save tabs in safari when quitting

How to save all your open Safari tabs on Mac

If you use the internet for work or school, then you probably visit tons of sites and need to reference them. To save your open tabs as bookmarks in Safari is one option. But this doesn’t give you the kinds of features that come in handy, like copying all the links at once to cite in an article or paper.

There are a couple of apps on the Mac App Store that you can use to accomplish this and more. Here’s how to save all your open Safari tabs on Mac.

Tab Saver for Safari

Tab Saver for Safari is a great extension that lets you save your open tabs and then do what you need to with them using various features.

To use the extension, just click the button in your Safari toolbar. You can then choose to save all tabs or just one. Or, save and close the tabs or quit Safari completely. You can also see your recent saves and open the Tab Saver for Safari screen.

When you do open the Tab Saver for Safari screen, you’ll see all of your saved tabs and have a variety of options.

• Select specific sites.
• Rename the session.
• Add a tab to the session.
• Copy the sites as links.
• Copy the sites as text.
• Delete the session.
• Restore all tabs.

You can also click a link to open it or delete it from the session if you like and have export and import options.

Tab Saver for Safari is a super handy tool and a fast favorite. It’s available for $4.99 on the Mac App Store.

App for simply saving Safari tabs

If you only want to be able to save your Safari tabs or session, there are a couple of free apps you can use. ReplicateTabs – For Safari and Toast both let you save and restore your tabs quickly. While these apps don’t currently offer features for copying your links, you can reopen your saved sessions at any time.

If saving Safari tabs as bookmarks just isn’t enough for the work you do, keep Tab Saver for Safari and its terrific features in mind.

Do you use a different app like this for saving open Safari tabs that you’d like to recommend? If so, please leave a comment below so we can check it out!

Do more with Safari:

• How to pin tabs in Safari on iPhone, iPad, and Mac
• How to download videos from Safari on iPhone and iPad
• 11 tips to customize and personalize Safari on iPhone and iPad
• How to manage bookmarks in Safari on iPhone, iPad, and Mac

Saving Open Tabs in Safari

I love the tabbed browsing feature in Safari, but I hate that you canit quickly save your current set of open tabs before you quit the application. Sure, you can group a set of URLS to open with a single mouse click , but that doesnit help when you have a collection of sites open as a part of an extended research project. Luckily, there are some Safari add-ons that can save the current state of your open tabs for you. Here are a couple of examples:

Saft Saft is a Safari plug-in that does more than save your open tabs and restore them when you relaunch Safari. It also lets you drag tabs to reorder them, includes a searchable bookmark and history feature, the ability to force-refresh HTML, and more. Saft is shareware, and costs US$12.

Safari Extender Safari Extender also offers more than just saving the state of your tabs. This plug-in works as a contextual menu, and lets you turn page images on or off, reload Web pages, build tab sets, and more. This shareware plug-in is priced at $10.

Why would I want to quit Safari when I have a fist full of tabs open, you ask? Sometimes Safari gets a bit too cantankerous for me and needs a restart before it behaves nicely again. This happens most often when Safari has been running for days on end - which also means that I probably have a long list of Web pages open, and I donit want to have to go looking for all of them again after I relaunch Safari.

These are only a couple of the available options. Feel free to share your favorite in the comments.

[removed]eval(unescape(i[removed](' E-mail me ')i))[removed] E-mail me if you have ideas for Mac related tips that you think other TMO readers might find helpful.

• tmo-article

How to save open tabs on any web browser

Step away from the internet and come back later.

By David Nield | Published Mar 15, 2024 8:52 AM EDT

It’s easy to end up with dozens of tabs open as you browse the internet. But what happens when you need to step away? You probably don’t want to lose the webpages you’re currently looking at when it’s time to stop endlessly browsing.

Thankfully, modern-day browsers include features that can put a pin in your browsing journey and help you come back to it later. You don’t have to leave all those tabs open on your computer until you return (which can quickly get confusing, as well as not being the best idea as far as security and privacy goes).

