How to Restore Chrome Tabs After a Crash or Accidental Close

Losing your Chrome tabs can be a frustrating experience, especially when you have important work or research open. Whether it’s due to a browser crash, an accidental closure, or a system restart, the sudden disappearance of your browsing session can disrupt your workflow. Fortunately, Chrome has a built-in mechanism to help you restore your previous session and get back to where you were. This guide will walk you through the steps on How To Restore Chrome Tabs effectively, ensuring you don’t lose your important browsing data again.

Chrome saves your browsing session in specific files within your user data directory. These files, named Session_* and Tabs_*, are automatically updated as you browse. When Chrome restarts after an unexpected shutdown, it usually prompts you to restore your session. However, if this prompt doesn’t appear or if you want to manually restore an older session, you can do so by manipulating these session files.

Here’s how you can manually restore your Chrome tabs using session files:

1. Act Quickly: Avoid Restarting Chrome Immediately

   If you’ve just experienced a Chrome crash or accidental closure, the first and most crucial step is to not restart Chrome immediately. Restarting the browser might overwrite the session files you need to recover your tabs. If possible, use another browser to follow these instructions.

2. Locate Your Chrome Session Files

   The session files are located in your Chrome User Data directory. The exact path depends on your operating system and Chrome profile.

   • For Windows users using the Default profile:
     Open File Explorer and in the address bar, paste the following path and press Enter:
     %USERPROFILE%AppDataLocalGoogleChromeUser DataDefaultSessions

   • For users with multiple Chrome Profiles:
     If you use different Chrome profiles (e.g., “Profile 1,” “Profile 2”), these are also located within the User Data directory. Navigate back to the User Data directory and find the folder corresponding to your profile name (e.g., Profile 1). Each profile folder contains its own Sessions directory with Session_ and Tabs_ files.

   • If you’re having trouble finding the directory:
     Refer to the Chromium documentation for more detailed information on user data directory locations: https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src/+/master/docs/user_data_dir.md

3. Backup Your Session Files

   Before proceeding, it’s highly recommended to create a backup of your current session files. This precaution ensures that you have a copy of the files in case anything goes wrong during the restoration process. Copy the Session_* and Tabs_* files from the Sessions directory to a safe location on your computer, like a separate folder on your desktop.

4. Forcefully Close Chrome (Kill the Process)

   To trigger the “Restore session” prompt upon relaunch, you need to completely close Chrome, not just close the browser windows. This is done by “killing” the Chrome process. Here are a few ways to do this:

   • Using Chrome’s Internal Crash URL: In the address bar of another open Chrome window (if you have one), type chrome://inducebrowsercrashforrealz and press Enter. This command is designed to intentionally crash Chrome.
   • Using Task Manager (Windows): Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager. Find “Google Chrome” in the list of processes, right-click on it, and select “End task”. Ensure you end all Chrome processes listed.
   • Using Command Line (Windows): Open the Run dialog by pressing WinKey + R, then type tskill chrome and press Enter. This command forcefully terminates Chrome processes.

5. Restore Your Session Files (Optional, for restoring older sessions)

   In most cases, simply killing and relaunching Chrome will prompt a session restore using the most recent session files. However, if you want to restore an older session (assuming you have older backups or haven’t restarted Chrome too many times), you might have multiple pairs of Session_* and Tabs_* files in the Sessions directory.

   To restore a specific session, you can try removing the newest Session_* and Tabs_* files from the Sessions directory. Chrome will then attempt to use the next most recent set of files when you relaunch. Be cautious when deleting files, and ensure you have backups.

6. Relaunch Chrome and Restore

   After killing Chrome and optionally manipulating session files, relaunch Chrome. If the process was successful, Chrome should display a prompt at the top, asking if you want to “Restore pages?” or “Restore session?”. Click the “Restore” button.

   Chrome will then attempt to restore the tabs from the session files present in the Sessions directory. If you followed the steps correctly, your previous tabs should reappear.

Automating Session Backup and Restore with Scripts

For users who frequently need to backup or restore Chrome sessions, automating this process with scripts can be a significant time-saver. Simple batch scripts can be created to copy session files for backup, and then restore them when needed.

You can find example scripts and further information on automating Chrome session management at this GitHub repository:

https://github.com/aljgom/chrome_sessions

These scripts can simplify the process of backing up your current session and restoring from a backup, making tab recovery more efficient.

Conclusion

Restoring Chrome tabs after a crash or accidental close is possible by understanding and utilizing Chrome’s session file system. By following these steps, you can minimize data loss and quickly resume your browsing session. Remember, acting quickly and backing up your session files are key to successfully restoring your Chrome tabs and maintaining your productivity.