Auto-open tabs you send from one device to another in Chrome Canary, so the page appears right away instead of waiting for a manual click.

This is for people who bounce between phone, laptop, and desktop all day.

Time: about 5 minutes.

Quick Answer

Install Chrome Canary, sign in to the same Google account on both devices, and use Chrome’s Send to your devices tab-sharing feature. In current Canary testing, the receiving device can open the shared tab automatically and show a confirmation toast, which makes switching devices feel much faster.

If you regularly email yourself links or dump them into chat just to move between devices, this is a cleaner option.

What you need

Why this trick is useful

Normally, sending a tab to another device adds an extra step. You still have to click the notification on the receiving device before the page opens. Recent Chrome Canary testing, highlighted by Nokiapoweruser, shows Chrome trying a faster flow where the shared tab opens automatically and then shows a toast confirming what happened.

That sounds minor, but it removes exactly the kind of friction that gets annoying when you switch devices a lot.

Step 1: Install Chrome Canary

Download and install Chrome Canary on the device where you want to test the feature first.

Canary is Google’s daily-updated preview build, so it gets new experiments earlier than regular Chrome.

Expected check: When you open the browser, you should see Canary branding and a separate app from standard Chrome.

Step 2: Sign in to the same Google account on both devices

Open Chrome or Chrome Canary on each device and sign in to Chrome with the same Google account.

Then go to Settings > You and Google and make sure sync is active. Google explains that signed-in Chrome can sync bookmarks, passwords, and tabs across devices in its official help docs for syncing Chrome data.

Expected check: Both devices should show the same signed-in profile, and your other synced items, like bookmarks, should match.

Step 3: Turn on tab syncing if needed

If the target device is not appearing in the share list, check whether tab sync is enabled.

  1. Open Chrome.
  2. Go to Settings > You and Google.
  3. Select your account.
  4. Make sure History and tabs is turned on.

Expected check: After a minute or two, your other device should appear as a destination when you try to share a tab.

Step 4: Send a tab to your other device

  1. Open the page you want to move.
  2. Right-click the tab, or use Chrome’s Share menu.
  3. Choose Send to your devices.
  4. Select the target phone, laptop, or desktop.

If the Canary experiment is active on the receiving device, the tab should open automatically instead of waiting for you to click a notification bubble.

Expected check: The page opens on the second device and Chrome shows a small toast confirming it was opened from your other device.

Step 5: Test the round trip

Now do the same thing in reverse. Send a tab back to the original device.

This helps you confirm whether the behavior is active on one device only or on both.

Expected check: If both sides are on compatible Canary builds and synced correctly, each device should receive the tab cleanly with less manual clicking than standard Chrome.

Common mistakes

  • Using different Google accounts. The share target list depends on the same signed-in Chrome account.
  • Testing on stable Chrome and expecting Canary behavior. This appears to be a Canary-stage experiment, not a guaranteed stable feature yet.
  • Sync is partially disabled. If History and tabs are off, cross-device sharing can act inconsistent.
  • Assuming every device will get it immediately. Canary experiments can vary by build and rollout.

Troubleshooting

  • Your other device does not appear: Recheck sign-in status, sync settings, and give Chrome a minute to sync.
  • The tab sends, but does not auto-open: The experiment may not be enabled on that build yet. You may still get the older notification-click flow.
  • Canary feels unstable: That is normal. Google describes Canary as a nightly build for testing, so keep regular Chrome installed too.
  • You want to confirm the feature is still in testing: Watch Chrome Canary coverage and Chromium issue tracking, including this Chromium issue search.

Should beginners use this?

Yes, if you are comfortable trying preview software. The actual trick is simple. The only real catch is that Canary is experimental, so you should expect some features to move, disappear, or change before they hit regular Chrome.

Takeaway

Chrome’s auto-open shared tabs trick is a small upgrade, but it fixes a real annoyance. If you move between devices all day, shaving off one click every time adds up surprisingly fast.

Want another browser workflow win after this one? Keep an eye on Chrome Canary and test one change at a time, so you know exactly which feature actually improved your setup.