4 Chrome Features You Probably Didn’t Know Existed — Tested

Chrome can put two sites side by side, make crowded tabs easier to scan, mark up a PDF, and simplify a long article. We tested these four features in Chrome 151 on Windows 11, then checked what actually worked.

Before you start: Open Chrome on a desktop computer. The Drive step needs a Google account and a sample PDF you can safely save. Keep an untouched copy of any important document. Menus and availability can vary by Chrome version and rollout; Mac behavior was not tested.

1. Compare two websites with Split View

Use it when: you need two pages visible at once without switching tabs.

  1. Open both pages in separate tabs in the same Chrome window.
  2. Right-click the tab for the second view. Select New split view with current tab. If Chrome warns that moving a tab will affect a saved group, use an ungrouped tab or cancel the change.
    Chrome tab menu with New split view with current tab outlined in orange
    Figure 1. Select the outlined Split View command in the tab menu.
  3. Drag the divider to give either page more room. When finished, use the split controls to separate or rearrange the views.
    NASA and NOAA pages side by side in Chrome Split View, with the divider outlined
    Figure 2. Both pages stay visible; the marked divider changes their widths.

Test result: Both sites stayed in one window. The narrower page rearranged its layout, so Split View shares screen space rather than adding more.

2. Find pages with Vertical Tabs

Use it when: too many tabs make their titles hard to identify.

  1. Right-click a tab and choose Show tabs vertically.
    Chrome tab menu with Show tabs vertically outlined in orange
    Figure 3. Switch the tab strip into a vertical list.
  2. Select a page from the side list. Collapse the sidebar to recover page width; expand it when you need to read tab names.
    Chrome vertical tab sidebar next to a Smithsonian page
    Figure 4. Longer titles are easier to scan, although the sidebar uses some width.
  3. To return to the top strip, right-click a tab and choose Show tabs horizontally.

Test result: The side list helped identify open pages. With only a few tabs, the horizontal strip may be simpler.

3. Mark a PDF and verify the Drive copy

Use it when: you want a PDF copy with a basic highlight or drawn mark that survives saving.

  1. Open a sample PDF in Chrome. In the PDF toolbar, choose the pen or highlighter, pick a color, and mark the page.
    Chrome PDF viewer showing a yellow highlight and red underline beside drawing controls
    Figure 5. The test marks are visible beside Chrome’s drawing tools.
  2. Choose Download → With your changes. Reopen the downloaded copy to check that the marks remain.
    Chrome PDF download menu with With your changes outlined
    Figure 6. Save the version that includes your changes.
  3. For the Drive test, use the Drive icon in the PDF toolbar, select an available account, and save. The test found the file in Saved from Chrome.
    Chrome PDF toolbar with the Google Drive save button outlined
    Figure 7. The outlined button sends this PDF to Drive.
  4. Find and open the Drive copy. Confirm that the same marks are still visible.
    Annotated sample PDF reopened from Google Drive with the marks still visible
    Figure 8. The reopened Drive copy retained the highlight and line.

Test result: The marks survived saving and reopening. The tested toolbar did not show Add Text; these controls are not a full PDF editor. Drive saving was tested for this PDF, not for every kind of download.

4. Read a page with less clutter

Use it when: navigation and other page elements distract from an article.

  1. Open an article and start Chrome Reading Mode. In the recorded Windows test, Alt+Shift+R opened the reader.
    NOAA article in Chrome Reading Mode with its readable heading outlined
    Figure 9. Reading Mode presents the article in a simpler view.
  2. Open the gear menu to change theme, font, line height, or letter spacing. Toggle images if a text-only view helps.
    Chrome Reading Mode settings showing the Images toggle
    Figure 10. The outlined Images switch is one of the reading controls.
  3. Close the reader to return to the page. Use the side-panel option under View if you want to compare the reading view with the original.

Test result: The tested article was easier to focus on. Extraction varies by website; we did not test every page or verify read-aloud behavior.

Watch the recorded test

The video shows the four features in the same Windows test described above.

Published by The Click Test · 4 minutes 42 seconds.

Troubleshooting and limits

  • No Split View option: Check the tab’s context menu in the same window. Menus and rollout can vary; avoid moving a saved tab group unintentionally.
  • A split page looks cramped: Drag the divider or separate the views. Sites can rearrange at narrow widths.
  • Vertical Tabs use too much space: Collapse the list or restore the top strip.
  • PDF marks disappear: Save With your changes, then reopen that copy to verify it. Keep the original until you have checked.
  • Need to type into a PDF: The tested toolbar lacked Add Text. Use a PDF editor for work beyond the observed pen, highlighter, and eraser.
  • Reading Mode misses content: Try a different article; extraction depends on the page.

Official sources