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How to Restore Chrome Tabs After a Browser Crash? Complete Tab Snapshot Guide
VertiTab Team
29 dec. 2025
#Chrome Extensions#Tab Management#Tab Recovery#Browser Crash#Data Backup
Sound Familiar?
- Chrome crashes suddenly, dozens of tabs vanish instantly
- Accidentally closed an important tab and can't find it
- Want to restore yesterday's browsing session, but history is a mess
- Too many tabs open, need to clean up but afraid you'll need them later
- Switching between multiple computers, want to sync tab states
If any of these resonate with you, the Tab Snapshot feature is exactly what you need.
👉 Free Download VertiTab - Chrome Vertical Tab Manager Extension
Scenario 1: Recovering All Tabs After a Browser Crash
Timeline: Late Night Work → Browser Crash → Next Day Recovery
22:00 | You're researching an important project
├─ 40 tabs open
├─ 5 windows containing:
│ · Project docs (10 tabs)
│ · Competitor analysis (8 tabs)
│ · Technical references (12 tabs)
│ · Email communications (5 tabs)
│ · Other materials (5 tabs)
└─ It took 3 hours to gather all these tabs
22:30 | VertiTab works silently in the background
├─ Detects tab count changes
├─ Automatically creates a tab snapshot
└─ You don't need to do anything
23:00 | Chrome crashes suddenly
├─ All windows close instantly
└─ Your heart sinks
👉 The Critical Moment: How to recover lost tabs
08:00 | You restart Chrome
├─ Only a blank tab appears
└─ You think: "No... it's all gone..."
08:00:05 | VertiTab shows a recovery prompt
├─ "Detected 40 tabs and 5 windows from last session"
├─ "Would you like to restore?"
└─ You click "View Details"
08:00:10 | Opening the Snapshot page
├─ You see last night's 22:30 auto-snapshot
│ · All 40 tabs preserved
│ · Layout info for all 5 windows
│ · All tab group names and colors
└─ Select "Restore All Windows"
08:00:30 | One-click restore complete
├─ All 5 windows reappear
├─ All 40 tabs are back in place
└─ Continue where you left off
✅ You did nothing special, but lost nothing.
That's the power of auto-snapshots.
This is more reliable than Chrome's built-in "Restore Previous Session"—even if the browser crashes or your computer loses power, snapshot data is preserved.
Scenario 2: Backup Before Cleaning Up Tabs
Many people have dozens or hundreds of tabs open and want to clean up but are afraid to—worried they might need them later.
Timeline: Decide to Clean Up → Regret → One-Click Restore
14:00 | You decide "time to clean up"
├─ 60 tabs open
├─ Many look like "won't need these later"
└─ Ready to close them aggressively
14:01 | Smart move: create a manual snapshot first
├─ Click "Create Snapshot"
├─ Name it "Pre-cleanup Backup - Important"
├─ Check "Pin" to prevent auto-cleanup
└─ Now you can clean up with peace of mind
14:30 | Cleanup complete
├─ Down from 60 tabs to 15
└─ Feeling refreshed
👉 The Critical Moment: Realizing you still need a closed page
16:30 | Suddenly need a page you closed
├─ "Where was that analysis report?"
├─ Checked recently closed, not there
├─ Searched Google, can't find the original
└─ Starting to regret...
16:31 | Remember you have a snapshot backup
├─ Open the Snapshot page
├─ Find "Pre-cleanup Backup - Important"
├─ Expand to view details
└─ The analysis report is right there!
16:32 | Selectively restore a single tab
├─ No need to restore all 60
├─ Just check the analysis report
├─ Click "Restore Selected"
└─ Recover only what you need
✅ Manual snapshot = Undo button
Clean up boldly, knowing you can always get things back
Scenario 3: Restoring Many Tabs Without Lag
The problem with many tab recovery tools: restoring 50 tabs at once freezes the browser.
