App Tabs

简体中文

Panel mode — tabs live in the top bar:

Standalone mode — a floating tab bar above your windows (top bar can be hidden):

Overview

App Tabs is a GNOME Shell extension that shows one tab per window for the focused application. Switch windows from the top panel or from a draggable floating bar in standalone mode.

Installation

Clone this repository and copy it to ~/.local/share/gnome-shell/extensions/, then enable the extension (Extensions app or gnome-extensions enable [email protected]).

glib-compile-schemas schemas/
# Alt+F2 → r  (restart Shell) or log out and back in

Display modes

Mode	Description
Panel	Tabs appear in the GNOME top bar, next to other panel items.
Standalone	Tabs move to a floating bar you can drag anywhere on screen.

• Default display mode — chosen in extension preferences (panel or standalone).
• Mode toggle — click the display-mode button on the tab bar; right-click for per-app fixed panel or standalone mode.
• Hide top bar in standalone — slides the top bar away (similar to Hide Top Bar) so only the floating tabs remain.
• Display mode transitions — optional fade and slide animations; duration is configurable (0–2000 ms).

Configuration

Open Extensions → App Tabs → Settings.

• Panel max width, ellipsis on long titles, tabs on current workspace only
• Add tab and recent windows buttons
• App tab style — JSON/CSS-like styles for default, active, hover, light and dark themes:

{
  "icon-size": 18,
  "default": {
    "default_style": {},
    "active_style": {},
    "hover_style": {}
  },
  "light_mode": {
    "default_style": {},
    "active_style": {},
    "hover_style": {}
  },
  "dark_mode": {
    "default_style": {},
    "active_style": {},
    "hover_style": {}
  }
}

• Fixed standalone / panel applications — always use one display mode for specific apps

Features

1. See open windows as tabs for the current application.
2. Click a tab to focus that window; click the active tab to minimize.
3. Close button on each tab; right-click for window actions (pin, maximize, workspace, etc.).
4. Drag tabs to reorder; order is remembered per application.
5. Panel and standalone display modes with optional animations.
6. Recent windows menu to reopen closed windows or switch across apps.
7. Add tab opens a new window when the app supports it.

If something breaks or you want a change, open an issue on the repository.

Recommended

CoverflowAltTab: bind Alt+Tab to applications and Alt+Grave to windows — works well with App Tabs.

Debug

GNOME Shell logs:

journalctl -f -o cat /usr/bin/gnome-shell

GNOME Shell 48 (nested):

export MUTTER_DEBUG_DUMMY_MODE_SPECS=1366x768
dbus-run-session -- gnome-shell --nested --wayland

GNOME Shell 49+ (devkit):

export G_MESSAGES_DEBUG=all
export MUTTER_DEBUG_DUMMY_MODE_SPECS=1366x768
export SHELL_DEBUG=all
command -V mutter-devkit || sudo apt install mutter-dev-bin
dbus-run-session gnome-shell --devkit --wayland

Preferences:

journalctl -f -o cat /usr/bin/gjs
gnome-extensions prefs [email protected]

Run tests:

bash scripts/check.sh

Development

• https://gjs-docs.gnome.org/
• https://gjs.guide/guides/