I can't seem to find any settings for enabling/disabling the tabs in shelves. Can someone point me to the right settings area for it?

I can't decide from your brief description whether you want to hide the tabs when not in use, or if you are after a single 'tab' shelf - which is basically a dock (of sorts)?

If the former then I 'think' that what you are after is the ability to hide the tabs when the shelf is collapsed. You can do this by Shelf Properties -> Behavior -> Auto-Hide Settings and selecting 'Hide tabs when the shelf is collapsed'



If you are after the latter then I suggest you consider a dock, as I struggle to see the benefit of a single tab shelf (unless it relates to some folder based workflow?). Anyway I don't think that you can 'disable' the tabs on a workshelf, as under normal circumstances you would be unable to select between the groupings.

Thank you! I was actually after the former you mentioned. I basically need a "dock" that's generated by the contents of a folder (it's a bunch of VSCode .code-workspace files for each of my projects), so it has no need for any sort of tab to ever be present even when opened/visible. Per your suggestion, I ended up just using a regular dock; it's a little added work to add each item manually, but it ultimately achieves what I want despite it not being as automated. Muchas gracias!

Would a Grid Stack on the dock help, or does the extra step cause problems with your workflow?

Actually just thought - can you use a drawer to provide a single tab shelf?
The tab detail is on the side so only impacts on horizontal real estate.
Would probably need to play with the theme to get a drawer that minimises vertical real estate use (keep the tab detail short).