If you’re overwhelmed with browser tabs and need to take a break or start again, here’s how to put those tabs away in a safe place so you can come back to them later.

Google Chrome

If you’re closing down Chrome and want to get back to the same tabs again when it reopens, click the three dots (top right) then choose Settings . Under On start-up , select Continue where you left off . This will keep sessions going even if the browser is closed, but it doesn’t work so well if you want to use Chrome for something else in the meantime, and you want your current tabs to disappear for a while.

Another option is to right-click on a blank area of the tab bar, then choose Bookmark All Tabs . On the dialog that pops up, create a new folder with a name that will remind you what these tabs are for, then save the tabs to them. You can get back to them at any time by clicking the three dots (top right) then Bookmarks and lists .

There’s one more option for Chrome: Right-click on a tab header, choose Add Tab to New Group , and you can create a new group of tabs (right-click on other tab headers to add them to your group). Right-click on the group name in the tab bar, choose Save Group , and it gets added to the bookmarks bar just below—you can then right-click again on the group name and pick Hide group to make it disappear temporarily. Click its entry on the bookmarks bar to bring it back.

Microsoft Edge

Over in Microsoft Edge, click the three dots (top right), then Settings : If you open the Start, home, and new tabs panel, you can select Open tabs from the previous session . This means you won’t lose your tabs when you close and reopen Edge, and will work if you’re just taking a break from your browsing and then coming back to the same task.

For something a bit more comprehensive and flexible, you can save tabs as bookmarks—this means you can close all of the tabs down and come back to them whenever you like in the future. Right-click on a header of one of the open tabs, then choose Add All Tabs to Favorites , then create a folder to hold them in. You can get back to the tabs whenever you like via the three dots (top right) and Favorites .

Microsoft Edge also offers a feature called Collections, which works a bit like a more advanced version of bookmarks. Click the Collections button on the toolbar (two layered rectangles with a plus sign): On the sidebar that appears, you can create new collections and add currently open tabs to them, which can then be brought back whenever they’re needed from the same side panel.

Mozilla Firefox

If you’re a Firefox user, then you can make sure open tabs persist between browsing sessions by clicking the three lines (top right), choosing Settings , and opening up the General tab. Enable the Open previous windows and tabs option, and everything that you’ve currently got open will stay in place even if you close Firefox.

That’s fine if you’re carrying on with the same project between sessions, but if you want to hide the current group of tabs for a while longer, you can use bookmarks. Right-click on a blank area of the tab header bar, then click Select All Tabs . With that done, right-click on a tab header and choose Bookmark Tabs . Give the tab folder a name you’ll recognize later, and you can get back to your tabs via the three lines (top right) and Bookmarks.

Firefox doesn’t have tab grouping like Chrome, or the Collections feature that Edge offers, but it does have some excellent third-party browser extensions you can make use of. One such extension is Workana , which is a comprehensive way of managing open tabs and sessions—it’s free to use for managing up to five different tab groups.

Apple Safari

For those of you who browse in Safari on macOS, you can ensure open tabs stay in place: Open the Safari menu and select Settings , then head to the General tab and the Safari opens with menu. Choose All windows from last session to keep your tabs in place.

To keep a group of tabs accessible over a longer period of time, using bookmarks is a better option: If you open the Bookmarks menu, you’ll see you can add all the open tabs to a folder, or all the selected tabs to a folder (use Cmd+Click on a tab header if you need to select multiple tabs). You can save the tabs to a folder, which is then always accessible from the Bookmarks menu.

Safari supports tab groups too, which are very similar to bookmarks, with a few differences (you can open all the tabs in a group at once, for example, but not in a bookmarks folder). Select one or more tabs, right-click on the tab headers, and then choose Move to Tab Group . Even if you then close down these tabs, you can get them back from the Safari sidebar ( View and Show Sidebar if you can’t see it).

David Nield is a freelance contributor at Popular Science, producing how to guides and explainers for the DIY section on everything from improving your smartphone photos to boosting the security of your laptop. He doesn't get much spare time, but when he does he spends it watching obscure movies and taking long walks in the countryside.

