TL;DR: Chrome only auto-groups tabs in the limited "People also search for" scenario. Tabbiy's Auto button groups every open tab by domain in one click, and custom rules can match paths, subdomains, second-level domains, and keywords. Grouping is visual only — to actually save memory, hibernate the group instead.

If you regularly juggle dozens of Chrome tabs, manual grouping becomes a chore you eventually stop doing. The good news: Chrome now supports tab auto-grouping, and with the right setup you can keep your tab bar tidy without touching a thing.

Why Auto-Grouping Matters

When every project, research session, and work task shares one tab bar, finding anything takes seconds too long. Auto-grouping fixes this by:

  • Grouping tabs by domain — all Gmail, Docs, and Drive tabs collapse into one labeled group
  • Reducing visual clutter — a collapsed group is one compact chip instead of ten tabs
  • Lowering context-switching costs — you always know where a category of tabs lives

How Chrome Auto-Groups Tabs Natively

Chrome's built-in feature groups tabs automatically in one limited scenario: when you open a link from a search engine, it creates a "People also search for" group. Beyond that, you're on your own — which is why most power users install a dedicated tool.

Auto-Group Tabs with Tabbiy Rules

For full control, Tabbiy lets you create custom grouping rules that run automatically the moment you open a tab. Here's how:

  1. Open the Tabbiy sidebar with the shortcut ALT+D
  2. Click the Auto button at the bottom of the list
  3. Tabs are instantly grouped by domain name

Creating Custom Rules

Want something smarter than domain matching? Open the Rules page and build rules that match paths, subdomains, second-level domains, and keywords. For example, a rule named Work can sweep every tab whose URL contains your work domain into one group — even tabs from different sites.

Ungrouping in One Click

Auto-grouping isn't permanent. Click Auto again and every group collapses back to plain tabs, giving you full control over when the tab bar is organized.

Grouping vs. Hibernation

Auto-grouping organizes your tabs visually; hibernation handles memory. The two work together — hibernate a whole group to free RAM, then reload it when you need it. If memory is your bottleneck, see Chrome Uses Too Much Memory? 7 Fixes That Actually Work.

Next Steps