How to copy links from all open tabs in web browsers

If you often browse with a bunch of tabs open at once, you've probably thought more than once that there must be an easy way to copy all those addresses without having to do it one by one. Whether it's because you're about to shut down your computer, because you want to send them to someone by email, or because you want to save them for reference for a project, manually copying each URL is a real pain.

The good news is that, although it's not immediately obvious, all modern browsers have some way to save or copy open tabs , and there are also very powerful extensions that make it even more convenient. In this article, we'll see, step by step, how to do it in Google Chrome , Mozilla Firefox , and Microsoft Edge , both using the browser's built-in functions and specialized add-ons.

Why would you want to copy all open tabs?

Before we get into the details, it's worth understanding why copying all the links from open tabs at once can be so useful . Beyond mere curiosity, there are several practical situations where it comes in handy.

For example, you might be researching for a job, a report, or a personal project and have dozens of tabs open with articles, manuals, and documentation . Instead of saving everything as bookmarks haphazardly, it's sometimes more practical to compile all the URLs into a document so you can later cite, organize, or share them with your team.

Another very common scenario is that of those who prefer to shut down their PC or log out but resume the exact same browsing session another day . Browsers allow you to reopen previous tabs, yes, but if you're going to do other tasks in between, open new pages, or switch to another profile, it can be more convenient to write down those addresses and have them on hand without relying on the history or restore functions.

It's also worth mentioning that, while all browsers allow you to return to closed tabs or access your history, this isn't always the most convenient option when you're managing multiple windows and profiles . In those cases, simply copying and pasting all open URLs can save you a lot of clicks and a few unpleasant surprises.

Copy all URLs of open tabs in Google Chrome

Chrome is king in market share and, as such, has a good number of tricks and extensions for organizing tabs and groups . Let's first see how to do it using a somewhat hidden option in the settings, and then how to speed up the process even further with add-ons like Copy All URLs , TabCopy , or CopyURLs.

The general idea is very simple: either we use a browser setting to show us all open pages in a single list , and copy them from there; or we let an extension do the hard work for us and send all the addresses to the clipboard with one click.

View and copy the tab list from Chrome settings

Chrome doesn't have a magic button that says "copy all tabs," but it does allow you to list in its settings the pages that will open when you start the browser , and there you can "place" the set of tabs you have open at that moment to then copy them all.

To use this trick, first open your browser's menu. In the upper right corner, you'll see the familiar button with three vertical dots (⋮) . Clicking it will open a side menu with a variety of browser management options.

Within that menu, you need to access the general settings section. To do this, click on "Settings ," which will take you to the Chrome preferences page, where everything related to the browser's behavior is managed.

Once you're on the settings screen, you'll see several categories in the left column. The one we're interested in for this tip is called "On Open ," which controls what Chrome does each time you launch it: whether it starts with a blank page, a specific page, or a set of tabs.

Within "On Open," select the option "Open a specific page or set of pages ." This option lets you specify exactly which sites will open when you start your browser, and here's the key: Chrome can populate that list with the tabs you currently have open.

When you choose this setting, Chrome will show you a list of the pages set to start automatically. Often, this list matches the open tabs if you've previously used the "Use current pages" button. If not, you can click "Use current pages" to have the browser replace the previous list with the URLs of the window you're currently using.

Once you see all the addresses in that list, you just have to copy each URL . It's a somewhat rudimentary method compared to extensions, but when you have many tabs open and don't want to install anything extra, it's faster than switching tabs and copying them one by one from the address bar.

Copy links with the Copy All URLs extension in Chrome

If you're looking for maximum speed, the easiest way is to use a specialized extension. One of the best-known is Copy All URLs , a free tool available in the Chrome Web Store that, as its name suggests, copies all the URLs of open tabs at once.

To install it, go to the Chrome Web Store and search for Copy All URLs . You'll recognize it by its umbrella-shaped icon . Once you find it, click the "Add to Chrome" button and then confirm in the pop-up window by granting permissions.

However, it's important to know what you're agreeing to: these types of extensions usually require permission to read all the websites you visit and also to access your system's clipboard . This isn't unusual for these kinds of tools, but it's always a good idea to check the developer's reputation and other users' reviews to ensure it's trustworthy.

Once installed, it's incredibly easy to use. The extension icon will appear in the top right corner of Chrome. When you want to copy all the URLs from your open tabs , simply click on that icon and select the "Copy" option . All the addresses will automatically be sent to your clipboard, and you can then paste them into a text document, email, note, or anywhere else you like.

Other useful Chrome extensions: TabCopy and CopyURLs

Besides Copy All URLs, there are other very versatile extensions for copying tabs in Chrome, such as TabCopy and CopyURLs . These tools offer an extra level of control over which tabs to copy and in what format you want to obtain the list of links.

TabCopy lets you choose whether to copy only the current tab , all tabs in the current window , or all open tabs across all Chrome windows . It's especially useful if you frequently work with multiple separate windows (for work, leisure, projects, etc.) and only want to export a specific set.

Furthermore, TabCopy includes a good collection of predefined formats : you can simply copy the URL as is, or choose formats such as Compact , Expanded , HTML links, Markdown , BB code for forums, CSV , JSON , or even a complete HTML table. And if that's not enough, it also allows you to define your own custom formats using template variables.