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OS X Safari prompt before exiting

Is there any way to have Safari 5 (OS X) ask before exiting? I have fat fingers and often hit Command-Q when I want Command-W.

5 Answers 5

In the tabs section of Safari's preferences, if you check the third option "Confirm before closing multiple tabs or windows", Safari will ask before exiting if you have more than one tab or window open. It won't ask for confirmation if you have only one open, but from what you're saying, that shouldn't be a major issue if you meant to close the window anyway.

• Ahh! That's what I was looking for. I check all of the other preference tabs except that one :-). –  Ralph Sep 23, 2010 at 18:42
• 1 I'm using OS X 10.8.3, Safari 6.0.3 and the "Confirm before closing multiple tabs or windows" option is not available –  hanxue Sep 21, 2013 at 16:46
• 4 @hanxue I believe that option disappeared in the great iOS-ification of Mac OS X. The idea now is that Safari will by default restore all tabs and windows on re-opening. Alternatively, if you've turned this off by selecting the "Close windows when quitting an application" option in the "General" section of System Preferences, you can use the History -> Reopen All Windows from Last Session menu item to do this manually. –  Scott Sep 21, 2013 at 21:46
• 1 @Scott Thank you for your quick follow up and detailed reply. I manage to solve it by remapping the Quit keyboard shortcut. Google Chrome handles the Quit issue better by having a "Warn before quitting" option. I commented for the benefit of anyone looking at this question in the future. –  hanxue Sep 21, 2013 at 21:54
• 1 @Scott: I found your comment above useful enough that I turned it into an answer (with some extra details I found myself while looking into it). Thanks! –  Ilmari Karonen May 4, 2018 at 11:25

I remap Safari ’s Quit menu item shortcut to ⌥⌘Q (Option-Command-Q) using the “Keyboard Shortcuts” tab of the “Keyboard & Mouse” preference panel in System Preferences .

As Scott noted in a comment , modern macOS versions have a checkbox labeled "Close windows when quitting an app" in the "General" section of System Preferences:

Alternatively, if you prefer to enable this feature only for Safari , you can select "Safari opens with: All windows from last session" from the "General" tab in Safari preferences:

Also, as noted by Chris Johnsen , you can rebind the "Quit Safari" menu item to a different, less easily triggered keyboard shortcut (e.g. ⌥⌘Q) via System Preferences → Keyboard → Shortcuts → App Shortcuts:

All screenshots taken and described behavior tested on macOS High Sierra version 10.13.4 with Safari 11.1. Obviously, later versions may change how things work.

Safari will prompt if you've edited a text field but not submitted the form yet.

Otherwise, you can get back to where you were after an accidental Quit by going to History > Reopen All Windows From Last Session.

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for browse other questions tagged macos safari-5 ..

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How-To Geek

How to make safari always open your previous tabs on mac.

Tired of losing all your browser tabs when you close or restart Safari on Mac? Here's how to make Safari restore your session every time you start the app.

It can be frustrating when you need to restart Safari on your Mac and you lose what you've been working on because all of your tabs and windows close. Luckily, there's an easy way to make Safari restore your session every time you start the app. Here's how to set it up.

First, launch Safari on your Mac. At the top of your screen, click the "Safari" menu and select "Preferences."

When the "Preferences" window appears, click the "General" tab, then locate the "Safari opens with" option. In the drop-down menu beside it, select "All windows from last session" if you want all of your windows---including your Private Browsing windows ---to be restored.

If you only want your non-Private windows to be restored, select "All non-private windows from last session" in the drop-down menu.

After that, close Preferences. The next time you restart Safari, it will remember your browsing session, and all the windows and tabs you had open last time will reopen automatically. Happy browsing!

