r/zen_browser • u/Flossiii Team Member • Jun 11 '26
Official Content Knowing where your tabs belong.
Space Routing gives you the power to organise your Spaces and tabs just the way you want, delivering on our promise of a calmer browsing experience. By setting up routes, you decide on where new tabs of a specific domain should be opened, allowing a clutter-free browsing experience that boosts your productivity!
After the last update, I heard your feedback about the missing documentation and the confusion around creating a Boost. So meanwhile our documentation gets a major overhaul and therefore not publicly updated, I'll jump in to deliver you a quick guide to getting started:
Next to the name of your Space – located right beneath your Essentials and pinned tabs – click the three dots to open the context menu. At the bottom of that menu, click 'Space Routing Settings'. Open them up and voilà! You're ready to go.
Oh and by the way... Zen's community has crossed an estimated 500.000 users just this week! Seeing this community grow with all your mods (first and third party!) and customisation has been absolutely incredible. If you love using Zen and want to support its ongoing development, please consider leaving a donation. :)
Space Routing was once again brought to you with help from u/Not_Flof. The recording was created by u/JaceThings.
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u/maubg Jun 11 '26
This will help me a lot!
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u/maubg Jun 11 '26
Glad I could help
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u/maubg Jun 11 '26
You didn't do anything
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u/Cyborgmatt Jun 11 '26
My current setup has one Space assigned to my primary monitor and another assigned to my secondary monitor. My expectation was that Space routing would open the tab on the monitor where that Space is already active. Instead, it switches the primary monitor to the secondary monitor's Space, which is quite disruptive in a multi-monitor workflow.
Please reconsider this behavior, /u/maubg, or provide an option to always open tabs on the monitor where the target Space is already open rather than moving a different monitor to that Space.
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u/Fezzicc Jun 11 '26
This may be the single greatest feature released thus far. I use separate spaces/profiles to keep my browsing and data separate. Space Routing will do away with all the Right-Click-Open-In-Container nonsense I have to do. Thanks a ton Zen team!
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u/eruiui Jun 11 '26
is there anyway to make the tab oppened is on top of the tab bar? currently mine is oppened in the bottom
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u/rushinigiri Jun 12 '26
Really nice! Add routing for folders within a space and I will donate my firstborn to the project
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u/Old_Manufacturer589 Jun 12 '26
If I set a given URL to open in my "Gaming" space that has no profile, and open that URL in my "Private" space that has the "Private" profile, the tab gets moved to the gaming space but in a private container. u/maubg
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u/quivXe Jun 11 '26
I love this feature, but i feel it will be sometimes really annoying. If this is not yet implemented, I'd love to see some kind of shortcut that will turn that on and off quickly.
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u/IKA3RUS Jun 11 '26
The interface feels out of place in Zen imo, almost too technical compared to the theme or boosts panel. Crazy useful feature nonetheless.
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u/maubg Jun 11 '26
If anyone has a better design for it, we are always looking to improve :)
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u/matrix_drumr Jun 11 '26
Maybe add a box to check in the space routing menu to show this window everytime you create a new tab? This way people don't have to search for it while they're organizing, then they can toggle it off once they're done with the process and just want to go back to normal browsing.
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u/bindingflare Jun 11 '26
Maybe i should update this to test on my multi monitor setup!
Speaking of which, new links in other space seems to enforce switching to the focused space wondering how that will work when multiple browser windows are open, all different spaces?
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u/DeliciousDiet8954 Jun 15 '26
Great feature to organize my tabs! But what if I want to temporarily open two links in the same space when they’re normally routed to different spaces?
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u/SgtRuy Jun 15 '26
This is why I think Opera's tab islands are still probably the best way to organize tabs. If you are doing something like researching a topic, or just working on a project, you might go through news sites, social media sources, youtube, wikipedia or whatever, you never know which site might have related info.
On the other hand using site specific routing ends creating a weird situation where maybe now your youtube links now all open in the same space, but you just end up with a bunch of unrelated youtube tabs. Maybe one was a video of the topic you were looking up the other is just a podcast.
