• Most usually use 2 to 10 tabs at the same time
• More than 50 tabs are the exception

Comparing the best holiday offers, researching a new dryer and keeping an eye on a news article to read later – anyone who uses an internet browser on a laptop, PC or tablet often has several pages or tabs open at the same time. According to their own statements, only 14 per cent of laptop, desktop PC or tablet users usually only have one tab open. Around two thirds (65 per cent) usually have between two and ten tabs open at the same time. 11 to 20 tabs are open for 10 per cent, and 21 to 50 tabs for 4 per cent. These are the results of a representative survey of 1,006 people in Germany aged 16 and over, including 942 people who generally use laptops, desktop PCs or tablets.

According to the study, having more than 50 tabs open at the same time is the exception: only 2 per cent usually have 51 to 100 tabs open at the same time, and only 1 per cent have more than 100 tabs open. ‘Current browsers can handle many simultaneously open tabs better than they could a few years ago. For example, they pause tabs that are not used for a long time in order to reduce the load on the main memory and to use less energy. Nevertheless, if you have too many tabs open at the same time, not only does the overview suffer, but the risk also increases that the browser will slow down or, in extreme cases, even crash,’ explains Dr Sebastian Klöss, expert for Consumer Technology at Bitkom.

Methodology note: The information is based on a survey conducted by Bitkom Research on behalf of the digital association Bitkom. A total of 1,006 Internet users in Germany aged 16 and over were interviewed online, including 942 people who generally use laptops, desktop PCs or tablets. The survey was conducted between calendar weeks 1 and 3 of 2025. The survey is representative. The question was: ‘How many tabs do you usually have open in your internet browser on your laptop, desktop PC or tablet?’