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Opera Workspaces is tab management perfection

What are Opera Workspaces and why might the feature be just the thing to help you migrate to a new web browser?
Written by Jack Wallen, Contributing Writer
Concentrated female employee typing at workplace using computer. Side view portrait of a copywriter working on pc home.
iStockphoto/Getty Images

I always have way too many tabs open on my web browsers. For instance, at the moment I have 32 tabs open.

32.

And that's a slow day.

You're probably wondering how I keep my sanity intact with that many tabs running in a single browser. After all, wouldn't that render each of those tabs so tiny as to be hard to read? And isn't that the very antithesis of using tabs? 

After all, the purpose of tabbed browsing is to help make your web browsing experience more efficient and organized. 

But when you work with a metaphorical metric ton of tabs, it's hard to be efficient.

Also: How to use Opera's new Pinboard feature (and why you should)

That is, unless you make use of a tab management tool. Such tools are supposed to make managing your tabs considerably easier. However, not every tab management feature or add-on is created equal. You'll find they range from the barely usable, to the overly confusing, and everything in between. 

There is, however, one web browser that includes a tab management feature that brings tab management perfection into the mix. That browser is Opera, and the feature is called Workspaces and is, hands down, the best tab manager on the planet.

With the Opera web browser open, you'll find a panel on the left side of the window. At the top of that panel, you should see a pair of icons at the top, which serve as the two default workspaces. I have five workspaces:

  • Shopping.
  • Work.
  • Social Media.
  • News.
  • Film Making.

Also: How to use tab groups in Google Chrome

Opera Workspaces is tab management perfection

Of course, you can organize your workspaces any way you like. Speaking of which, how do you create new workspaces? Let me show you that first.

1. Open the Manage Workspaces window

Right-click either of the default workspaces icons and then, from the popup menu, click Manage Workspaces.

The Opera side-bar right-click menu.

Managing your workspaces is but a right-click away.

Image: Jack Wallen

2. Add a new workspace

In the resulting pop-up, click Add more to create a new workspace.

The Opera Workspaces Manager.

Creating a new workspace in the Workspaces Manager.

Image: Jack Wallen

Also: How to use the Opera VPN (and why you should)

3. Name the new workspace

In the next pop-up, select an icon for the new workspace, give it a name, and click Create. Continue creating all the workspaces you think you might need.

The workspace naming window.

Make sure to select an apropos icon and name for your new workspace.

Image: Jack Wallen

How to use Workspaces

Once you've created all the workspaces you need, all you have to do is click the icon for a workspace to switch. You can then open tabs in the workspace, and they will be isolated to that workspace alone. This brings up a very important point, one that helps to differentiate the Opera Workspaces feature from other tab management options. With Workspaces, even pinned tabs are isolated to the Workspace they are pinned to.

If you already have tabs open, you can move them to a different workspace, by right-clicking the tab and selecting Move tab to workspace > WORKSPACE NAME (where WORKSPACE NAME is the name of the workspace to house the tab).

The Opera Workspaces tab move dialogue.

Moving a tab to a different workspace is very easy.

Image: Jack Wallen

Also: Web browsers need to stop trying to be all things to everyone

Each workspace can hold as many tabs as needed, and you can create as many workspaces as necessary. When you use this feature wisely, it will seriously elevate your web browser productivity and keep your tabs from getting out of control in ways that no other tab manager solution can.

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