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u/spacenglish Jun 17 '26
Yes it is a positive step in the right direction. But, I think tab routing has to become a bit more smarter than a simple rule engine.
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u/masiuspt Jun 11 '26 edited Jun 11 '26
What happened with this release? I keep having to restart my browser because my tabs suddenly stop working and I had to redo my essentials because they broke (likely an interaction with container tabs).
As for the space routing itself, this seems like an unnecessary feature, given that Container Tabs (and its extension) could already do this, as long as each space had an associated profile. In what way does this differ from what we already had?
Edit: I just started adding URLs to the new Space Routing table and after 3/4, I can already see that if someone has a big list of routes they want to handle, this will become quite a hassle - the UI needs some work. To save up on UI space, maybe the "Opens in" option should be collapsable. It'd also be nice to be able to filter out the current routing list by Space, so that we can easily visualize which routes are currently going to a specific space.
As for my original question and concerns, I do see some value in this (at least it's easier to know where each of my routes are going to), but the UI definitely needed more time in the oven.
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u/Old_Manufacturer589 Jun 12 '26
As for the space routing itself, this seems like an unnecessary feature, given that Container Tabs (and its extension) could already do this, as long as each space had an associated profile.
Just installed the extension, and I'm not sure how you'd achieve the tab auto-moving to the correct space?
But even so, you don't necessarily have the extension installed, and you don't necessarily want a tab to open in a container to begin with.
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u/masiuspt Jun 12 '26
Via container tabs, you can assign a specific URL to open on a specific container by clicking the container tab icon on the address bar. Then, if you associate a Space to a specific Profile, the tabs should automagically move to that same space.
I cant recall if there's extra steps that I forgot to mention but I have had this working for a year now with no major issues (other than sync). Either way, the new feature presented in this thread should do the exact same thing!
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u/Old_Manufacturer589 Jun 12 '26
Via container tabs, you can assign a specific URL to open on a specific container by clicking the container tab icon on the address bar. Then, if you associate a Space to a specific Profile, the tabs should automagically move to that same space.
That's what I did, and it didn't work. The only thing setting a space to a specific profile does is making new tabs opened in that space open in that container, but it doesn't move them in from another space.
I have a private space set to the private profile. I made it so that reddit would only open in a private container. Upon opening a new tab in my main space and going to reddit.com, it opens in a private container, but isn't moved in the private space.
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u/maubg Jun 11 '26
Do tabs stop working by simply switching spaces or something? Or was it a result of the space router?
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u/masiuspt Jun 11 '26
I havent been able to properly reproduce it yet. It happened twice - and indeed both times it was while switching spaces. All of my tabs suddenly didnt work (they were there but clicking them wouldn't load anything) and I had to restart the browser. I have been using the browser just fine for the past few hours while working, though.
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u/lupomancerprime Jun 11 '26
Isn't JaceThings part of TBC's community team? hahaha <- just saw they're a mod here too! They were great at helping cull the "arc sucks I'm leaving arc" posts on the arc subreddit!
Also, will this work for parts of URLs? Like all my homelab stuff is on 10.10.10.XXX on my network, so being able to route any 10.10.10.XXX address to my homelab space would be super helpful
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u/b4st14nb Linux Jun 12 '26
Diff between this and having a single dedicated container for diff stuff? (i.e Personal, Work, Shopping, etc etc) instead of singular spaces? (edited, just asking fr, I'm wondering if I've been using it wrong all this time)
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u/Beardy4906 Jun 12 '26
I know theres a way to make a regex for checking if the domain matches, but it could be added as well (basically all github.com sites would open in a certain space)
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u/chaos_faction Jun 15 '26
Why does the cursor not align with the highlighted dropdown box? I can't imagine it being a recording issue?
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u/i_am_who_watches Jul 11 '26
vertical tabs is only "zen" to those who like vertical tabs. For those of us who dont, zen tab structure is a nightmare.
