Chrome’s New Split View Is Now My Favorite Way to Browse the Web.
Split View in Google Chrome, previously tested as an experimental feature, is now rolling out to the stable version of the browser (version 142). It doesn’t appear to be available to all users at the same time, but some are already seeing it. (I have it in Chrome on Mac, but not yet on Windows.)
To ensure you have the latest version of Chrome, click the three dots (in the upper-right corner) on the browser tab, then select “Settings” and “About Chrome.” If an update is available, it will download, and you can restart the browser to apply it.
If you’re using the latest version of Chrome and still don’t see Split View, you can wait for it to appear or enable the appropriate flag. Enter “chrome://flags/#side-by-side” in the browser’s address bar and press Enter , then enable the feature and restart the browser. Split View should then appear.
It works exactly as its name suggests: Split View lets you open two websites or apps in a single tab, for example, so you can read an article on Lifehacker while checking social media. It’s much more convenient than simply opening two Chrome windows side by side on Windows or macOS.
How to create a split view
There are several ways to create a split view. One is to right-click on a tab’s title and select “Add tab to new split view” from the menu that appears. The selected tab takes up one half of the Chrome window, and in the other half, you can select another open tab (if there are no other open tabs, the “New Tab” page will open).
Another option is to click and drag an open tab (by its title) or a web link to the far left or right of another tab. A small space will appear labeled “Create Split View.” Learning how to drag and position a tab correctly may take some practice, but once you get the hang of it, it’s quite simple.
After this, the split tab will work almost like any other regular tab. You can drag it to another location or window, and right-click it to access tab options (such as mute or pin). The split tab will have two small “x” icons that allow you to close each half of the tab separately. To close both, right-click the tab and select “Close.”
When you open a split tab, a new icon appears on the Chrome toolbar, which you can click to access the corresponding functions. Using this toolbar button, you can split the two views, close the left or right view, or swap them. The same functions are available by right-clicking the Split View tab header.
How to use Split View
Split view can be useful when you need to open two webpages or web apps on the screen at the same time. Google even suggests keeping a document open during a video call to make it easier to take notes.
This is great for any kind of research or note-taking, where you look up information and then write it down. However, it may not be the best solution for our attention span, as you could be loading a video on one half of the Split View screen and then scrolling through social media on the other.
You can adjust the size of each panel by dragging the divider in the middle, although you’re generally limited by the size of the Chrome window. You can also switch between different websites in Split View by entering the address in the address bar as usual—just make sure you select the right half of the panel.
A similar effect has long been implemented in Windows and macOS, where two Chrome windows are positioned on either side of the screen , but there’s something more convenient and simple about placing two pages in a single tab. I can see myself using this a lot, especially on an ultrawide monitor.