A OneTab alternative that keeps your recent tabs open
Updated October 20, 2026
OneTab sends all your tabs to one list. Tab Shelf keeps your current tab and your last few active tabs open, groups the rest by site, and lets you search them. Both are free, and both keep your tabs in your browser with no account. Choose OneTab to share a list as a web page. Choose Tab Shelf to keep working where you are.
The same 12 tabs, one click
OneTab
Everything goes to the list, including the page you were reading.
Tab Shelf
Your current tab and your last 3 active tabs stay. You choose the number.
What they have in common
- One click closes your tabs and saves them as a list you can reopen.
- Both store that list in your browser, with no account.
- Both are free to use.
Where Tab Shelf is different
| Tab Shelf | |
|---|---|
| Which tabs close | Your current tab and your last 3, 5, 10 or 20 active tabs stay open. Pinned tabs and tabs playing sound are never closed. |
| How the list is organised | Grouped by when you cleaned, then by site, so all your GitHub tabs sit together. |
| Finding a tab later | Search by title or address (press /), and hover any tab for its full title and when you saved it. |
| Reopening | One tab, a whole session, or Smart restore: three tabs at a time from your last round, your work sites, your entertainment sites, or at random. |
| Sharing | No sharing feature. OneTab can publish a list as a web page; Tab Shelf keeps everything on your computer. |
| Moving computers | Export the shelf to a file and import it on the other computer. |
| Paid extras | Pro ($4.99 once): Resume Points reopen tabs at your scroll position, video time or highlighted line. Autopilot shelves tabs you haven't touched for a while. |
Try Tab Shelf on sample tabs
This is a working copy. Press Clean tabs, then bring a few back from the shelf.
Which one should you use?
Choose OneTab if
- you want to close absolutely everything in one go.
- you want to share a list of links with other people.
Choose Tab Shelf if
- you want the tabs you're working in to stay open.
- you want to find old tabs by site or by search.
- you want long articles to reopen where you stopped (Pro).
Switching from OneTab
Restore your OneTab list so the tabs are open again, install Tab Shelf, and click Clean tabs. Everything you aren't using lands on your shelf, already grouped by site.
Give your tabs somewhere to go.
It's free, and your tabs never leave your computer.
Add to Chrome