Most Recent Used Tab Stack

How to install an extension Open in Chrome Web Store

CRX ID

kbedhikfgjjlhibaoafccbkeeppnhage

Status

Extension status: Featured

Description from extension meta

MRU Tab Stack — auto-move your most recently used tab to the front or back; works with pinned tabs and tab groups.

Description from store

MRU Tab Stack helps you stay focused by keeping your most recently used tab within easy reach. When you switch to a tab, MRU Tab Stack can automatically move it to the front (or back) of the tab strip so you spend less time hunting for it. It respects pinned tabs and Chrome tab groups, and works with the keyboard shortcut (Ctrl+Tab by default).

Features
- Auto-move the most recently used tab to the front or end of the tab strip
- Works with pinned tabs and Chrome tab groups
- Customizable delay and ordering in Options
- Keyboard shortcut support (default: Ctrl+Tab)
- Lightweight and privacy-first — no external servers

How it works
Install, open Options to set the move delay and right-to-left behavior, then switch tabs as usual. The extension will move the active tab after the configured delay.

Privacy
No browsing data is uploaded. Debug logs (optional) record only limited, non-sensitive tab summaries and are stored locally in the extension console when enabled.

Permissions note: This extension intentionally requests only the `storage` permission in the manifest. It does not request the `tabs` permission or host permissions. The extension uses non-sensitive tab metadata (id, index, groupId, title) and Chrome's tab activation events to perform moves without needing extra permissions.

Support & source
For support, issues, or to view the source, visit the project on GitHub (link in the options/about page).