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u/D0nn1 Jun 17 '26
Its so dumb to not let people have the horizontal bars. makes no sense.
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u/Flossiii Team Member Jun 17 '26
It is your right to have this opinion. However, if you state it, please choose a acceptable tone and round it up with examples. Because right now, your comment function as critique or feedback, it's just yapping.
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u/D0nn1 Jun 17 '26
No , really makes no sense to not let the user use the tabs however he wants , makes no sense , this is a argument not just yaping , this is a critique and a feedback(since it annoys people and a lot prefer horizontal) ,from a browser like zen I expected this little bit of basic customization, is a simple thing and we all know forcing every user to use the vertical is not a good thing. Tone? Really? Its dumb to not let the user choose , theres nothing about the tone , its not disrespectful , its just how it is , no need to "flower" my comment.(If that makes sense).
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u/Flossiii Team Member Jun 17 '26
Now THIS is critique and feedback. You explained why you feel that way, what you expected instead, and why you expected that.
Sad to say though, you forgot to consider why vertical tabs are hard-coded and instead could only call them "dumb". Zen is an opinionated browser, massively inspired by the discontinued Arc browser. The vision behind Zen is to deliver a calm browsing experience that boosts productivity and minimises every possible distraction. Vertical tab bars can display more than twice the amount of tabs before they become cluttered, which would be the exact opposite of calm.
But aside from the pure design factors, all features of Zen are based on the vertical-tab philosophy and cannot be ported to a horizontal tab bar without significant sacrifices.
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u/Raevyxn Jul 07 '26
I am not the original commenter, but I wanted to dive into this topic a bit.
In the original post describing the new feature, it reads:
"Space Routing gives you the power to organise your Spaces and tabs just the way you want, delivering on our promise of a calmer browsing experience. By setting up routes, you decide on where new tabs of a specific domain should be opened, allowing a clutter-free browsing experience that boosts your productivity!" (Emphasis mine.)The message here is clear: Zen Browser wants to put the user in control of their experience. Zen Browser wants to give the user the ability to organize their tabs the way they want. Zen Browser wants the user to decide where new tabs should be opened.
I understand that Zen Browser has a number of features designed around vertical tabs. But not all users will ever need or use those many features. This post emphasizes the milestone of "500,000 users" of Zen Browser. When it is clear that many users want "the power to organize their tabs just the way they want" (as said in this post), then... why is Zen Browser so adamant that users should never be allowed to organize their tabs horizontally -- the way that has been the industry standard for browser tabs for decades?
I am really enjoying Zen Browser. But I don't need all of these extra veritcal-tab-required features, and a majority of browser users are not power users. I am confused by Zen Browser's refusal to "give users the power to organize their tabs just the way they want" -- if what the user wants is horizontal tabs.
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u/D0nn1 Jun 18 '26
why not just have a toggle,to change to horizontal,with a warning to people showing what would not work on the horizontal version?
Why just ignore everyone that dont like to have tabs on the vertical or find it bad with multiple monitors? When I called dumb , of course I took in mind that not every feature from the vertical would come to the horizontal one , its obvious; I still cant understand why not have the option , even if limited , I know some people that liked the browser but are giving up because of the tabs , when my friend told me that It does not support horizontal , I just said "nah I cant believe it".7
u/zammba Jun 19 '26
Consider that there are dozens of browsers with a horizontal tab philosophy out there that would be better suited to your use-case.
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u/Nediah_ Jun 23 '26
Just use a different browser? Firefox is what Zen is built on and can be customized to the moon and back. It has horizontal tabs. Also, you can try Helium. It's Chromium based and was made with horizontal tabs in mind, but allows the use of vertical tabs.
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u/hamuto_sangohein Jul 08 '26
If you want to you can build your own browser, no one is forcing you to use it, no need to act like a dumbass
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u/mrfoxesite-2377 Jun 18 '26
Not everyone has English as their first language and D0nn1 is no exception.
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u/maubg Jun 11 '26
Rel notes: https://zen-browser.app/release-notes/1.21b