Exchange tabs between devices

It can sometimes be useful to open a website on a different device than the one you are currently using. For example, if a website does not display properly on a small smartphone screen, or if you want to continue on the road with what you were doing on the PC.

Of course you can then type the url on the other device, or send the link to yourself via email or WhatsApp, but it can be simpler. You can sync the browser to view tabs from one device on another device. It is a one-time job to arrange this, because you have to create an account with the browser you use. But after that, you can easily access the last opened tabs and sometimes bookmarks of all connected devices.

To be able to exchange tabs between different devices, it is necessary that you use the same internet program on all those devices. For example, if you use Firefox on the PC, but Chrome on the smartphone, you cannot exchange anything. That is only possible from Chrome to Chrome, Firefox to Firefox and Edge to Edge. Fortunately, almost every browser has a version that works on the computer as well as an app for smartphone or tablet.

In this tip, we assume that you already have a Google account. We connect Chrome on the Windows computer to an Android 11 device (from Samsung) and to an iPhone with iOS 13. On an iPad or Android tablet, the steps are about the same. Haven’t installed Chrome yet? Download Chrome for the computer and download the app for tablet or smartphone in the Play Store (Android) or App Store (iPad/iPhone).

Sync Chrome for all devices

• Open Chrome on the computer: click the Startbutton > Google Chrome.
• Click in the address bar and type ‘google.nl’. Press the Enter key.
• Click at the top login and, if not already done so, sign in with your Google account.
• Click at the very top, just below the cross, on the colored circle with your first letter in it.

  

• click on Turn on sync > Yes, turn on.

Sync Chrome App

• Grab your smartphone or tablet and open the app Chrome.
• Tap the icon of three dots > Institutions.
• Log in if necessary:
  • Android: On an Android device, you should already be signed in with your Google account, because Android is also from Google.
  • iPad/iPhone: Tap Continue as [uw naam] and enter the password if prompted.
• Tap on Turn on sync > Yes, turn on.

Find another device’s tab

Now that the apps are synced, you can find tabs open on another device.

Inside the app:

• Open the Chromeapp.
• Tap the three dots icon.
• Tap on Recent Tabs.
• The paired device is listed with a name, such as “Laptop[cijferreeks]’ or something similar. Below that is a list of tabs open on the computer. Tap one of the sites to open it.

On the computer:

• Open Chrome.
• Click the three dots icon at the top.
• Move the mouse over History.
• A search history window appears. At the bottom is the name of the paired device in bold (usually a combination of numbers and letters). Below are the visited sites. Click on one of the pages to open it.

No account is required to use Firefox. But if you also want to be able to access the tabs and bookmarks on multiple devices, you will need an account. We connect Firefox on the Windows computer to an Android 11 device (from Samsung) and to an iPhone with iOS 13. The steps are about the same on an iPad or tablet. Have you not installed Firefox yet? Download Firefox for the computer and download the app for tablet or smartphone from the Play Store (Android) or App Store (iPad/iPhone).

Sync Firefox on Computer

• Open Firefox on the computer: click on the Startbutton > Firefox.
• Click on the three dashes icon at the top > Options.
• Click on the left sync.
• click on Sign in to Sync.
• Enter an email address and click Get on.
• Choose a secure password, enter it twice.
• Enter your age and click Get on.

Sync Firefox App

• Open the app Firefox on a smartphone or tablet.
• For Android: Tap the icon of three dots > Institutions. For iPhone/iPad: tap the three hyphens > Institutions.
• Tap on Enable sync (Android) or on To register (iPad/iPhone).
• Tap on Using Email.
• Tap on E-mail address) and type the email address of your Firefox account. Tap on Get on.
• Enter the corresponding password and tap To register.

Open Firefox tabs elsewhere

Now that the browsers are synced, here’s how to find tabs open on another device:

Inside the app:

• Tap the icon of three dots (Android) or three bars (iPad/iPhone).
• For Android, tap Synced Tabs. On the iPad/iPhone, tap Library.
• Tap at the bottom Synced Tabs, far right.
• A list of tabs/websites appears. The connected devices are identified by a name, usually a word (“laptop”, “Samsung”) followed by a string of numbers. Tap a website to open it.

On the computer:

• Open Firefox.
• Click the three dashes icon behind the address bar.
• In the drop-down window, click on the first option. Here is the account you are logged in with.
• A list shows which tabs are still open on the other device. Tap a website to open it.

You don’t need an account to surf the web with Edge. But if you also want to be able to access the tabs and bookmarks on another device, you will need an account. We connect Edge on the Windows computer to an Android 11 device (from Samsung) and to an iPhone with iOS 13. On an iPad or tablet, the steps are about the same. Have you not yet installed Edge on the smartphone or tablet? Download the app from the Play Store (Android) or App Store (iPad/iPhone).

Sync Edge on PC

• Open Edge on the computer: click the Startbutton > Microsoft Edge.
• Click at the top, behind the address bar, on the icon of a circle with a doll in it.

  

• In the drop-down window click on To register.
• Click on your Microsoft account or choose Using a different account and go through the steps.
• click on Get on.
• Do you want devices to which your account is already signed in to exchange data? Then click on the slider for ‘No’. If the slider is green, this feature is on.
• click on Confirm.
• Also in the next window click on Confirm.

Sync Edge App

• Open the app edge on your smartphone or tablet.
• Tap on To register (iPad/iPhone) or on Sign up as [uw account] (Android). Or choose Sign in with a different account and go through the steps.
• On iPad/iPhone: Enter the email address associated with your Microsoft account and tap Next one. Enter the corresponding password and tap login.
• Choose what things you want to sync. If necessary, tap a blue slider to disable a function.
• Tap on sync (iPad/iPhone) or on Synchronization (Android).
• In the next screen, Edge asks in veiled terms whether it may collect information about your behavior on the Internet. Tap on Not now to skip this, or tap Share data to accept. We tap Not now.
• Edge asks if you want to use it as the default Internet program. Tap on Yes or on No thanks.

Find edge tabs from other device

Now that the browsers are synchronized, you can find open tabs on different devices as follows:

On smartphone or tablet:

• Open the app edge.
• Tap the square with a number in it at the bottom.

  

• At the top, tap Recent Tabs.
• It is indicated for each connected device which tabs/websites are open. Tap one of the websites to open it on this device.

On the computer:

• Open edge.
• At the top, behind the address bar, click the three-dot icon.
• click on History.
• In the drop-down box at the top, click Tabs from other devices.
• It is indicated for each connected device which tabs/websites are open. Tap one of the websites to open it on this device.