Tired of Chrome's Dotted Tab Circles? Or Edge's Faded Tabs? Here's How to Fix It!

Table of Contents

Hey everyone! Are you tired of those annoying dotted circles around your Chrome tab icons? Or maybe Edge’s faded tabs are driving you crazy? I get it. This guide will walk you through how to get rid of them on your Windows 10 or 11 machine. Plus, we’ll explore why they’re there in the first place.

image just illustration

Decoding the Dots and Fades¶

First off, let’s understand what these visual cues mean. Those dotted circles in Chrome and the faded tabs in Edge aren’t glitches. They’re actually telling you something: these tabs are inactive. Both browsers have features (Memory Saver in Chrome and “Save resources with sleeping tabs” in Edge) that free up resources from tabs you haven’t used in a while. This gives your active tabs more power and keeps your browser running smoothly. The dots and fades are a visual indicator of this resource-saving magic at work.

Banishing the Dotted Circles in Chrome¶

So, you want those dotted circles gone? Here’s the fix:

1. Open Chrome: Pretty straightforward, right?
2. Go to Settings: Type chrome://settings into the address bar and hit Enter. Easy peasy.
3. Find Performance: On the left-hand side, you’ll see a list of categories. Click on “Performance.”
4. Toggle Off Inactive Tab Appearance: You’ll see a setting that says “Inactive tabs appearance.” Flip the switch to turn it off.

Boom! The dotted circles vanish instantly. No need to restart your browser or anything. And the best part? Memory Saver will still work its magic in the background.

image just illustration

Fixing Faded Tabs in Edge¶

Edge doing that fading thing? Here’s how to stop it:

1. Open Edge: Fire up your Edge browser.
2. Open the Settings Menu: Hit Alt+F on your keyboard.
3. Go to Settings: Click on “Settings” in the menu that appears.
4. Find System and Performance: In the Settings menu, select “System and performance.”
5. Turn Off Fade Sleeping Tabs: Locate the “Fade sleeping tabs” option and turn it off.

That’s it! No more faded tabs. Just like in Chrome, this won’t mess with the “Save resources with sleeping tabs” feature, so you’ll still enjoy those performance benefits.

Bringing Back the Dots and Fades (If You Change Your Mind)¶

If you decide you actually like the visual cues, it’s super simple to bring them back. Just follow the same steps for each browser and re-enable the “Inactive tabs appearance” setting in Chrome and the “Fade sleeping tabs” setting in Edge.

Bonus Tip: Chrome Tabs Opening in Edge?¶

Ever notice how sometimes your Chrome tabs magically appear in Edge? That’s because Edge has a setting that allows it to access your recent Chrome browsing data. To stop this from happening, go to Edge’s settings, navigate to Profiles > Import browsing data > Import browsing data at each browser launch, and then turn off the “Import browser data from Google Chrome on each launch” setting.

Another Bonus Tip: Removing Pinned Tab Icons in Chrome¶

Those little icons on the far left of your Chrome browser? Those are pinned tabs. They’re great for keeping your favorite websites readily available. But if you don’t want them, right-click on a pinned tab and select “Unpin.” Do this for all your pinned tabs, and they’ll disappear.

Thinking Beyond the Tabs: Memory Usage in Chrome¶

Ever wondered which of your Chrome tabs is hogging the most memory? There are ways to find out! This knowledge can help you manage your browser’s performance even further. Just right-click on the Chrome window title bar and select “Task Manager.” You’ll see a breakdown of each process running in Chrome, including individual tabs, and how much memory they are using. teks

More on Sleeping Tabs in Edge¶

Edge’s “sleeping tabs” feature is a powerful tool for optimizing performance. It automatically puts inactive tabs to sleep, freeing up resources for other tasks. You can even customize how long a tab stays inactive before it goes to sleep. Dive into Edge’s settings to explore these options and tailor them to your needs.

image just illustration

Wrapping Up¶

So there you have it – a simple guide to controlling those dotted circles and faded tabs. Now you can customize your browsing experience to your liking and keep things running smoothly. Have any other Chrome or Edge quirks you’d like to understand? Drop a comment below! Let’s get this conversation going. Happy browsing!