Smart Links automatically open web links inside apps you've added to Shift Browser to keep your workspace organized. This feature senses when a link belongs to an app in your setup and moves it to a specialized app tab strip. It's the best way to prevent tab clutter and stay focused.
How Smart Links work
Smart Links act as a bridge between clicked links and the apps in your setup. The behavior changes slightly based on where your apps live.
Inside the same Space: If you're in the Space where the app lives, the link opens directly in that app's internal tab bar,
- In a different Space: Shift will ask if you want to create a shortcut to the app in your current Space or jump to the Space where the app already exists. You can also still open the link in a tab in your current Space,
Across multiple Spaces: If you have the same app in several places, a menu will appear so you can pick exactly where the link should go. Again, you can always open the link in a tab in your current Space.
Smart Links creates a secondary tab strip for each app. For example, you can have five Jira tasks open under one Jira app icon. This keeps your main browser bar clear for general searching.
How to manage Smart Links
If you downloaded Shift after October 2025, this feature's on by default. You can adjust these settings at any time by following these steps:
Click the Quick Settings icon
.
Select ‘Advanced Settings’.
Go to ‘Accounts and Preferences’.
Toggle the ‘Smart Links’ setting to your preference.
Using ‘Add app shortcut’ suggestions
The 'Add app shortcut' menu appears when you click a link for an app that isn't in your current Space. You'll have three clear choices:
Add a shortcut for that app to your current Space. This will be the same app (same login), just duplicated to and now accessible within this Space.
Jump to the Space where the app is already installed.
Open the link as a standard browser tab.
How to use Smart Links with multiple instances of an app
Shift makes it easy to handle multiple accounts for the same tool. If you have two different Gmail or Slack accounts, Smart Links will help you stay organized.
Click your link and wait for the pop-up menu.
Select the specific account you want to use.
Check “Remember this decision” if you always want links for that app to always open in the same account.
You can also right-click any link to manually choose a specific account.
It's a simple way to keep your digital life separated and organized.
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