Every tab, in every window
Title and address, across all your windows at once - so finding a tab across multiple windows is the same keystroke as finding one in this window.
Type a few letters.
Land on the tab.
Forty tabs, three windows, and the one you want has shrunk to an icon. Latr lets you find an open tab by typing its name - in every window at once, plus the ones you just closed - and jumps you straight to it.
- No account, ever
- Free, and not a trial
- Nothing leaves your browser
The problem
How to find a tab I opened earlier
You know it is open. You read half of it this morning. But the tab strip squeezes every title down to an icon past the twentieth tab, the other two windows are hiding behind this one, and clicking through them one at a time is slower than searching for the page again - which is how the same page ends up open three times.
What you remember about a tab is a word from its title or a piece of the site's name. That is all a search needs. A quick tab switcher takes those few letters, looks at every tab you have open in every window, and puts the matches in a list you can pick from without touching the mouse.
How to
Find an open tab by typing its name
Two keys with no setup, or one key you choose. Either way you end up in the same search box.
- 1 Open Latr with AltShiftL, then press CtrlK.
The first is bound when you install. The second opens the command palette inside Latr (CmdK on a Mac). The first time, a row offers to let Latr see your tabs; allow it once and it is done.
- 2 Or give the quick switch its own key.
Go to
chrome://extensions/shortcuts(edge://extensions/shortcutsin Edge; in Firefox, the add-ons page, the gear menu, then Manage Extension Shortcuts), find Jump to an open tab by typing and press the keys you want. It ships with no key on purpose. Pressed, it opens Latr straight onto your open tabs, listed before you type a letter. - 3 Type part of the title or the address.
The match is loose - the starts of words are enough - so inv q3 finds "Invoice - Q3 report" and pull 42 finds "Pull request #42". Arrow keys move through the list.
- 4 Press Enter.
Latr switches to the tab and brings its window to the front, wherever it was. If your browser cannot open Latr from a key, a notification says to open it and press CtrlK instead, rather than doing nothing.
Prefer to see everything first? The Open tabs section of Latr lists every tab grouped by window, filtered as you type; Enter jumps to the first match and Esc clears the filter. It is the same list the tab manager is built on, with duplicates marked and a menu on every row to move, sleep or save the tab.
What it searches
Search open tabs and recently closed tabs in one box
Open tabs come first, because a tab that is already open is one keystroke away. After them, the places a page you are looking for might have gone.
Tabs you just closed
Recently closed tabs appear under the open ones once you have let Latr see them (the Recently closed list on the Windows and tabs page asks). Reopening one restores the tab itself, back button and all.
Your history, if you want it
While you type, a row offers to search your browsing history too. It is a separate permission, asked for only when you pick that row, and declining it changes nothing else.
Type a time, get a reminder
Type in 2 hours or friday 9am and the first row offers to remind you about the tab you are on. Enter, and you can close it - it comes back on its own at that time.
The same box also finds your saved reminders and Latr's own actions, so it doubles as a keyboard-first command palette for the whole extension. Nothing here asks for a permission by keyboard alone: open tabs and history each have a row that asks, and you choose whether to pick it. Recently closed tabs appear once access to them has been allowed - which is offered on the Windows and tabs page.
Fairly
Does the browser have tab search built in?
Yes, and for some people it is enough. Here is what each one does, so you can decide.
Built into the browser
A list of open tabs
Chrome and Edge each have a tab search list, opened from a button near the tab strip
or a keyboard shortcut, covering your open and recently closed tabs. The address bar
can offer "Switch to this tab" when you type a page you already have open, and in
Firefox, typing % and a space in the address bar limits suggestions to
open tabs. CtrlShiftT
reopens the last closed tab in all three.
What Latr adds
One box for all of it
Open tabs in every window, recently closed tabs and your history in one list, in Chrome, Edge and Firefox alike. A key you choose that lands on your tabs before you type. A typed time that turns the current tab into a reminder. And a list that leads somewhere: move the tab to another window, put it to sleep, or close its duplicates.
What it does not do: it does not search the words inside a page, it does not pick a key for itself, and it cannot see your tabs until you allow it once. If you would rather click than type, try the tab playground - it is a simulation, so you can see the list without installing anything.
Questions
Finding tabs, asked directly
Is there a keyboard shortcut to search open tabs?
Two. With no setup at all, Alt+Shift+L opens Latr and Ctrl+K (Cmd+K on a Mac) opens the search box inside it. Or give the quick switch command a key of its own at chrome://extensions/shortcuts - it ships with none, so it never takes a combination from something else - and that one key opens Latr straight onto your open tabs, listed before you type anything.
How do I find a tab when I have multiple windows open?
Search from Latr instead of from the window in front of you. The quick switcher and the Open tabs list both read every tab in every window, so the match can be anywhere. Pick it and Latr brings its window to the front and makes it the active tab, which is the part the tab strip cannot do.
How do I find a recently closed tab with a keyboard shortcut?
Ctrl+Shift+T (Cmd+Shift+T on a Mac) reopens the last tab you closed in Chrome, Edge and Firefox, and pressing it again goes further back. To find a particular closed tab by name, open Latr’s quick switcher and type: recently closed tabs appear under the open ones, once you have allowed Latr to see them. Reopening one this way brings back the tab with its history, so the back button still works.
Does it search the text inside the pages?
No - it matches the tab’s title and its address, which is what you remember of a tab most of the time. Latr does not read the contents of your pages to build an index, and nothing is sent anywhere to search them. If you can recall a word from the title or a piece of the site’s name, that is enough; the match does not need to be exact.
Why does Latr ask for permission before it can search my tabs?
Reading the titles and addresses of your tabs is something browsers rightly warn about, so Latr does not ask for it at install - the install dialog shows no warnings at all. The first time you search, a row offers to allow tab access, and the browser asks once. Searching your history is a separate, optional permission asked for the same way. Decline either and the rest of Latr keeps working.
Does it work in Edge and Firefox?
Yes. Edge uses the same package as Chrome, and its shortcut page is edge://extensions/shortcuts. In Firefox, assign the key from the add-ons page: the gear menu, then Manage Extension Shortcuts. Firefox has no side panel, so the always-open list is a Chrome and Edge thing; the popup and its search work the same everywhere.
Is the tab search free?
Yes, all of it - open tabs, recently closed, history and the quick switch command. There is no account and no cap on how many tabs it searches. Latr Pro, a one-time $19, is about themes, sounds and a few higher limits elsewhere, and none of it touches search.
Close the tab.
It will come back.
Free, no account, and nothing leaves your device. About ten seconds to install, and one keystroke to use.
Also on Brave, Vivaldi, Arc and Opera - straight from the Chrome Web Store listing.