Browser Tabs Every Genealogist Has Open Right Now (And Why We Need Them All)

Look, I get it. Your computer’s running slower than a pension office bureaucrat on a Monday morning.

Those 147 open tabs? They’re not clutter. They’re possibilities.

Each one could be the breakthrough that finally proves Great-Aunt Mildred wasn’t making up that story about being related to Abraham Lincoln’s cobbler.

And if your spouse asks why your laptop sounds like a jet engine? Just say you’re “preserving history.”

Works every time.

The Ancestry.com Tab That’s Been Open Since 2019

Let’s be honest. This tab is your home base. Your command center. Your digital living room where you spend more time than your actual living room.

You’ve got seven different family trees open, each in various states of completion, and you’re paying monthly for the privilege of obsessing over second cousins twice removed.

And don’t pretend you haven’t memorized the exact pixel location of the “Save Tree” button.

You click it every 3.7 minutes. Because that one time in 2018 when the site crashed? Still haunts you.

FamilySearch.org (All 27 Tabs of It)

“But it’s free!” you say, defending your tab hoarding habits. Each tab represents a different possible spelling of your great-grandmother’s maiden name.

Because apparently, in 1875, nobody could decide if it was “Schmidt,” “Schmitt,” “Schmid,” or “Bob.”

Fun fact: If you open enough FamilySearch tabs, you technically qualify as a volunteer indexer.

At least that’s what I tell myself.

That Random County Courthouse Website from 1998

It hasn’t been updated since dial-up was cool. The background is that specific shade of blue that screams “I was designed when Bill Clinton was president.”

But it has that ONE marriage record you need.

The dancing gif of a quill pen in the corner? Pure vintage gold. The “Under Construction” banner? A timeless classic.

Seventeen Different Newspaper Archive Sites

Because apparently, your ancestors were chronic attention seekers who appeared in every small-town gazette between 1850 and 1922.

Each site has a different paywall, and you’re pretty sure you’ve forgotten to cancel at least three trial subscriptions.

But that’s future you’s problem.

Present you is too busy trying to figure out why Great-Grandpa Joe made the news in 1893 for a “peculiar incident involving a horse and three wheels of cheese.”

The Google Translate Tab

Because you’ve convinced yourself you can read 19th-century Hungarian church records after watching exactly one YouTube video on paleography.

Spoiler alert: Those aren’t even Hungarian records. They’re Latin. But you won’t realize this for another four hours.

FindAGrave (Minimum 12 Tabs)

Each tab is a different cemetery where your ancestor MIGHT be buried.

Because apparently, they were really indecisive about their final resting place. Or you’re really bad at geography. Could go either way.

You’ve left so many virtual flowers, you could open a digital florist shop. Your thank-you notes to volunteer photographers could fill a novel.

That DNA Match Profile You’re Stalking

Don’t act innocent. We all do it. You’re trying to figure out how this person with 0.72% shared DNA fits into your tree.

You’ve gone through their entire public tree, all their linked trees, and may have spent an embarrassing amount of time on their Facebook profile.

They haven’t logged in since 2017, but you check daily. Just in case.

Wikipedia’s “List of Historical Epidemics” Page

Because every time you find a death certificate from the 1800s that just says “fever,” you need to know EXACTLY which epidemic might have been responsible. You know, for “accuracy.”

This tab has been open so long, it’s witnessed several modern epidemics come and go.

A Calculator

Not the fancy genealogy date calculator. Just a regular calculator.

Because apparently, counting backwards from death dates to figure out birth years is harder than quantum physics when you’re in the genealogy zone at 2 AM.

Also useful for adding up how much money you’ve spent on genealogy subscriptions. (Pro tip: Don’t actually do this. Some things are better left unknown.)

That One Random Forum Post from 2003

Someone mentioned your great-great-grandfather’s brother’s name in passing. The thread has nothing to do with your family. But you can’t close it. What if they come back and post more information?

They won’t. But hope springs eternal in the genealogist’s heart.

The “How to Read Old Handwriting” Guide

Because cursive wasn’t hard enough, your ancestors had to write in what appears to be a mix of ancient runes and doctor’s prescription handwriting.

You’ve convinced yourself you’re getting better at reading it. You’re not. But that death record from 1863 isn’t going to decipher itself.

Every Single Passenger List from Ellis Island

Because your ancestors apparently took scenic routes to America. Did they enter through New York? Boston? New Orleans? Baltimore? Who knows! Better check them all.

You’ve got the manifests sorted by date, port, ship name, and possibly crew member zodiac signs. Just to be thorough.

Your Local Library’s Digital Archives

It looks like it was designed by someone who just discovered the internet existed. But it has the only known photo of your hometown’s main street from 1910. Somewhere. Behind seven broken links and a “Best Viewed in Netscape Navigator” button.

The PDF viewer hasn’t worked since Obama’s first term. But you persist.

At Least Three Different Currency Converters

Because you’re trying to figure out if your great-grandfather was actually rich when he bought that plot of land for “75 crowns” in 1882.

Spoiler: He wasn’t. But you’ll spend four hours researching historical economic conditions anyway.

A Timeline of Historical Events

Because every family story needs context. Sure, great-grandma said she walked five miles to school uphill both ways. But what was the weather like in Minnesota in 1910? Were there roads? What kind of shoes would she have worn?

You’re not obsessive. You’re thorough. There’s a difference.

That One Random Genealogy Blog

It hasn’t been updated since 2010, but it has the best guide on researching Civil War pension records you’ve ever seen.

You’ve got it bookmarked, saved as a PDF, and screenshotted. But you keep the tab open anyway.

Just in case the internet disappears or something.

Google Maps (Historical View)

You’re trying to figure out exactly where your ancestor’s farm was based on a property description that uses landmarks that haven’t existed for 150 years.

“From the big oak tree to Johnson’s Creek, near the old mill.” Thanks, 1840s deed recorder. Super helpful.

To All My Fellow Tab-Hoarding History Hunters

Look, we all know having this many tabs open is probably why our computers sound like they’re planning to achieve liftoff.

But closing any of them feels like admitting defeat. Like giving up on the possibility that Great-Uncle Herbert really did fight pirates in the Caribbean (he didn’t, he was a potato farmer in Idaho).

So here’s to us, the tab hoarders, the family history detectives, the people who can explain third cousins twice removed but can’t remember what we had for breakfast.

May our RAM be plentiful and our browser crashes few.