Why Having Too Many Tabs Can Feel Overwhelming?

Do you ever find yourself with just too many tabs open on your browser?

Example:

Five YouTube videos, three random sites, two stray Reddit threads—plus one blank tab “just in case.”

You get the point.

Many people find themselves overwhelmed by this.

But why?

The Zeigarnik Effect

Psychologists call this the Zeigarnik Effect:

We tend to remember incomplete tasks more vividly than completed ones.

When you leave tabs open, your brain registers them as unresolved.

Each one becomes a tiny mental itch — a source of tension and cognitive fragmentation.

This unresolved state can actually enhance memory for the task,
but it also drains your attention.

Just like a computer only has so much bandwidth, so does your brain.

Multiply that by 10, 20, 30 tabs . . .

That’s a lot of open loops eating away at your mental RAM.

Tab FOMO

One reason humans engage in this digital hoarding is due to fear of missing out.

Whether it be something interesting or productive, these tabs just feel like they are there for a reason.

Subconsciously thinking you'll get back to all of them when this rarely ever happens.

These tabs create clutter.

And like physical clutter, digital clutter creates stress.

It blurs the line between what’s urgent and what’s noise.

The Battle Against Excess Tabs

• Limit open tabs to 5–7 — the brain’s working memory sweet spot.
• Use extensions to suspend unused tabs or group them.
• Keep a "later list" so you can close tabs without losing info.
• Build a tab-closing ritual at the end of your work session.

The Myth of Multitasking

There is an obvious tension between curiosity and control.

We’re told not to put all our eggs in one basket, yet focus demands the opposite: one task, one basket.

Extra tabs trick your brain into thinking something else needs attention.

They split your focus even when nothing urgent is happening.

Close the tabs and feel the difference.

About: Human UX is a knowledge resource dedicated to understanding human behavior in the digital age. Our goal is to make complex psychological, social, and cultural concepts accessible, giving people the tools to think critically, discuss openly, and apply agency.