
Generally about 10+ tabs at home. I noticed recently that if I have enough tabs open that Firefox has to add the scroll buttons, and if I leave that many tabs open for a couple days, Firefox’s performance will completely bottom out, to where it won’t play video and the tab bar won’t scroll. I have to close out and restart Firefox. However, when I keep the number of tabs low enough that I don’t need to scroll to see them all, Firefox seems to be much happier. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-browser-tabs-do-you-usually-have-open-at-once/624878/33 "2012-06-12T23:23:34Z")
Typically two to four. When it gets up around ten I just stop clicking on new shit and read what I’ve already got on my plate. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-browser-tabs-do-you-usually-have-open-at-once/624878/34 "2012-06-12T23:36:18Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > Typically two to four. When it gets up around ten I just stop clicking on new shit and read what I’ve already got on my plate. Same here. I’ve currently got four open, including this one. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-browser-tabs-do-you-usually-have-open-at-once/624878/35 "2012-06-12T23:41:45Z")
Um…in this window, 59. In another, 47. In another, 63. Er… ---
**Author:** ![Ken001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/43a26b/32.png) [@Ken001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ken001)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-browser-tabs-do-you-usually-have-open-at-once/624878/36 "2012-06-12T23:44:48Z")
About 15 in Firefox normally, never more than 20, never less than 10. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2012, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-browser-tabs-do-you-usually-have-open-at-once/624878/37 "2012-06-13T00:08:27Z")
1 tab, ever. But I keep 10 - 15 browser windows open at once. ---
**Author:** ![mister\_nyx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@mister\_nyx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mister_nyx)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2012, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-browser-tabs-do-you-usually-have-open-at-once/624878/38 "2012-06-13T00:34:08Z")
Typically? Less than five hundred, anyway. It’s hard to say exactly, since they’re spread over a couple dozen different Firefox windows. But probably at least a hundred. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-browser-tabs-do-you-usually-have-open-at-once/624878.md?page=1)