The browser wars are alive and well, and stepping up to the front lines with a brand new update is Firefox. The Mozilla-made browser just got a major facelift, with new desktop features like vertical tabs, an AI chatbot, and more.
Most prominently highlighted in the newest Firefox Version 136 is a powerful and customizable sidebar. Available on Windows, MacOS, and Linux, the improved Firefox browser places its most valuable tools on the left-hand side, including access to your history and bookmarks, vertical tabs, and an AI chatbot of your choice.
According to Mozilla’s release notes, the update also allows you to integrate “tabs from devices you sync with your Mozilla account.” So if you have additional tabs open on your phone’s Firefox app, you can now access those from your desktop as well.
You do have to manually enable the updated Firefox sidebar before you’ll be able to use its tools. Do this by going to Settings > General > Browser Layout, and select Show sidebar.
Once you’ve set up the sidebar, you’ll have access to vertical tabs as well as your choice of AI chatbot. Firefox offers the following options for AI chatbots:
- Anthropic Claude
- ChatGPT
- Google Gemini
- HuggingChat
- Le Chat Mistral
Of course, each AI assistant differs in its abilities, but the tool is generally useful for summarizing text as you browse, analyzing images and other similar tasks.
What’s in a Vertical Tab?
Whether you like having your tabs on the side of your browser is a matter of personal preference. For me, I’m accustomed to tabs at the top of my browser, and transitioning to a sidebar means retraining my brain. However, the transition may well be worth it, particularly for tab-happy users, which I am.
For example, you have a lot more flexibility in window size as well as greater visibility when the tabs are on the side. When I decrease my window size while having many tabs open, I can no longer read any of the tabs. It’s also just visually chaotic in a way that’s hard to define.
To use vertical tabs, make sure the option is checked in your Customize sidebar.
Vertical tabs are not Firefox’s invention. In fact, vertical tabs are one of the most useful settings of Microsoft Edge. That said, I still imagine that most aren’t used to this format. Google Chrome is still a heavyweight in the browser arena, and it still structures its tabs along the top.
Maybe these new flashy features are a way of making up for the backlash Mozilla faced after updating its terms of use in early 2025. While the policy update made it sound like Firefox was freely collecting and selling user data, Mozilla has since defended the new terms, claiming that data usage is limited to what is listed in its Privacy Notice. Still, the controversy has left a lasting impression, which could be alleviated by these user-friendly tools.