Latest reviews

Burke Mamlin 2025-09-10: I love this extension and couldn't imagine using Chrome (or any browser) without it! Without any effort or thought, you end up naturally with tabs sorted left to right from newest to oldest. I spend far less time trying the find the tab I want, since it's almost always in the first few tabs.
David Brick 2025-03-17: Oh, too bad. I thought I had a winner. This is incompatible with Chrome's newer tab grouping functions, which I have come to depend upon heavily. If you click on a tab within a group with this extension installed, it will actually remove the tab from the group as it shifts it to the top of the stack. It's almost like the developers of Chrome are actively working against having the same sort of Ctrl-Tab functionality that Firefox has built-in. If you're not using the Tab Groups in Chrome, then this is a great little extension. It seems to work properly and quickly.
David Riebenbauer 2024-09-27: Pretty much essential to make chrome usable.
Günther Bosch 2024-08-24: Update 2024-08-18 Chrome is bitching about "This extension may soon no longer be supported". Any plans to migrate the extension to manifest v3 or whatever is needed to keep it running? ------ 2018-06-11 I LOVE IT! I just found out that it accepts decimal values for the Delay!! 0.5 sec worked best for me. Great for guys like me who step quickly through the tabs and dont want to wait for the sorting. :) UPDATE: After 5 years this is still the first extension I add whenever I get hands on a vanilla browser. Never had an issue. I hope this extension continues to work. Or companies understand that MRU (Most Recently Used) Features are great. I guess some UX Experts are still not convinced.
Günther Bosch 2024-08-18: Update 2024-08-18 Chrome is bitching about "This extension may soon no longer be supported". Any plans to migrate the extension to manifest v3 or whatever is needed to keep it running? ------ 2018-06-11 I LOVE IT! I just found out that it accepts decimal values for the Delay!! 0.5 sec worked best for me. Great for guys like me who step quickly through the tabs and dont want to wait for the sorting. :) UPDATE: After 5 years this is still the first extension I add whenever I get hands on a vanilla browser. Never had an issue. I hope this extension continues to work. Or companies understand that MRU (Most Recently Used) Features are great. I guess some UX Experts are still not convinced.
Craig Williams 2024-01-26: If you're looking for a solution to make CTRL+TAB observe the MRU order, this is what you need. All the other extensions to achieve this will take you down the rabbit hole of custom key bindings, because Chrome does not allow you to re-assign CTRL+TAB. This works around that mess by re-ordering the tabs (instead of hi-jacking the key binding) and works beautifully. Thank-you Brandon!
Gary Williams 2022-08-09: I don't understand why more people don't use this extension. It does what it says, which is life changing for my mess of tabs.
Gary Williams 2022-08-09: I don't understand why more people don't use this extension. It does what it says, which is life changing for my mess of tabs.
Ed Cottingham 2018-07-29: This extension is (cyber) life-changing, for me! I had been using it for several years under the simple name, "Tab Stack," unless I am confused. I acquired a new MacBook Pro a year or so ago and mostly neglected the new machine although I did notice that my most recently used tabs were not sliding to the left. I only tolerated this because of the occasional use of the machine. I have finally embraced this extra 1.5 lbs of kit and started carrying the Pro machine and was maddened by the disappearance of this feature. Today, I got it sorted (Chrome, myself, and the tabs). I gather that we got a renaming somewhere along the line, perhaps in adjusting to Chrome updates. Anyway, IT IS BACK! I cannot imagine why the world has not swarmed to this and Google paid Brandon about $25 million to incorporate it in standard Chrome. I remember the day I first got it...I was only looking for something to allow me to toggle between tabs, as I had done in the Windows world, ALL THE TIME. For the first five minutes, I thought that the whole sliding thing was, well, weird. And then, **EUREKA** ...weird and wonderful! Thanks so much, Brandon.
Ed Cottingham 2018-07-29: This extension is (cyber) life-changing, for me! I had been using it for several years under the simple name, "Tab Stack," unless I am confused. I acquired a new MacBook Pro a year or so ago and mostly neglected the new machine although I did notice that my most recently used tabs were not sliding to the left. I only tolerated this because of the occasional use of the machine. I have finally embraced this extra 1.5 lbs of kit and started carrying the Pro machine and was maddened by the disappearance of this feature. Today, I got it sorted (Chrome, myself, and the tabs). I gather that we got a renaming somewhere along the line, perhaps in adjusting to Chrome updates. Anyway, IT IS BACK! I cannot imagine why the world has not swarmed to this and Google paid Brandon about $25 million to incorporate it in standard Chrome. I remember the day I first got it...I was only looking for something to allow me to toggle between tabs, as I had done in the Windows world, ALL THE TIME. For the first five minutes, I thought that the whole sliding thing was, well, weird. And then, **EUREKA** ...weird and wonderful! Thanks so much, Brandon.
Zack Philipps 2018-04-09: This is amazing. Finally something that works!
Brandon Meyer 2018-01-30: MRU Tab stack working with pinned tabs. And doesn't need special permissions. Simple, works.
Brandon Meyer 2018-01-30: MRU Tab stack working with pinned tabs. And doesn't need special permissions. Simple, works.
Yuriy Mann 2018-01-07: Great solution, but would be even better if timeout could be less than 1s and no switching occured until Ctrl is released. Added respective comment in the Support section.
Yuriy Mann 2018-01-07: Great solution, but would be even better if timeout could be less than 1s and no switching occured until Ctrl is released. Added respective comment in the Support section.
ВАСЯ пупкин 2017-12-28: Господи! Как же долго я его искал! Lightweight and speed thing! Thank you, autor, for this! *****
Mark Meuer 2017-08-01: Finally! THIS is the way to solve the problem of ctrl-TAB not going in most-recently used order. I no longer have to mess with mapping new keyboard shortcuts, and my fingers no longer have the learn a new shortcut to get this behavior. As a plus, I really like that my tabs end up in order used, most recent on left and oldest on the right. Many thanks for a great extension!
Mark Meuer 2017-08-01: Finally! THIS is the way to solve the problem of ctrl-TAB not going in most-recently used order. I no longer have to mess with mapping new keyboard shortcuts, and my fingers no longer have the learn a new shortcut to get this behavior. As a plus, I really like that my tabs end up in order used, most recent on left and oldest on the right. Many thanks for a great extension!
Andrew Freese 2015-08-31: It's every bit as good as tab stack used to be. Thanks!
Andrew Freese 2015-08-31: It's every bit as good as tab stack used to be. Thanks!

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