VertiTab's solution is Lazy Loading:
10:00 | You need to restore a large snapshot
├─ 50 tabs, including many web apps
└─ Worried about browser freeze
10:01 | Select restore options
├─ ✅ Lazy loading (enabled by default)
├─ ✅ Restore tab groups
└─ Click "Restore"
👉 The Critical Moment: The restore process
10:01:10 | Restore begins
├─ 50 tabs appear instantly
├─ Each tab shows its title and icon
├─ But actually—
│ · All tabs are in "hibernation" state
│ · Using no memory, no CPU
│ · Only showing cached titles and icons
└─ Browser runs smoothly
10:01:20 | Load on demand
├─ Click the first tab you need
│ → That tab starts loading
├─ The other 49 tabs stay hibernated
└─ Only tabs you click actually load
10:30:00 | After working for a while
├─ Only 8 tabs actually loaded
├─ The other 42 still hibernating
└─ Memory usage: 1/5 of normal
✅ Benefits of lazy loading:
· Instant restore
· Load on demand, no wasted resources
· Perfect for managing many tabs
Three Types of Snapshots
| Type | Creation Method | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Auto Snapshot | Created automatically | Daily protection against browser crashes |
| Manual Snapshot | Created by user | Backup before major operations, save specific work states |
| Synced Snapshot | Created via cloud sync | Tab states synced from other devices |
Restore Options Explained
Restore Modes
Scenario: You have a snapshot with 3 windows to restore
"Open in New Windows"
├─ Creates 3 new windows
├─ Current window unaffected
└─ Best for: Keep current work while restoring old content
"Replace Current Window"
├─ Closes all tabs in current window
├─ Replaces with snapshot content
└─ Best for: Completely switch to previous work state
"Merge into Current Window"
├─ Keeps current window's tabs
├─ Adds snapshot tabs
├─ Automatically skips duplicate URLs
└─ Best for: Adding some previous tabs to current work
Other Options
- Restore window position and size: Windows appear in their original positions
- Restore tab groups: Preserves Chrome tab group names, colors, and groupings
- Lazy loading: Highly recommended to avoid lag when restoring many tabs
Snapshot Settings
You can adjust these parameters in the settings page:
| Setting | Purpose | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| Enable auto snapshots | Toggle auto-snapshot feature | On |
| Max auto snapshots | Deletes oldest when exceeded | 3-10 |
| Minimum tabs for auto snapshot | Won't create if fewer tabs | 5 |
| Tab change threshold | Only create snapshot when this many tabs change | 2-5 |
| Show recovery prompt on startup | Ask to restore when browser starts | On |
| Ignored URL list | These URLs won't be saved to snapshots | about:blank |
Snapshot Management Tips
Pin Important Snapshots
You have an important project snapshot you don't want auto-cleaned:
├─ Open the snapshot list
├─ Click the "Pin" icon 📌 on that snapshot
└─ Once pinned:
· Won't be auto-cleaned
· Always appears at top of list
· Can be unpinned anytime
Lock Sensitive Snapshots
Your snapshot contains sensitive info you don't want others to see:
├─ Click the "Lock" icon 🔒
├─ Set password protection
└─ Once locked:
· Viewing details requires password
· Restoring requires password verification
· Password stored locally only
Cloud Sync Snapshots
You want to sync tabs across multiple computers:
├─ Manual snapshots sync to cloud by default
├─ You can also control sync per snapshot
└─ Once synced:
· Other devices can see this snapshot
· No fear of data loss if device is lost
Migrating from Other Extensions
If you previously used other Chrome tab management extensions, you can import your data:
- Tab Session Manager - Direct session data import
- Session Buddy - Supports backup file import
- Toby - Can import collections
After import, these sessions become VertiTab snapshots for seamless transition.
FAQ
Q: What's the difference between snapshots and Chrome's built-in "Restore Previous Session"?
Chrome's built-in feature only restores the last closed state, and often fails. VertiTab snapshots:
- Save multiple points in time
- Preserved even after browser crashes
- Support selective restoration of specific tabs
- Support cross-device sync
Q: How much storage do snapshots use?
Each snapshot only saves tab URLs, titles, and position info—not page content. A snapshot of 100 tabs uses only tens of KB.
Q: Do auto-snapshots affect browser performance?
No. Snapshots are created silently in the background with debouncing to avoid frequent triggers.
Summary
Problems You Might Face │ How Snapshots Help
─────────────────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────
Browser crashed, all tabs gone │ Auto-snapshot saved, one-click restore
Accidentally closed important tab │ Open snapshot, selective restore
Regret after cleanup │ Create manual snapshot before cleanup
Browser freezes when restoring │ Enable lazy loading, load on demand
Want to sync tabs across computers │ Enable cloud sync, access snapshots anywhere
Try It Now
👉 Download VertiTab - Best Chrome Vertical Tab Manager Extension
Key Features:
- 🌳 Tree-style tab management
- 📸 Auto tab snapshots and recovery
- ☁️ Cross-device cloud sync
- 🤖 AI-powered tab grouping
- 🎬 Advanced picture-in-picture
Turn browser crashes from nightmares into minor inconveniences.