Welcome to the ultimate guide to restoring tabs in your web browser. We’ve put together simple step-by-step instructions to help you restore your Tabs. We’ll cover how to restore tabs across the four main standard web browsers: Google Chrome, Safari, Microsoft Edge and Mozilla Firefox.
And we’ll also share our recommendation for anyone who finds themselves frequently needing to restore tabs: Horse Browser, a new web browser that permanently saves the sites you visit. You’ll never need to restore your tabs again!
How Do I Restore My Browser Tabs?
To restore your browser Tabs, there are a variety of methods you can use: you can search your internet History; visit your browser Menu; or use quick keyboard shortcuts. Read on to discover the specific steps you need to take for each browser.
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How To Restore Tabs in Google Chrome
Let’s take a look at how to restore Tabs in Google Chrome. For recent tabs, the quickest method is through quick keyboard shortcuts or the browser Menu. To restore older Tabs, you’ll need to search through your browser History.
Restoring Recent Tabs in Chrome
To restore recent Tabs, follow these speedy Menu and keyboard shortcuts. Or you can quickly access your Tab History to restore recent Tabs.
- For the quickest solution, use the keyboard shortcuts Ctrl + Shift + T on Windows / Linux or ⌘ + ⇧ + T on Mac to restore recently closed tabs.
- Alternatively, visit File > Reopen Closed Tab in the Menu at the top of your browser to reopen the last tab you closed.
- Finally, you can click the three dots in the top right corner of the browser window and hover over History. Look under Recent Tabs. Here you will find a list of recent browsing sessions. In cases where multiple tabs were open in a session, you will see the relevant number listed. Select tabs from this list.
- Under the Recent Tabs list, you will also see an option to Restore Window. Select this to restore all tabs from a recent session.
Restoring Older Tabs in Chrome
To restore older Tabs in Chrome, you will need to search through your History.
- Access History by clicking on the three dots at the top of your browser or by visiting File > History. Alternatively, use the keyboard shortcut ⌘ + Y on Mac and Ctrl + Y on Windows / Linux.
- Search through History to find the tabs you need. You can browse previous browser sessions By date or By group. If you are searching by date, you’ll need to try to remember the day and time you accessed the site. The By group option shows pages filtered by subject or site. This latter option isn’t totally foolproof as the grouping is automatic and might not act as expected.
- Once located, click on individual tabs to restore them.
How To Restore Tabs in Safari
Restoring Safari Tabs is relatively straightforward and follows the same options as Chrome. You can restore by using keyboard shortcuts, visiting the Safari Menu or accessing your browser History.
Restoring Recent Tabs in Safari
To restore recent tabs, follow these quick and easy instructions.
- For the quickest solution, use the keyboard shortcuts Ctrl + Shift + T on Windows / Linux or ⌘ + ⇧ + T to restore tabs you just closed
- Alternatively, visit Menu > History > Recently Closed at the top of your browser to see a list of recently closed tabs. Individually select the ones you need to restore them.
- To restore all the tabs that were closed at the end of your last browsing session, visit Menu > History > Reopen Last Closed Window or Menu > History > Reopen All Windows from Last Session.
Restoring Older Tabs in Safari
To restore older tabs in Safari, you will need to search your History to find relevant pages:
- Access History through the keyboard shortcuts ⌘ + Y on Mac or Ctrl + Y on Windows / Linux. Alternatively, visit Menu > History > Show All History.
- Browse your History list, either by the search box at the right top corner of the page or scrolling by date. You can then individually restore the relevant tab(s).
How To Restore Tabs in Microsoft Edge
Microsoft Edge offers the widest range of methods to restore your Tabs. Read on to learn how to restore recent or older Tabs.
Restoring Recent Tabs in Microsoft Edge
To restore recent Tabs, there are three methods you can use: keyboard shortcuts, the browser Menu or by right-clicking in the Title Bar:
- For the fastest solution, use the keyboard shortcuts Ctrl + Shift + T on Windows / Linux or ⇧ + ⌘ + T on Mac.
- Alternatively, visit Menu > History > Recently Closed and individually select the recent tab(s) which you wish to restore.
