How to Find Any Open Tab Instantly on Mac (Across Every Browser)

By Kshetez Vinayak, founder of SupaSidebar. Last updated May 13, 2026.

TL;DR:

Every Mac browser has some form of in-browser tab search. Safari uses ⌘⇧\ for Tab Overview (per Apple's Safari keyboard shortcuts page), Chrome's tab-search panel opens from the chevron icon in the tab strip with ⌘⇧A as the de facto Mac shortcut (not on Google's official Mac shortcut list, but works in Chrome and other Chromium browsers), Firefox uses % in the address bar to filter to open tabs, Vivaldi has Quick Commands at ⌘E, and Arc has its Command Bar at ⌘T. None of these can see tabs in another browser. The only way to search across browsers from one box is a Mac app that reads tabs via macOS Automation - SupaSidebar's Command Panel (⌘⌃K) searches tabs across 25 browsers, including Safari, Chrome, Firefox, Arc, Brave, Zen, Vivaldi, and Dia, from a single fuzzy-search field. The native shortcuts, the third-party landscape, and the cross-browser approach are below.

Looking for something specific?

• Category overview - what is a Mac sidebar app? → Mac Sidebar App: The Universal Sidebar Category
• Vertical tabs in Safari specifically? → Safari Vertical Tabs
• Saving tabs across browsers (different problem, same workflow)? → How to Save All Open Tabs

Why finding a tab on Mac is harder than it should be

The reason this is a search query at all is that Mac users tend to keep more than one browser open at once. A common pattern: Safari for personal browsing and iCloud-synced reading, Chrome for work where SSO and Google Workspace live, Firefox or Arc for development or research. One Reddit user described it cleanly:

"I use different browser for different workflows like Safari for social media, Chrome for web development, and Firefox for research." - Reddit user, r/macapps

Each browser has a serviceable in-app tab search. The problem shows up the moment a tab is open in a different browser than the one currently in focus. Cmd+Tabbing through three apps, squinting at favicons, hitting Cmd+L and retyping the URL - that's the workflow Mac sells as "just use Spotlight." Spotlight does not index live browser tabs either, per Apple's Spotlight documentation, which covers files, apps, calendar, and a handful of web sources but not the open-tabs list of any browser.

Two separate problems hide under "find open tab on Mac":

1. Find a tab inside the current browser. Solved by every browser's built-in shortcut. Covered below.
2. Find a tab open in another browser without switching apps first. Not solved by any built-in tool on macOS. Covered in the cross-browser section.

Native shortcuts every Mac browser already supports

These work without installing anything. They all share one limit: each shortcut only sees tabs in its own browser.

Safari: Tab Overview (⌘⇧)

Safari's tab search lives inside Tab Overview, the visual grid of every open tab in the current window. Press ⌘⇧\ (Command + Shift + Backslash) to open it - this is the official "Show tab overview" shortcut per Apple's Safari keyboard shortcuts page. A search field in the top-right corner of the overview filters tabs by page title or URL. The search filters across all tabs in the active window plus iCloud Tabs from other Apple devices signed into the same Apple ID, per Apple's "Find tabs" documentation.

What it does not do: search Safari tabs in other windows on the same Mac (only the active window), and obviously cannot see Chrome or Firefox tabs.

Chrome and Chromium browsers: Tab Search panel (chevron icon, ⌘⇧A)

Chrome has a dedicated Tab Search panel that lists every open tab across every Chrome window, plus recently closed tabs from the current session, with a filter field at the top. The official way to open it on Mac is to click the chevron (down-arrow) icon in the top-right of the tab strip, per Google's Chrome tabs documentation. Mac users have widely adopted ⌘⇧A as a de facto keyboard shortcut for this panel - it works in Chrome and most Chromium-based browsers - but ⌘⇧A is not listed on Google's official Chrome keyboard shortcuts page for Mac, so treat it as a community-known shortcut rather than an Apple- or Google-documented one. The underlying Tab Search component is shared across Chromium browsers per the Chromium source code, which is why Brave, Vivaldi, Opera, Arc, and other Chromium browsers expose the same panel.

