Google has removed the most useful “Close other tabs” option from Chrome 78, however, Close tabs to right option has been preserved, the change also has taken away Bookmark all tabs and Reopen closed tab options, but they are still available on tab frame’s right-click menu for access. If you desperately want the close other tabs facility back in Chrome, there is an extension for that which allows doing the same with a keyboard shortcut.
If you’ve recently updated to Chrome 78, you could’ve noticed changes to the tab context menu. The changes have been planned since a long time and the options have got axed eventually. Based on stats collected by the Chrome team, Bookmark all tabs (0.64%), Close other tabs (2.20%) and Close tabs to the right (6.06%) were least used by users.
Chromium team back in 2017 assured they won’t remove Close tabs to the right option and they stuck to that but removed the remaining less used options.
The COT option has been gone and not coming back, you can still Close other tabs in the Chrome browser by using a shortcut “Alt+Shift+O” if you install ” Keyboard Shortcuts to Close Other/Right Tabs” extension that is available in Chrome Web Store.
Do note this is a pretty old extension (last updated in 2013), but still works as advertised. This extension also offers keyboard shortcuts for Close other Tabs to right (alt+Shift+R) and Pin Tab (Alt+Shift+P) options.
After installing the extension, if you use Alt+Shift+O shortcut, all other tabs except pinned and active tabs will be closed. If you want this functionality, you should be installing the Keyboard Shortcuts to Close other/Right tabs extension in the Chrome browser.
Have you found the extension useful? Let us know your opinions in the comments below.