is there a way to focus on a specific tab in chrome (via plugin)

Question

I want to be able to focus on a specific tab.

After chrome.tabs.query I get the id but how do I set focus on that tab? I don't see this option in the documentation.

Knothole

Answer 1

You should be able to do this with chrome.tabs.update.

var updateProperties = { 'active': true };
chrome.tabs.update(tabId, updateProperties, (tab) => { });

Schopenhauerism

And for V3 ? :) – Cashmere

V3 is a change to the format of the manifest file format. The general API version is not changing. – Schopenhauerism

Answer 2

You can also use https://developer.chrome.com/extensions/tabs#method-highlight

chrome.tabs.get(tabId, function(tab) {
  chrome.tabs.highlight({'tabs': tab.index}, function() {});
});

Assegai

This is more correct because this method seems to be designed for tab (or tab group) focusing. – Petasus

@Petasus that's not true. Multiple tabs can be highlighted at once by holding shift. When you "highlight" a tab, "activating" is just a side effect. You can only have one active tab per window but multiple highlighted tabs. – Olives

Would it be correct to say that highlighting is a feature meant for grouping tabs for bulk operations whereas the property of being active is the tab which is currently in view in the browser window and accepting keyboard input? – Blavatsky

Answer 3

the easiest way to do this is with a extension of chrome "always active window"

Navar