Google Docs has started adding tabs to make it easier to work on large documents. This feature was first announced in April 2024. This was reported by The Verge.
In the desktop version of the editor, you can access the tabs by clicking on the dot symbol located in the upper left corner of the document screen. When you hover over this symbol, which used to be labeled "show document structure", you will now see the words "Show tabs and structure".
The feature supports the addition of up to three levels of sub-tabs, which can be created by dragging one tab onto another. The tab navigation menu opens by default in documents that contain two or more tabs. You can also share a link directly to the desired document tab.
Tab editing options, such as renaming, duplicating, or deleting, are available only to users who have document editing access. Otherwise, you can view and navigate tabs in tooltip mode, but you can't change them.
Traditionally for Google, the full rollout of a new feature can take several weeks.