Keepsake Tabs
Guide
How to save Chrome tab groups so they survive a restart
Tab groups are a great way to keep projects apart, but many people find out the hard way that a group can disappear after a crash, an update or a "Reset settings". Here is what Chrome does for you, and where the gaps are.
What Chrome does by itself
- Continue where you left off (Settings > On startup) reopens your windows, including their tab groups, after a normal restart.
- Recent Chrome versions can save a tab group: you can close it and reopen it later from the tab groups menu, and it syncs if you use Chrome sync.
Where the gaps are
- Saved groups and the session both live in your Chrome profile. A corrupted profile, a reset or a reinstall can remove them.
- Sync copies mistakes too: if a group is deleted on one device, it is deleted everywhere.
- There is no built-in way to export your groups to a file and import them again on another machine.
A simple routine that works
- Turn on Continue where you left off.
- Save the groups you rely on.
- Once in a while, export a backup file of your windows and groups and keep it outside the browser (a cloud drive is fine).