The community Taskforce initiative has now come to a close.
Thanks to everyone who made thoughtful and genuine contributions to the website.
All submissions will be kept publically available for the forseeable future for reference purposes.

This website is part of the community Taskforce initiative

Submission details

promote
72 +106/-34 votes
demote
change vote

Finder: Tabbed browsing in Finder

Submitted by Flauchhaus on August 11, 2008 to Annoyance, Usability

The Finder has no tabbed browsing option. Tabbed browsing would improve productivity for anyone who is familiar and comfortable with tabbed browsing (a lot of users). Tabbed Browsing is an option in Safari and the Terminal, why not in the Finder?

Add tabbed browsing in Finder, and the ability to drag files to tabs to move/copy them to the location of the tab.

Low

Medium

Not fixed

Discussion (8 comments)

Flauchhaus wrote on August 11, 2008, 10:08am

Changed solution description.

Flauchhaus wrote on August 11, 2008, 7:54pm

Added new image attachment.

Flauchhaus wrote on August 11, 2008, 8:32pm

Added new image attachment.

Flauchhaus wrote on August 12, 2008, 8:36pm

Changed title from [Tabbed browsing in Finder] to [Tabbed browsing option in Finder].
Changed problem description.

Flauchhaus wrote on August 12, 2008, 8:48pm

Changed solution description.

Frylock wrote on August 28, 2008, 3:49pm

-1

Why don't you just use several finder windows? This would also make it much easier+faster for your brain, because their unique position and size makes remembering easy (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spatial_file_manager ).

Flauchhaus wrote on September 1, 2008, 10:55pm

"Why don't you just use several finder windows?"
clutter. Multiple windows are good when you have multiple editable documents, but not for browsing. Expose makes it great working with multiple windows but for example on a macbook with really limited resolution its not that fun working with 6+ windows.
"their unique position and size makes remembering easy"
When i open multiple finder windows with cmd + n they are exactly the same. When opening them with cmd + click on the folder they would be different only if they got set up this way before, and by their content.

The sidebar is no replacement for tabs, they are just for favorite locations and such.

mojo2012 wrote on September 27, 2008, 10:07am

Yes this is a MUST HAVE.

filipesmg wrote on October 8, 2008, 8:08pm

One of the TOP 10 missing features in leopard...

Flauchhaus wrote on November 23, 2008, 8:25pm

Changed title from [Tabbed browsing option in Finder] to [Finder: Tabbed browsing in Finder].
Changed solution description.

migueld wrote on December 14, 2008, 9:35pm

I don't think this is a good feature. The sidebar already provides most of the functionality of tabs. Having too many widgets and gizmos with overlapping functionality on the UI is confusing for the user and it's clutter. Look at Path Finder. Furthermore, tabs don't play nicely with Expose, that would mean another usability loss. Also, tabs only display text, no icons, unlike the sidebar, so that means that 1: they are less identifiable, 2: no proxy icon for manipulation. Also, since Finder windows are generally small, very few tabs will be possible at which point they'll get hidden under the ">>" widget. Also, tabs are still inferior to a similar feature from OS9 called pop-up folders.

I'll trade tabs for pop-up folders any day ;)

iHateAurora wrote on May 19, 2009, 10:29pm

I think a split view would be more useful, for quickly comparing two directories...

With tabs - you still essentially only see one folder at a time

victoranselme wrote on July 14, 2009, 3:28am

Okay, this can be a good tool when I'm browsing, looking for something. But not when I want to move or copy files, in this case I prefer the normal un-tabbed version.

donamir wrote on February 3, 2010, 11:54am

TotalFinder app does it for you.

You might also be interested in...