Within a single Chromium browser, the Tab Search panel is fast and fuzzy. The limit is the same as every native option: only that one browser's tabs.

Firefox: address bar % operator

Firefox uses a different model. Typing % before or after a search term in the address bar filters results to only currently open tabs, per Mozilla's Firefox address bar autocomplete documentation. The autocomplete dropdown narrows to matching open tabs across all Firefox windows in the active profile. Hitting Enter switches to that tab. There is also a dedicated Mozilla support page on searching open tabs in Firefox for users who want a more visual approach.

The % operator is keyboard-only, which is a strength for power users and a discoverability problem for everyone else. Most Firefox users do not know it exists.

Edge: vertical tab bar (chevron icon for Tab Search)

Edge is Chromium-based and inherits the Tab Search panel via the chevron icon in the tab strip. Microsoft's official Edge keyboard shortcuts page for Mac does not list a Mac shortcut for Tab Search specifically, though the ⌘⇧A shortcut from the shared Chromium UI works in practice. Edge also offers a vertical tab bar with a built-in search/filter input - a UI feature Chrome does not have natively. Both still only see Edge tabs.

Arc, Brave, Vivaldi, Dia (Chromium-based) and Zen (Firefox-based)

Arc, Brave, Vivaldi, and Dia are Chromium-based, so the Chromium Tab Search panel is available in each via the chevron icon in the tab strip, with ⌘⇧A working as the community-known Mac shortcut where the browser hasn't remapped it. Zen is different - it is a Firefox fork, not Chromium-based, so Zen inherits Firefox's % address-bar operator for tab search instead of the Chromium panel.

Arc has its Command Bar (⌘T) which fuzzy-searches across open tabs, pinned tabs, and bookmarks within Arc. Per The Browser Company's announcement on May 27, 2025, Arc has been in maintenance mode and will not get new tab-search features - which means ⌘T in Arc is essentially frozen at its 2025 capabilities. For users still on Arc, ⌘T is the best in-app search; for users who moved off Arc, this guide's cross-browser approach is the substitute.

Vivaldi has its own approach: Quick Commands at ⌘E on Mac (F2 on Windows/Linux) opens a command palette that searches open tabs, bookmarks, history, settings, and browser commands.

The pattern

Every browser solves tab search within its own walls. The native landscape is summarised below.

Single-browser users get most of what they need from this table. The remainder of this post is for the Mac users whose tab is somewhere across three apps.

Searching across browsers from one box

macOS does not have a system-wide "search every open browser tab" feature. The four practical paths exist outside macOS itself:

1. A Mac sidebar app that reads tabs from every browser via macOS Automation
2. A dedicated tab-finder app limited to a handful of browsers
3. A keyboard launcher (Raycast, Alfred) with a tab plugin
4. Manual browser-switching with the best in-app shortcut for each

The first three options have different tradeoffs around browser coverage, search depth, and what else the tool does beyond tab search.

SupaSidebar Command Panel (25 browsers, ⌘⌃K)

SupaSidebar is a native macOS menu bar app that reads live tabs from 25 browsers via macOS Automation (AppleScript) and Accessibility APIs. The Command Panel opens with ⌘⌃K (Command + Control + K) as a global shortcut - it works from any app, not just a browser. It does fuzzy search powered by Fuse.js across live tabs from every connected browser, saved links, recent items, and Spaces in one query.

The scope is wider than any other tool covered below. Supported browsers include Safari, Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Arc, Brave, Vivaldi, Zen, Dia, Comet, Orion, Wavebox, and Helium for full Live Tabs + AppleScript support, plus 12 more (Chrome Beta/Canary/Dev, Edge Canary, Brave Beta/Nightly, Vivaldi Snapshot, Firefox Developer Edition, Safari Technology Preview, others) with Open With + basic support - 25 in total as of version 0.17.0.