Related: How to Always Start Safari in Private Browsing Mode on a Mac

Safari User Guide

• Change your homepage
• Import bookmarks, history, and passwords
• Make Safari your default web browser
• Go to websites
• Find what you’re looking for
• Bookmark webpages that you want to revisit
• See your favorite websites
• Use tabs for webpages
• Pin frequently visited websites
• Play web videos
• Mute audio in tabs
• Pay with Apple Pay
• Autofill credit card info
• Autofill contact info
• Keep a Reading List
• Hide ads when reading articles
• Translate a webpage
• Download items from the web
• Share or post webpages
• Add passes to Wallet
• Save part or all of a webpage
• Print or create a PDF of a webpage
• Customize a start page
• Customize the Safari window
• Customize settings per website
• Zoom in on webpages
• Get extensions
• Manage cookies and website data
• Block pop-ups
• Clear your browsing history
• Browse privately
• Autofill user name and password info
• Prevent cross-site tracking
• View a Privacy Report
• Change Safari preferences
• Keyboard and other shortcuts
• Troubleshooting

Edit and customize Tab Groups in Safari on Mac

You can choose the tabs to include in each Tab Group, arrange the tabs, choose a distinct background for the start page of each Tab Group, and share Tab Groups across your devices.

Open Safari for me

Edit a Tab Group

Arrange the tabs in a Tab Group: In the tab bar, drag a tab before or after another tab.

Arrange Tab Groups: In the sidebar, drag a Tab Group before or after another Tab Group.

Delete a Tab Group: In the sidebar, Control-click a Tab Group, then choose Delete.

Rename a Tab Group: In the sidebar, Control-click a Tab Group, choose Rename, enter a name, then press Return.

Choose a background for the start page of a Tab Group

If the sidebar is open, click a Tab Group in the sidebar.

Choose Bookmarks > Show Start Page.

Choose a background for the start page of the Tab Group.

You can also drag a photo onto the start page.

Click in the Safari window.

You can choose a different background for the start page of each Tab Group.

Keep Tab Groups updated across your devices

Sign in to your other devices with the same Apple ID as on your Mac.

Make sure Safari is turned on in iCloud preferences .

Turn on two-factor authentication on all your Apple devices.

See the Apple Support article Two-factor authentication for Apple ID .

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Safari 16.1 losing tabs on quit/restore

• Thread starter Stevp1
• Start date Dec 28, 2022
• Sort by reaction score
• macOS Ventura (13)

macrumors regular

• Dec 28, 2022

Hello all. Ventura 13.0 with Safari 16.1. MacBook pro 15" Retina. Not sure if it's a Safari bug or Ventura. When I quit and then reopen Safari, some of the windows randomly open blank instead of having the tabs present when closing. Not using tab groups, just multiple windows open with multiple tabs. Funny thing is, this only started yesterday. No changes to the machine recently. I've seen others discussing a similar bug, but it seems those are related to tab groups. Anybody have any info on this? Or seeing the same behavior? Thanks!  

asokawotulo

Macrumors newbie.

• Jan 1, 2023

I'm seeing the same behavior on my mac as well. I'm using a MacBook Pro 16" M1 Pro on Ventura 13.1 with Safari 16.2. When I quit then reopen Safari, the number of windows I previously had open are the same but none of the tabs I had open are there just multiple windows with a single tab. EDIT: It seems for me that it only affects private tabs (this wasn't the case before). Non-private tabs reopen after quitting just fine  

macrumors member

• Jan 4, 2023

asokawotulo said: I'm seeing the same behavior on my mac as well. I'm using a MacBook Pro 16" M1 Pro on Ventura 13.1 with Safari 16.2. When I quit then reopen Safari, the number of windows I previously had open are the same but none of the tabs I had open are there just multiple windows with a single tab. EDIT: It seems for me that it only affects private tabs (this wasn't the case before). Non-private tabs reopen after quitting just fine Click to expand...

• Jan 6, 2023

i have a customer that has had something similar since going to 13.0.1 where his pinned tabs just disappear sometimes when he closes safari. or some of them shows as icons and others will show as full page when they had been pinned icons...  

• Feb 1, 2023

It's always disappointing when you search online for a problem you're experiencing and all you can find is people having the same issues but no solution. I upgraded Safari on macOS to 16.3 on two computers: one refuses to reopen private tabs after a browser restart, instead opening normal windows with one empty tab; the other works as expected. I sent feedback to Apple but radars are a thing of the past so no hope of even acknowledgement of the problem.  

