Tab Session Manager
A free, open-source extension that saves your windows and tabs and brings them back later.
Why it's a strong pick
Tab Session Manager saves the state of your browser windows and tabs and restores it on demand. It is free, and its code is public on GitHub under the MPL-2.0 license. It uses Manifest V3. The latest release in the repo is 7.4.0, from July 2026. The developer is sienori.
What it does
Tab Session Manager saves the state of your windows and tabs as a session. You can save one by hand, or let it save for you. Later you open the session and your set of tabs comes back. That helps after a crash, or when you switch between jobs.
Key features
- Manual and automatic saving. Save a session yourself, or let the extension do it.
- Popup and shortcut. Open it with Ctrl+Shift+L.
- Save commands. Save all windows, save the current window, or export sessions.
- Auto-save setting. Version 7.3.0 added a minimum number of tabs for saving when you close a window.
- System theme. Version 7.4.0 added a System theme option.
Who it's for
Tab Session Manager is for people who want to save a working set of windows and restore it later. It also suits anyone who wants a safety net after a crash. The README shows donation links, so the developer asks for support, but the extension is free.
What permissions does Tab Session Manager ask for?
Its manifest asks for storage, unlimitedStorage, tabs, downloads, identity, alarms and offscreen. It lists tabGroups as optional, and optional access to googleapis.com. The README does not describe that Google access, so we say only that it is optional. We could not read the developer's privacy policy when we checked; read it before installing.
Does it save private windows?
The manifest sets incognito to "spanning". That means one copy of the extension covers normal and private windows. We could not confirm whether it saves private-window sessions. Open the extension's settings and check before you rely on it for private browsing.
Why does it ask for the tabs permission?
The extension needs to see your open tabs to save them as a session. That is what the tabs permission allows. It is a normal fit for a session saver, but it means the extension can see your tab details. Review it in Chrome's extension settings.
FAQ
Is it free? Yes. The README shows donation links.
Is it open source? Yes, under the MPL-2.0 license.
Can I use a keyboard shortcut? Yes. The popup opens with Ctrl+Shift+L.
Good to know
Check the settings for private windows before you depend on saved sessions there. Also set the auto-save minimum number of tabs, so one-tab windows do not fill your list.
Other tab managers to compare
Tab Session Manager is one of 8 picks in our tab managers guide:
- OneTab: Turns all your open tabs into one list you can restore later. Free to install.
- Toby: Save tabs into collections and spaces, and keep them in a side panel. Account required.
- Workona: Save tabs into project spaces that sync through the cloud. Free plan, paid plans.
- Session Buddy: Save open tabs into collections, search them and recover them after a crash. Free to install, no account.
- Tab Wrangler: Closes tabs you have not touched for a while and keeps them in a list you can search. Free and open source.
- Auto Tab Discard: Cuts the memory use of inactive tabs with Chrome’s native tab discarding, without closing them. Open source.
- The Marvellous Suspender: Suspends idle tabs to free memory and CPU. Open source, based on The Great Suspender. Asks for access to all sites.
This is a third-party extension, not built or maintained by Xplorekit. We link to the official Chrome Web Store listing — install and permissions are entirely between you and the extension's own publisher.