A customized Chrome new tab workflow dashboard based on Tab Out.
Original project by Zara. Customized by LK..
Tab Out Custom turns the browser new tab page into a compact productivity dashboard with shortcuts, saved sessions, open-tab cleanup, local weather, French/English support, and saved Chrome tab groups with local snapshots.
Tab Out Custom replaces the default Chrome new tab page with a clean dashboard showing:
- greeting;
- live time;
- current date;
- local weather;
- quick shortcuts;
- saved sessions;
- saved Chrome groups;
- open tab overview.
Add, edit, and delete custom shortcuts directly from the dashboard.
Shortcuts are stored locally with chrome.storage.local, so they stay private to each browser profile and are not included in the repository.
Create reusable sessions from currently open tabs.
Each saved session includes:
- a custom name;
- selected tabs;
- favicon preview;
- one-click reopening;
- edit and delete actions.
Sessions are useful for recurring workflows such as development, research, media, admin tools, or personal dashboards.
Tab Out Custom can save Chrome tab groups as local snapshots.
This adds a protection layer on top of Chrome’s native tab groups:
- save a Chrome group;
- keep its name, color, and tabs;
- detect when the live Chrome group changes;
- restore a closed group from the saved snapshot;
- update the saved snapshot manually;
- open a saved group as a new Chrome group;
- ignore a detected change when needed.
Saved groups are never modified automatically. When Chrome changes a group, Tab Out Custom shows the difference and lets the user decide what to do.
Group states include:
- Saved / synced — the Chrome group matches the saved snapshot;
- Changed — tabs were added or removed since the last save;
- Closed — the group is not currently open, but can be restored;
- Unsaved — the group exists in Chrome but has not been saved yet.
Open tabs are grouped by domain and shown as compact cards.
You can:
- view grouped tabs;
- focus an existing tab;
- close a single tab;
- close all tabs from a domain;
- close duplicate tabs;
- expand grouped tabs through a dropdown.
The dashboard updates when browser tabs or saved groups change.
Refresh behavior is debounced to avoid unnecessary layout jumps during Chrome tab group updates.
The dashboard includes a local weather widget with:
- current temperature in °C;
- feels-like temperature;
- weather condition label;
- animated visual state;
- privacy-friendly city masking.
The city is hidden by default and only appears when clicked. It is automatically hidden again after reload or browser restart.
Weather data is fetched through Open-Meteo. Reverse geocoding is handled through Nominatim.
The interface supports:
- French;
- English.
The selected language is saved locally in Chrome.
Tested primarily on Google Chrome.
Because the extension uses Chromium extension APIs, it should also work on Chromium-based browsers such as Brave.
For Brave, open:
brave://extensions
Tab Out Custom includes a discreet backup menu for manual installs and updates.
The backup menu is available from the small ⋯ button in the bottom-right corner of the dashboard.
It can export and import local user data, including:
- custom shortcuts;
- saved sessions;
- saved Chrome group snapshots;
- saved-for-later tabs;
- language preference.
The export creates a local JSON backup file.
This is useful before reinstalling the extension, moving it to another folder, or switching to a new manual version.
When importing a backup, existing local data is replaced after confirmation.
For normal manual updates, the recommended method is still:
- keep the same local extension folder;
- replace the extension files inside that folder;
- reload the extension from
chrome://extensions.
Removing the extension or loading it from a different folder may create a different local extension storage, which can make previous shortcuts, sessions, and saved groups unavailable.
- Download or clone this repository.
- Open Chrome.
- Go to:
chrome://extensions
- Enable Developer mode.
- Click Load unpacked.
- Select the folder:
extension
- Open a new tab.
Tab Out Custom is designed to keep personal workflow data local.
Stored locally in Chrome:
- custom shortcuts;
- saved sessions;
- saved Chrome group snapshots;
- language preference;
- weather cache.
This data is stored with chrome.storage.local and is not included when sharing or pushing the project files.
The project supports an optional private configuration file:
extension/config.local.js
This file should not be committed or shared.
You can create:
extension/config.local.js
Example:
window.TAB_OUT_DEFAULT_SHORTCUTS = [
{
name: "Example",
url: "https://example.com"
}
];Do not commit this file if it contains personal links or private workflow data.
The repository should ignore:
extension/config.local.js
This extension may use the following Chrome permissions:
tabs— read and manage open browser tabs;tabGroups— read, save, restore, and update Chrome tab groups;activeTab— interact with the active tab when needed;storage— save shortcuts, sessions, preferences, weather cache, and group snapshots;geolocation— retrieve local weather if the user allows it.
External requests are used for:
- weather data;
- reverse geocoding;
- favicons.
extension/
├── app.js
├── background.js
├── index.html
├── manifest.json
├── style.css
└── icons/
This is a personal customization of Tab Out, extended into a workflow-focused new tab dashboard.
The project is still evolving and currently prioritizes:
- compact interface;
- local-first storage;
- browser workflow control;
- privacy-conscious behavior;
- manual confirmation before changing saved Chrome group snapshots.
Original project by Zara.
Customized by LK..
This project is based on Tab Out and keeps the original attribution.
MIT