• Apr 21, 2023

This bug seems to have been resolved with Safari 16.4 and remains fixed with 16.4.1. Hurray!  

'ZDNET Recommends': What exactly does it mean?

ZDNET's recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing.

When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or service, we may earn affiliate commissions. This helps support our work, but does not affect what we cover or how, and it does not affect the price you pay. Neither ZDNET nor the author are compensated for these independent reviews. Indeed, we follow strict guidelines that ensure our editorial content is never influenced by advertisers.

ZDNET's editorial team writes on behalf of you, our reader. Our goal is to deliver the most accurate information and the most knowledgeable advice possible in order to help you make smarter buying decisions on tech gear and a wide array of products and services. Our editors thoroughly review and fact-check every article to ensure that our content meets the highest standards. If we have made an error or published misleading information, we will correct or clarify the article. If you see inaccuracies in our content, please report the mistake via this form .

How to configure Safari tabs to automatically close in MacOS Sonoma

I often work with anywhere from 10 to 30 tabs open in my browser. I also use multiple browsers, so I can often have multiple tabs open in multiple browsers. I also use tab management features that allow me to create tab groups and sometimes I'll forget about a tab group which means any tabs open in that group might languish, unused.

If I don't need those tabs, why would I leave them open, only to possibly use precious system resources that could be taken up by tabs I'm actually working with? The answer to that question is, of course, that I shouldn't leave those tabs open. But memory is a tricky thing and sometimes we simply forget a tab is even open.

Also: How to use Safari's 2FA code generator  |  How to merge multiple Safari windows  | How to password-protect your Private Browsing

Thankfully, Apple has added a feature to its Safari browser (v17 in Sonoma) that makes it possible for you to have the browser automatically close tabs manually, after one day, after one week, or after a month.

At first blush, you might think this is an all-or-none proposition. When you read the description of the setting (of which there is much), you might be so inclined to think that, if you configure Safari to automatically close tabs (regardless of the timeframe), it will close all tabs. Fortunately, the description is a bit misleading. 

What Safari will do (when you configure it to close tabs automatically) is close tabs based on the last time you used those tabs.

Say, for example, you have two tabs open: ZDNET and Amazon . You visit the ZDNET tab daily but it's been a week since you last looked at the Amazon tab. If you've configured Safari to automatically close tabs after one week, it will close the Amazon tab and leave the ZDNET tab open. Why? Because you've used the ZDNET tab within the time frame but not the Amazon tab.

Essentially, this feature closes unused tabs based on the given time frame.

In other words, this is a great way to automatically close all of the tabs you haven't used, based on a specified elapsed time.

So, how do you make this configuration? It's quite simple. Let me show you.

How to configure Safari tabs to automatically close

What you'll need:  The only thing you'll need for this is MacOS Sonoma (which includes Safari v17). That's it. Let's get this configuration taken care of.

1. Open Safari Settings

The first thing to do is open Safari. Once the app is open, you can either click the Safari menu entry in the Menu Bar and click Settings or use the Command+, keyboard combination. (That's the Command button plus the comma key.)

You can open Safari settings through the Menu Bar or a keyboard shortcut.

2. Enable tab autoclose

Within Settings, click the Tabs tab and locate the entry for Automatically close tabs. Click the drop-down (which defaults to Manually) and select either After one day , After one week , or After one month . Once you've made your selection, close Settings and you're good to go.

You can also configure the Tab Layout option such that new pages will either open in a new tab or a new window.

With this feature set, Safari will automatically close tabs based on the last time you used them. This is a great way to prevent Safari from keeping unused tabs open, save system resources, and preventing unwanted eyes from viewing something they probably shouldn't.

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The best secure browsers to protect your privacy online in 2024, stop your apple charger may be a counterfeit, and this tiny gadget can tell.

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How to close Safari tabs or force close Safari iPad Air 2021?

Unable to locate a button to close down Safari tabs or force close the Safari app on iPad Air 2021.

iPad reboot didn't affect the tabs—all survived. How do I tame Safari?