One Reddit user described the value precisely:

"Seems like a really good product. The feature I'd use it most for is probably the fuzzy search of tab history." - Reddit user, r/macapps

What the Command Panel does that the native shortcuts cannot:

• Searches tabs across every connected browser simultaneously. Type "google doc" and results include Chrome's open Google Docs tab, Safari's, and Firefox's - in one list.
• Works from any app on Mac. ⌘⌃K does not require a browser to be in focus. From an IDE, from Slack, from a terminal - the same shortcut.
• Searches saved bookmarks, recent pages, and Spaces alongside live tabs. One query covers everything SupaSidebar manages.
• Persistent panel. The panel can be dragged anywhere on screen and remembers its position across launches as of 0.17.0.

The sidebar itself complements the Command Panel for users who prefer browsing over searching. Live Tabs mode shows every open tab from every connected browser as a persistent list grouped by browser - useful when the tab is recognisable by sight but not by exact title.

Tab Finder (4 browsers, Setapp)

Tab Finder aggregates open tabs from Safari, Chrome, Brave, and Opera into a single searchable list. It is purpose-built for cross-browser tab search and nothing else.

Strengths: simple, fast, single-purpose. Weakness: 4 browsers only. Firefox users, Edge users, Arc users, Zen users, Vivaldi users, and Dia users do not have their tabs covered. Distribution is via Setapp subscription, which makes sense for users already paying for Setapp and is friction for everyone else.

TabTab (Mac App Store)

TabTab takes a broader approach. It searches across every app and window on Mac, not just browser tabs - the Cmd+Tab app switcher with deep search bolted on. Tabs are part of the result set, alongside Slack threads, Notion pages open in apps, Finder windows, and so on.

This is a useful tool for users who think in terms of "the thing that was open" regardless of whether it was a browser tab or a native app window. The tradeoff: it is not optimised for tab-heavy workflows. Results from a browser with 50 open tabs get diluted by every other open window on the system. Browser coverage extends to Safari, Chrome, Firefox, Arc, and Brave - five browsers, more than Tab Finder, fewer than the cross-browser sidebar approach.

Tabby (Mac App Store, free)

Tabby is a free Mac App Store tab manager covering Safari, Chrome, and Firefox. Visual-first: it shows tabs as thumbnails grouped by window, with search as a secondary mode. Three-browser limit excludes everything Chromium-flavored beyond Chrome - Brave, Edge, Arc, and Vivaldi users will not see their tabs in Tabby.

Raycast / Alfred with a tab plugin

Raycast and Alfred are keyboard launchers, not tab finders, but each has community tab-search plugins that read browser tabs via the same macOS Automation APIs SupaSidebar uses. Raycast's Browser Extension covers Chrome-based browsers and Arc; Alfred's tab search workflows cover Chrome, Safari, and Firefox depending on which workflow is installed.

The tradeoff is setup complexity and coverage. Each plugin lists its supported browsers and requires permissions configured per browser. For users already living in Raycast or Alfred, adding a tab-search plugin is the lowest-friction path. For users who do not already use a launcher, installing one just for tab search is overkill compared to a purpose-built sidebar.

Quick comparison: Mac tab search tools

How to set up cross-browser tab search with SupaSidebar

For users who decide the cross-browser approach fits, here is the install path. Total time: under five minutes.

1. Download SupaSidebar

   from supasidebar.com. Standard Mac DMG, drag to Applications.

2. Grant Accessibility permission.

   First launch prompts for Accessibility in System Settings > Privacy & Security > Accessibility. This is what lets the Command Panel float over other apps and respond to the global shortcut.

