Minimalist new tab extension: four quiet options for Chrome

A good minimalist new tab extension shows you only what you will use and nothing that pulls you away. Our pick is AyeTab if you build software, because it swaps the feed, the shortcuts grid and the news cards for a quiet list of tools, and Bonjourr if you want the prettiest empty page.

What "minimalist" should mean on a new tab

Minimal is not only about the look. A page can be plain white and still send you off to five other sites every hour. We judged each option on three questions:

• Does it add anything that competes for your attention, such as news, cards or suggestions?
• Does it replace trips to other websites, or create more of them?
• Can you use it from the keyboard and close it in a second?

AyeTab: minimal for people who work in the browser

AyeTab is a free Chrome extension with no feed and no widgets fighting for space. The new tab shows a tool list on one side and the open tool on the other. You press Ctrl+K or Cmd+K, type a few letters, and you are in the JSON formatter, the JWT decoder, the regex tester or the diff checker. Press ? to see every shortcut.

The quiet part is what you stop doing. Instead of opening a fresh website each time you need to decode Base64 or read a timestamp, the tool is already there, and it runs inside your browser. Nothing gets uploaded, no account is asked for, and it works offline after you install it. Favorites pin the tools you use most to the top, so the list stays short in practice. For a calm writing space, it also has a Markdown editor and a scratchpad, both local.

Bonjourr: minimal by design

Bonjourr calls itself a minimalist start page and takes its cues from Apple's design. You get a background photo that shifts with the time of day, a clock and a search bar. Quick links, notes and a Pomodoro timer are there if you switch them on. It is open source, needs no account, and runs on donations.

Tabliss: minimal if you hold back

Tabliss is free and open source, with a big library of backgrounds and widgets. It can be very minimal, a photo and a clock, but it is easy to keep adding weather, quotes and todo lists until the page is busy again. Development has been quiet: its GitHub repository was last pushed in August 2024.

Plain Chrome, trimmed

You can also stay with Chrome's own page and strip it down. Click Customize Chrome at the bottom right of the New Tab page, turn off Show shortcuts, and turn off the cards. You keep the Google search box and lose the rest.

Side by side

Who should skip AyeTab

If you never format JSON or decode a token, a developer toolbox is more than you need, and Bonjourr or a trimmed Chrome page will feel lighter. For everyone who does, AyeTab is the one minimalist new tab extension that also saves you trips to other sites.