- At the top of your browser, you can right-click on the blank space in the browser’s Title Bar (the space where new tabs appear). Then select the option to Reopen Closed Tab.
Restoring Older Tabs in Microsoft Edge
If you’re searching for tabs you closed a while ago, you’ll need to search your History to restore them:
- For easy access to your History, use the keyboard shortcuts Ctrl + Y on Windows / Linux or ⌘ + Y on Mac
- Alternatively, visit Menu > History > Manage History at the top of your browser to bring up your browser History.
- Your History will be presented in a pop-up sidebar. You can search this list by using the search field or scrolling by date. Individually select tabs to restore them.
How To Restore Tabs in Mozilla Firefox
You can restore your Firefox tabs using three methods: keyboard shortcuts; the Firefox Menu; or your browser History.
Restoring Recent Tabs in Firefox
To restore recent tabs, follow these quick and easy instructions.
- For the fastest solution, use the keyboard shortcuts Ctrl + Shift + T on Windows / Linux or ⌘ + ⇧ + T on Mac to restore any tabs you just closed.
- Alternatively, hover over Menu > History > Recently Closed Tabs at the top of your browser. Individually select tabs from the list to restore them.
- To restore an entire window of tabs, visit Menu > History > Recently Closed Windows. Select the specific window you wish to restore.
Restoring Olders Tabs in Firefox
If you want to restore tabs you closed a while ago, you will need to search your browser History. There are a couple of ways to access your History in Firefox:
- Use the keyboard shortcuts ⌘ + Y on Mac or Ctrl + Y on Windows / Linux to open a pop-up window of your History
- Alternatively, visit Menu > History > Show All History at the top of your browser to perform the same action.
- Search History by using the search field or browsing by date. Double-click on a tab to restore it or right-click to bring up more advanced options, including Open In New Tab or Open In New Window.
Tired Of Losing And Restoring Tabs? Try This Alternative
Although we’ve provided some useful, quick tips in this guide, there’s no getting around the fact that restoring tabs can be a time-consuming, fiddly and frustrating process.
That’s why we want to recommend using Horse Browser, a new browser that automatically and permanently saves pages as you browse. Horse Browser offers a fresh approach to standard browsers, replacing tabs with its own unique navigation method, called Trails.
Here’s how you can use Horse Browser as an alternative to restoring tabs:
- Start a browsing session in Horse Browser, as you normally would by typing a URL or searching on Google.
- Every time you click on a link, a new nested page is opened on the Trail, creating an instantly accessible, easy-to-read vertical list of pages in your sidebar. Trails act as your Tabs, History and Bookmarks in one.
- Whenever Horse Browser closes or quits, all your pages are automatically saved, even after a total shutdown or update. Just like a Notes App.
- Re-open Horse Browser and everything you need is conveniently visible in the sidebar. Horse Browser removes the need to restore Tabs or re-open previous browsing sessions as you can easily access the sites you need. You don’t need to rely on your memory to remember the date or name of the site you want to access.
- If you wish to add further organisation, you can drag-and-drop or remove pages and even give them custom names and icons, as needed. Leaving you with an instantly accessible, organised list of the sites you truly need to save.
- If you want to take it to the next level, Horse Browser also allows you to import or export your Trails into markdown to save offline lists of the sites you need.
If you’re curious to know more, visit here to try Horse Browser for yourself.
In conclusion
To restore tabs, there are a variety of methods you can use: from quick keyboard shortcuts to selecting options in the browser Menu and searching through your browser History. In this guide, we’ve shared specific instructions for each of the four main browsers, Google Chrome, Safari, Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Edge.
The method you choose will depend on the type of browser you’re using, whether you wish to restore single or multiple tabs and how recently you closed the tab(s) in question.
Restoring tabs can be a time-consuming, fiddly and frustrating process. That’s why, as an alternative, we recommend checking out Horse Browser, which automatically and permanently saves pages as you browse, even after a total shutdown or update. It’s an easier and more reliable way to access the sites you need. Horse Browser allows you to work without the worry of losing information or wasting time restoring closed tabs.
