Fruit Bat Docs

Tabs & windows

Tab groups, vertical tabs, private windows and making Fruit Bat your default browser.

Tab groups#

Right-click a tab for Add tab to new group, Add tab to group ›, Remove from group, New tab to the right, Duplicate, Close other tabs and Close tabs to the right.

  • On the tab strip: a group shows as a colored label before its tabs, with a line under each tab in the group.
  • Click the label to collapse the group to one chip with a tab count, and click again to expand it.
  • Double-click the label to rename it.
  • Right-click the label for New tab in group, Name, Color (9 colors), Collapse, Ungroup and Close group.
  • Links you open from a grouped tab join its group. A new group gets a color that's not in use yet, and asks for a name right away (Enter to save, Esc to skip).
  • Switching to a tab in a collapsed group expands it. Collapsing the group you're in moves you to the next tab outside it.

Vertical tabs#

Settings › General › Tab layout (or the welcome setup) switches between tabs on top, the default, and tabs on the side.

  • The sidebar sits on the left, below the toolbar. The tab strip goes away, and its window buttons and Private / Vampire Bat badges move into the toolbar.
  • Tab groups show as foldable sections: click to fold, double-click to rename, right-click for options.
  • Speakers and closing: tabs playing sound show a speaker you can click to mute. Middle-click or × closes a tab, and right-click gives the usual tab menu.
  • Search tabs: the box at the top filters by title or address, including inside folded groups. Enter switches to the first match.
  • Keyboard: ↑/↓ move between tabs and Enter switches.
  • Icons only: the button at the top (or Settings › General) shrinks the sidebar to a 56-pixel strip of icons; hover one for its title.
  • Every window type: works in private and Vampire Bat windows too, with their own colors. The sidebar loads tab icons in that window's own session.
  • Not yet: dragging tabs in the top tab strip, sleeping tabs, and putting the sidebar on the right.

Organizing tabs in the sidebar#

  • Drag and drop: drag a tab up or down. A line shows where it lands.
    • Drop on the middle of a tab to nest it under that tab.
    • Drop on a group header to add it to that group, or below the list to move it to the end, out of any group.
    • Drop on the pinned grid to pin it; drag a pinned tab down to the list to unpin it. A tab drags the tabs nested under it along with it.
    • Esc cancels a drag.
  • Several tabs at once: Ctrl-click (⌘-click on Mac) picks tabs one by one; Shift-click picks a range. A bar shows how many with Group and Close.
    • Right-click any picked tab for Reload, Mute, Pin, Add to new or existing group, Remove from group, Bookmark and Close for all of them. Drag one to move them all. Delete closes them; Esc clears the pick.
  • Pinned tabs: right-click › Pin tab puts a tab in a grid of site icons at the top of the sidebar (icon tiles at the left of the strip in the top layout).
    • Close other tabs and Close tabs to the right leave them alone, and they come back the next time Fruit Bat starts. Private and Vampire Bat windows never save them.
  • Nested tabs: links you open in new tabs sit indented under the page they came from, after the tabs already opened from it.
    • The arrow beside a tab folds its nested tabs away and shows how many. Switching to a folded-away tab unfolds the way to it.
    • Closing a tab moves its nested tabs up a level; closing a folded tab closes what's folded under it. The tab menu has Close tab and N nested tabs and Move out of nesting.
    • Turn nesting off in Settings › General. Tabs on top never nest, and new tabs open where they always have.
  • Keyboard: Alt+↑/↓ moves the focused tab, ←/→ fold and unfold, Shift+↑/↓ extends the pick.

Private windows ("Night flight")#

  • Open one from ☰ › New private window, or press Ctrl+Shift+P. Right-clicking a link or a bookmark also offers "Open in private window".
  • Private windows get a moonlit indigo theme and a Private badge. They share one memory-only session, which is wiped when the last private window closes: cookies, site data, cache and logins.
  • Lime Blocker works in private windows. Blocked counts still go on your receipt, but no domains or sites from private windows are recorded.
  • Bookmarks and downloads made in a private window are kept, as in Firefox.

Default browser#

  • Where to set it: Settings › General › Default browser, plus a one-time "Make Fruit Bat your default browser?" prompt on New Tab.
  • Windows: apps aren't allowed to make themselves the default. The installer registers Fruit Bat as a browser. Make default then opens Windows Settings on Fruit Bat's page, where you choose it.
  • macOS: the system asks you to confirm.
  • Linux: uses xdg-settings. The .deb build installs the desktop file this needs.
  • Opening links from other apps: links and .html files open as a new tab in your most recent normal window.