How to close tabs without losing them
Updated October 20, 2026
Put the tabs somewhere you trust, then close them. Bookmarks and history are built in but easy to lose track of. A tab shelf extension saves what you close into a list made for coming back to.
Most tab piles grow for one reason: each tab might be useful later, and closing it feels like losing it. The fix is to put those tabs somewhere you trust, then close them. Here are four ways to do that in Chrome and Edge.
1. Bookmark all tabs
Press Ctrl+Shift+D (Cmd+Shift+D on Mac) to bookmark every open tab into a new folder, then close the window. It's built in and syncs with your browser account. The catch: bookmark folders pile up, and most people never open them again.
2. Tab groups
Right-click a tab, add it to a group, then collapse the group. This hides tabs without closing them, so they can still use memory, and the tab strip still fills up over time.
3. Rely on history
Ctrl+Shift+T (Cmd+Shift+T on Mac) reopens the last closed tab, and your history keeps everything else. It works for a tab you closed a minute ago. For one you closed last week, you're searching through hundreds of entries.
4. Use a tab shelf
A tab manager extension saves the tabs you close into a list built for coming back to. Tab Shelf works like this:
- Press
Alt+Shift+S, then Enter. Your current tab and your last five active tabs stay open, along with pinned tabs and anything playing sound. - Everything else is saved to your shelf on your computer, grouped by when you cleaned and by site.
- Press
Alt+Shift+Fto open the shelf and search it by title or address. Click a tab to open it again.
It's free. Pro ($4.99 once) reopens tabs at your scroll position or video time, and can shelve idle tabs for you.
Try a tab shelf on sample tabs
This is a working copy of Tab Shelf. Clean the tabs, then bring a few back.
Give your tabs somewhere to go.
It's free, and your tabs never leave your computer.
Add to Chrome