Pinned tabs in Chrome shrink to a site icon and move to the far left of the tab bar. They are useful for pages you keep open all day, such as email, calendar, chat, dashboards, or a music player.
Does this affect you?
Use this for Chrome on Windows, Mac, or Chromebook when you want important tabs to stay in a small fixed area instead of mixing with tabs you open and close throughout the day.
Pin a tab
Pinning takes one menu click.
- Open the site you want to keep pinned.
- Right-click its tab.
- Choose Pin.
- Confirm the tab shrinks to its icon and moves to the far left.
Pinned tabs do not show a close button, which helps prevent accidental closing.
Unpin a tab
Unpinning restores the normal tab shape.
- Right-click the pinned tab icon.
- Choose Unpin.
- The tab expands into a regular tab and leaves the pinned area.
You can also drag a pinned tab out of the pinned section to unpin it.
More control
Pinned tabs usually come back
Pinned tabs are treated like persistent tabs and generally reopen when Chrome starts, especially when On startup is set to continue where you left off.
Links often open separately
When a link inside a pinned tab goes to another site, Chrome often opens it in a regular tab so your pinned page stays put.
Pinned tabs still use memory
There is no strict small-number limit, but every pinned tab is still a live tab. Keep pins for the few sites you truly use all day.
Use tab groups for projects
If you are saving several related tabs for a temporary project, Chrome tab groups are usually better than pinning each tab separately.
Sources
- Google Chrome Help – Pin, mute, and manage tabs in Chrome (2025)
- Google Chrome Help – Manage tabs in Chrome (2025)
- Google Chrome Help – Group and organize your tabs (2025)