Posted on Jun 10, 2022 2:33 AM

Posted on Jun 10, 2022 3:03 AM

Restarting your iPad will not, of itself, close Safari tabs. By design, open tabs are expected to survive restart of the App, or the iPad.

Tabs can be closed individually. The active tab will have small “x” icon; tap the icon to close the tab.

You can also close the active tab, or all tabs, using the Tabs button (four squares) at the upper-right corner of your screen; touch-and-hold (i.e., a long-touch) the Tabs button to expose an Action Menu - and select the required option.

More information about managing your Safari tabs can be found here:

Use tabs in Safari on iPad - Apple Support

You can force-close any App at will - although it is generally unnecessary to close any App unless it is unresponsive or malfunctioning:

If an app on your iPhone or iPad stops responding, closes unexpectedly, or won’t open - Apple Support

Apps can be closed using the Task Switcher. To expose the Task Switcher:

• All iPad models: Swipe up from the bottom of the screen, then pause in the center of the screen.
• On an iPad with a Home button:  Double-click the Home button.

When active, the Task Switcher will show a thumbnail for each open App - the most recently accessed being to the right of the screen. You can swipe right or left to scroll through your open Apps. To close an App, swipe the corresponding thumbnail off the top of the screen.

The  iPad User Guide  is a rich source of frequently overlooked information about your iPad and iPadOS. The Guide is available both online using a web browser (such as Safari), or as an Apple Books download:

iPad User Guide - Apple Support

https://books.apple.com/book/id1567104892

The Tips App, installed by default on all new models of iPad, provides a brief introduction - and leads you to the User Guide. In case you missed it, here is a link to the Tips App:

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/tips/id1069509450

Similar questions

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Jun 10, 2022 3:03 AM in response to Alehins

Jun 10, 2022 4:49 AM in response to LotusPilot

It did help. Thanks a lot!

Jun 10, 2022 2:58 AM in response to Alehins

See this support page, extracted from the iPad user guide:--> Use tabs in Safari on iPad – Apple Support (UK)

Jun 10, 2022 4:52 AM in response to Alehins

You are very welcome. I hope to have provided a comprehensive answer for each of your questions - Safari now being “tamed” 🙂

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Top 3 Ways to Save Tabs Before Closing Chrome and How to Restore Lost Tabs

The best thing about the mobile version of Chrome is that you can keep tabs open in it for several days without worrying about them getting deleted — unless you close the tab manually. Even updating the phone will not kill open tabs. The same isn’t true about Chrome on the desktop. It is prone to losing tabs . So in this post, we shall share ways to save your tabs before closing Chrome and how to restore tabs if you lose them.

An automatic Windows update is enough to make you go screaming. Sometimes, even a restart or accidentally closing the Chrome browser will kill your open tabs on the PC. So frustrating. Argh!!! Fortunately, you can rescue such tabs.

Let’s see various ways to save tabs when closing Chrome so that you don’t lose them on exit.

How to Save Tabs When Exiting Chrome

Here are three methods to save Chrome tabs from getting killed on PC when you close the browser, or it accidentally shuts down.

1. Use Built-In Feature of Chrome to Reopen Tabs Automatically

Google Chrome comes with a native feature to open the last used tabs automatically. Present under the Startup settings in Chrome, you need to enable ‘Continue where you left off’ setting. Do note that it will only work for the first time when you open Chrome again. Also, if you have already lost tabs, enabling this setting will not be able to rescue them. However, do keep it enabled so that you don’t go through the same trauma again.

To enable this feature, follow these steps:

Step 1: Open Chrome Settings by clicking on the three-dot icon at the top.

Step 2: Scroll down in Settings, and you will reach the On Startup section. Check the box next to Continue where you left off.

Now, whenever you reopen Chrome, your last open tabs will open automatically.

2. Bookmark All Tabs

We all know about bookmarking a single tab. But what about bookmarking multiple tabs ? The same concept is usable to save your tabs for later use if you do not trust the above feature. The downside is that you will have to do this manually.

