Close duplicate tabs in Chrome and Edge

Why duplicates pile up

Clicking a link from your email, a chat or a search often opens a page you already have open. After a few days a window can hold three copies of the same document, and each one uses memory.

Close duplicate tabs with Tab Shelf

1. Click the Tab Shelf icon in the toolbar.
2. Press Close duplicates.
3. The popup reports how many tabs it closed and roughly how much memory that frees.

Two tabs count as duplicates only when the address is exactly the same. Two different posts on one site are different pages, so both stay.

Which copy stays open

• Your current tab, if it is one of them.
• Otherwise a pinned tab, then a tab playing sound, then the one you used most recently.
• Pinned tabs and tabs playing sound are never closed, even when they repeat another tab.
• A tab with unsaved typing or a playing video stays open when Tab Shelf has page access.

Duplicates inside a normal clean

When you press Clean tabs, repeats are handled for you. Only one copy of a repeated page goes to the shelf, and a repeat of a tab that stays open is closed without being saved, since the page is still open.

Without an extension

Chrome's tab search (Ctrl+Shift+A) lists every open tab, which helps you spot repeats by eye. Closing them is still one tab at a time.

Questions

How do I close duplicate tabs in Chrome?

Chrome has no built-in command. An extension such as Tab Shelf closes them in one click. Without one, use tab search (Ctrl+Shift+A) to find repeats and close them by hand.

Will it close a tab I am typing in?

With page access turned on, tabs that hold unsaved typing or a playing video are left open. Your current tab is never closed.

Does this work in Microsoft Edge?

Yes. Tab Shelf works the same way in Chrome and Edge.