3. Grant Automation permission per browser.

   For each browser to be searched, macOS shows an Automation permission prompt on first scan: System Settings > Privacy & Security > Automation > SupaSidebar > Safari (or Chrome, Firefox, Arc, etc.). Accept each one. Per Apple's Automation security model, this is granular - permission for one app does not grant it for others.

4. Pick Live Tabs during onboarding.

   Onboarding offers two modes for the bottom sidebar section: Recent (browser history) or Live Tabs (real-time view of currently open browser tabs). Live Tabs is the relevant one for cross-browser tab search.

5. Open the Command Panel with ⌘⌃K.

   From anywhere on Mac, the panel appears centered (or wherever it was last dragged, as of 0.17.0). Start typing - results from every connected browser appear instantly. Arrow keys to navigate, Enter to switch to the tab.

No browser extension per browser. No per-browser settings panel. One Mac app, one shortcut, every browser.

When a cross-browser tool isn't needed

Not every Mac user has this problem. The brief is honest about that.

Single-browser users get everything they need from the native shortcut for that browser. A Safari-only user hitting ⌘⇧\ a hundred times a day is not missing anything. A Chrome-only user with ⌘⇧A is fine. Adding a third-party tool to solve a problem that does not exist in the workflow is friction.

The cross-browser tool earns its place the moment "find this tab" becomes "wait, which browser was that opened in." If that happens once a week, the native tools are enough. If it happens twice a day, the cost of the tab hunt - 30+ seconds each time, multiplied across a work week - is real.

Conclusion: Picking what to use

Single-browser Mac users should stick with the native option for that browser: ⌘⇧\ in Safari (Apple-documented), % in Firefox's address bar (Mozilla-documented), ⌘T in Arc's Command Bar (Arc-documented), ⌘E in Vivaldi's Quick Commands, and Chrome's Tab Search panel via the chevron icon (with ⌘⇧A as the community Mac shortcut). No third-party tool changes the in-browser experience meaningfully. Cross-browser users running two or more browsers actively face the genuine gap, and the practical options narrow to four: Tab Finder (4 browsers, Setapp-only), TabTab (5 browsers, window-manager hybrid), Tabby (3 browsers, free, visual-first), or a Mac sidebar app like SupaSidebar (25 browsers, ⌘⌃K, also covers saved links and Spaces). Power users already living in a keyboard launcher can add a Raycast or Alfred tab plugin instead of a dedicated tab tool.

The pick depends on browser coverage and what else the tool needs to do. Tab Finder is the simplest single-purpose option for users on Safari, Chrome, Brave, and Opera. TabTab fits users whose mental model is "any open window, browser or not." A Mac sidebar app fits users who want tab search plus persistent visibility plus bookmark and Space management in the same surface. For users on Firefox, Arc, Zen, Vivaldi, Dia, or any combination that goes past the three-to-five-browser limit of the smaller tools, the sidebar-app path is the only one that covers everything.

Try SupaSidebar (free tier) if cross-browser tab search plus a unified sidebar fits the Mac workflow. For users still deciding between sidebar apps, the Mac Sidebar App category overview compares the landscape.

Why we recommend SupaSidebar

SupaSidebar is a macOS app that brings Arc's sidebar to every browser - one sidebar for tabs, bookmarks, files, and apps across 25 browsers including Safari, Chrome, Firefox, Arc, Zen, Vivaldi, Brave, Helium, and Dia. For tab search specifically, the Command Panel (⌘⌃K) is a global keyboard shortcut that fuzzy-searches live tabs from every connected browser in one query, alongside saved links and Spaces.

Real users describe the workflow shift the same way:

"Common browser history across browsers - finally." - Reddit user, r/macapps

"I've been wanting a way to manage my multiple browsers from a single source." - Reddit user, r/macapps

Free tier available with 3 Spaces, ⌘⌃K Command Panel, and Live Tabs across all 25 supported browsers. Runs natively on macOS 13+. Available at supasidebar.com.

Frequently Asked Questions