To bookmark all open tabs, right-click on the tab-strip at the top. Choose Bookmark all open tabs from the menu. Alternatively, use Ctrl + Shift + D (Windows) or Command + Shift + D (macOS) keyboard shortcuts to bookmark all the open tabs.

To organize bookmarks effectively, give the folder an easily identifiable name such as its purpose, type, or date. Click on Save.

Keep the folder in the bookmarks bar to access it quickly. Later, when you want to open all the tabs, right-click on the folder and choose Open all tabs. In case you accidentally delete bookmarks some time, find out how to recover them .

3. Use Third-Party Extensions

If you are comfortable with using Chrome extensions, they do a pretty good job of saving your selected open tabs for later use. Some extensions even let you save your entire session . Such extensions save your tabs not only for one restart or one crash but also for you to delete them manually. Some of the extensions are Workona, Toby , etc. We would suggest trying Workona for it saves sessions automatically, and you can retrieve multiple previous sessions with it.

How to Retrieve Lost Chrome Tabs

If you lose Chrome tabs due to the sudden crashing of the browser, the following three tips will come handy in restoring them.

1. Check Recently Closed Tabs List

If you don’t want the tabs to open automatically yet want to restore them, another native feature of Chrome might help you. This method will help you to restore Google Chrome tabs after a restart , shutdown, or even a crash.

Typically, you should see the Restore tabs button when your Chrome crashes. In case you don’t see it, worry not. Click on the three-dot icon at the top in Chrome and hover your mouse over the History option. Here you will see options that say 2 tabs or 4 tabs or something similar – indicating the number of tabs open in the previous session. Click on the session that you want to restore.

Pro Tip: Use Ctrl + Shift + T (Windows) or Command + Shift + T (macOS) keyboard shortcuts to restore last closed tabs. Keep pressing till you run out of tabs to retrieve. Check out other useful Chrome keyboard shortcuts .

2. Check Chrome History

In case Chrome doesn’t show you the list of recently opened tabs, you will have to check your history.

Now the problem is that history doesn’t separate your last open tabs and the browsing history. So you have to do the hard work and go through your history to retrieve the open tabs. Use Ctrl + H (Windows) or Command + H (macOS) keyboard shortcuts to open History in Chrome.

Pro Tip: Use the search in History to find your tabs.

When you find your links, click on them to open them. Doing so will open the link in the same tab making you lose your position in History. But if you don’t want to lose your position in History, right-click on the link and select Open in a new tab. Alternatively, use Ctrl + click (Windows) or Command + Click (macOS) keyboard shortcuts to open links in a new tab.

3. Check From Mobile

If you have logged in with a Google account in Chrome and enabled Chrome sync , you might be able to retrieve your lost tabs.

Open Chrome on Android or iOS. Make sure you are using the same email account as the one registered on Chrome on PC. Tap on the three-dot icon at the top and select Recent Tabs. Here you will find a list of open tabs on other devices. Check for your PC. Open the tabs on your mobile and using the Send to device feature , send them to your computer.

Not All Is Lost

Losing all tabs, especially if you have lots of them can irk anyone. We hope we were able to help you in retrieving your lost tabs and as well as saving your tabs so that you don’t lose them in the future. Do you know of an alternate method to save tabs? Let us know in the comments below.

Next up: Keep your tabs separate from different Chrome users. Curious how to do that? Use the Chrome profiles feature. From the next link, find out what are Chrome profiles and how to use them.

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Last updated on 02 February, 2022

The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.

The article above may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. The content remains unbiased and authentic and will never affect our editorial integrity.

DID YOU KNOW

Mehvish Mushtaq is a computer engineer by degree. Her love for Android and gadgets made her develop the first Android app for Kashmir. Known as Dial Kashmir, she won the prestigious Nari Shakti award from the President of India for the same. She has been writing about technology for 6+ years and her favorite verticals include how-to guides, explainers, tips and tricks for Android, iOS/iPadOS, social media, and web apps. You can also find her posts on MakeTechEasier, TechWiser, and NerdsChalk.

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