CopyURLs, for its part, follows the same philosophy: once installed from the Chrome Web Store, clicking its icon opens a window with a text box called "URL List" that displays all the addresses of open tabs . From there, you can copy them to the clipboard using the "Copy to Clipboard" button.

This extension also allows for significant fine-tuning of the results. In the settings section, you can choose whether to copy only the URLs , the page title along with the URL , or export in formats such as CSV and others. It even lets you define your own output pattern to generate a list with the style that best suits your needs. You can also decide whether to include only the tabs in the current window or from all active Chrome windows.

Copy all URLs into Mozilla Firefox

Firefox also offers several ways to collect the addresses of all open tabs at once . You can do this using built-in browser options, such as your homepage settings or the feature to save a group of tabs to your bookmarks, and there are also dedicated extensions like tabs2txt or FoxyTab.

Unlike Chrome, Firefox has become much more focused on customization and add-ons , so you'll find several ways to achieve the same goal depending on what you find most comfortable: working with preferences, using bookmarks, or relying on an extension.

Use the homepage to copy all tabs in Firefox

One of the most curious and effective tricks to copy all open URLs in Firefox without installing add-ons is to take advantage of the homepage settings, similar to what we saw in Chrome but a little more direct.

The first step is to open the browser's options panel. To do this, click the menu button (the one with three horizontal lines ) in the upper right corner and then select "Options" (in some versions it appears as "Preferences" or "Settings").

Within that screen, go to the "Home" section . There you can control how Firefox behaves when opening new windows and tabs, including the homepage and new window settings.

In the section that specifies what should be displayed in new windows and tabs, locate the field that allows you to choose "Custom URLs" as your homepage. Selecting this option will enable a text box where you can list the addresses that Firefox will use as its homepage.

Now for the trick: by clicking the "Use current pages" button , Firefox will replace the contents of that box with the URLs of all the tabs you currently have open. You'll see that the addresses appear concatenated on a single line, separated by vertical bars (|).

At this point, you can select all the content of the text box using Ctrl + A (or by triple-clicking to select it entirely) and copy it with Ctrl + C. Then, simply paste it into your text editor, notes tool, or document wherever you want to save it.

If you find it annoying that URLs appear separated by the "|" symbol instead of one per line, you can use the find and replace function in your preferred text editor (for example, Notepad++ or similar) to change each vertical bar to a line break. This way, each link will be on its own line , and the list will be much more readable.

One very practical detail is that you don't have to lose your previous homepage . If you didn't copy it beforehand, you can use the shortcut Ctrl + Z within the Firefox text box itself to undo the change and restore your original homepage settings once you've copied the URLs.

Save the tabs to bookmarks and copy them from there.

Another very useful approach in Firefox is to save all open tabs as a bookmarks folder and then copy their addresses. It's perhaps less direct than going into settings, but it's great if you also want to keep that group of tabs to reopen later.

To begin, place your cursor on the tab bar and right-click on any of the open tabs. In the context menu, you'll find an option such as "Select all tabs" or "Mark all tabs ," depending on your version. This feature allows you to work with all the tabs at once.

Once selected, right-click again in the tab area and choose the option called "Add tabs to bookmarks" (or something similar). Firefox will ask you to choose a name for the folder and where in your bookmarks you want to save it.

From that moment on, you'll have a bookmarks folder containing all the pages from that session . You can reopen them whenever you want by simply right-clicking on the folder and selecting the option to open all in tabs, allowing you to restore the order and layout exactly as you had it.

If you want to copy all the addresses into a text document , simply go to your bookmarks, locate the folder you just created, right-click on it, and select "Copy ." Then, go to your word processor or notepad and paste using Ctrl + V. You'll see all the URLs printed, usually one per line and in the same order as the tabs.

Firefox tab copying extensions: tabs2txt and FoxyTab

If you prefer something more automated, Firefox also offers specific extensions for copying the URLs of all active tabs . One of them is tabs2txt , available as a browser add-on.

After installing tabs2txt from the official Firefox add-ons page (click the "Add to Firefox" button and then "Add" in the permissions window), you'll see a new button associated with the extension. Clicking it will collect the URLs of all your tabs into an internal notepad , separating each one onto a new line for easy reading and copying.

From that window, you can use the "Copy to Clipboard" option to copy the entire list to the clipboard at once. Then, as always, simply paste it into the document or application where you want to save or share it.

Another very powerful extension is FoxyTab , which adds a good number of actions to the tab context menu . An interesting feature is that it allows you to enable, disable, or rearrange menu options , making it one of the few extensions with this level of control in Firefox Quantum and later versions.

Once installed, simply right-click on any tab, go to the "FoxyTab" submenu , and then to the "Copy" section . There you'll see several options for copying URLs in different ways: just the addresses, titles with URLs, all tabs, just the current tab, etc. For example, if you choose "Titles URL ALL ," the extension will copy all active tabs, including the page title and address —very useful when you want to compile a bibliography or a list of resources.

Related articles:

How to copy all links from open tabs to the clipboard (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge)

Isaac

Passionate writer about the world of bytes and technology in general. I love sharing my knowledge through writing, and that's what I'll do on this blog, show you all the most interesting things about gadgets, software, hardware, tech trends, and more. My goal is to help you navigate the digital world in a simple and entertaining way.