Privacy policy
Last updated 28 October 2026
Tabshift opens a web address you choose on every new tab. It never sends your data anywhere: it has no server, no account, no analytics and no error reporting, and it makes no network requests of its own.
This policy covers Tabshift in Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge and Mozilla Firefox. It works the same way in all three, apart from a few things Firefox doesn’t allow, listed under the permissions it asks for.
The data it handles, in your browser only
The stores ask every extension to list this, even when it never leaves your device. In the stores’ terms, the one kind of data Tabshift handles is web history: the addresses you save, and the address and title “Use this page” reads from the tab you click it on. It is kept and used on your device (and in your browser’s sync), and never sent to us or anyone else.
Tabshift uses this only to open your chosen page on new tabs. It doesn’t sell it, share it, transfer it, or use it for anything else, including advertising or credit decisions.
What it can see
Tabshift has no access to the sites you visit. It can’t read or change their content, and it doesn’t see which pages you open.
“Use this page” reads the address and title of one tab, the one you clicked Tabshift on, only when you click it. Your browser grants that for that moment alone.
In Chrome and Edge, “Allow access to file URLs” is off unless you turn it on. It only lets Tabshift open a file on your computer that you chose as your new tab. Tabshift never reads your files. Firefox doesn’t let add-ons open files, so there Tabshift has no file access at all.
What it stores
- In your browser’s sync storage, so they follow you to your other computers signed in to the same browser profile: your pages (a name and an address for each), which one is current, and your settings (where the cursor goes, Shuffle, site icons). Your browser syncs this the way it syncs your bookmarks, if you have sync turned on (in Firefox, only if you use Firefox Sync; otherwise it stays on this computer). It never comes to us.
- On this computer only: a copy of your current choice, so new tabs open instantly; whether you’ve seen the welcome and answered the browser’s question; and a few counters (how many times you changed your new tab, how many new tabs you opened, and on which days), which decide when to ask, once, for a review.
Site icons (optional, Chrome and Edge)
If you turn on “Show site icons” in Settings, your browser asks you to allow “Read the icons of the websites you visit”. Tabshift uses it only to show each saved page’s icon, taken from the browser’s own cache. Turn the switch off and it stops. Firefox has no such permission, and Tabshift in Firefox has no site icons setting.
The permissions it asks for
| Chrome and Edge | Firefox | |
|---|---|---|
| Permissions | storage, contextMenus, activeTab,
offscreen, and access to file:///* | storage, menus, activeTab |
| Optional | favicon, only if you turn on “Show site icons” | None |
| Local files as a new tab | Yes, once you allow file access | No: Firefox doesn’t let add-ons open files |
| Offscreen page | Yes: it updates the copy of your choice that the new tab reads before it paints | No: Firefox’s background page does it itself |
| Install warning | The new tab override only | None. Firefox asks once, on the first new tab, whether to keep the change. |
What each one is for:
- Replace the page you see when opening a new tab: the one install warning in Chrome and Edge, and the whole point of Tabshift.
storage: to keep your pages and settings, as above.-
contextMenus(menusin Firefox): so right-clicking the Tabshift button lists your pages. -
activeTab: so “Use this page” can read the address and title of the tab you clicked it on. -
offscreen(Chrome and Edge): to update the copy of your choice that new tabs read, after you switch from the toolbar menu, a shortcut or Hallway. -
file:///*(Chrome and Edge): so you can choose a file on your computer as your new tab. It shows no warning and stays off until you allow file access. -
favicon(optional, Chrome and Edge): only for “Show site icons”, as above.
In every browser Tabshift makes no network requests, runs no code on the sites you visit and keeps nothing outside your browser.
Hallway
If you also use Hallway, our new tab switcher, it can ask Tabshift for the names and addresses of your saved pages and switch between them. Only Hallway gets an answer. Nothing leaves your browser.
What it does not do
- It does not read your browsing history, bookmarks or the pages you visit.
- It does not track you, and contains no analytics, ads or third-party code.
- It does not send anything anywhere.
Removing your data
Remove pages in Tabshift’s Settings, or uninstall Tabshift. Uninstalling deletes everything it stored.
Changes
If this policy changes, the new version will be posted here with a new date. Tabshift will never start collecting data without asking you first.
Questions? Email hello@mutabl.es.