Chrome is gaining a handy tab group revival option – try it now

Google Chrome
(Image credit: Monticello / Shutterstock)

Google Chrome will soon allow you to restore a whole group of tabs that you've closed by mistake.

When you're working away in Chrome, it is all too easy to get a little carried away and click something you didn't intend to. If you've ever accidentally closed a tab you needed, you may well know that you can get it back.

For anyone who has got a little click-happy and killed a tab or two too soon, pressing Ctrl + Shift + T in Windows, or Command + Shift + T in macOS gets them back. It's a great shortcut to remember, but you can also use the browser's History function to resurrect closed tabs. Now this handy feature is in line for a significant upgrade.

Google, like many other browser developers, has been gradually introducing new tab-related features to Chrome. One of the more recent additions is the concept of tab groups, a simple idea that lets you group together related tabs and treat them as a unit.

But while grouped tabs can make life much easier when it comes to managing the things you are looking at, it is pretty easy to accidentally close a group, just as you can accidentally close an individual tab. Well aware of this, Google is introducing the ability to re-open recently closed groups in just the same way.

Back from the dead

The feature is currently available for testing the Canary preview builds of Chrome, and will eventually – all things being well – make its way to the Dev, Beta and Stable channels.

Not only does the update mean it's now possible to get back closed tab groups, but there's no new keyboard shortcut to learn.

In the current implementation of tab group reopening, the Ctrl + Shift + T / Command + Shift + T shortcut can also be used to get back the last closed group of tabs. In addition to this, the Recently closed section of History – which you can access via Chrome's menu, or by pressing Ctrl + Y / Command + Y – now includes links to the groups that have been closed, not just individual tabs.

Via XDA Developers

Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson
Freelance writer

Sofia is a tech journalist who's been writing about software, hardware and the web for nearly 25 years – but still looks as youthful as ever! After years writing for magazines, her life moved online and remains fueled by technology, music and nature.


Having written for websites and magazines since 2000, producing a wide range of reviews, guides, tutorials, brochures, newsletters and more, she continues to write for diverse audiences, from computing newbies to advanced users and business clients. Always willing to try something new, she loves sharing new discoveries with others.


Sofia lives and breathes Windows, Android, iOS, macOS and just about anything with a power button, but her particular areas of interest include security, tweaking and privacy. Her other loves include walking, music, her two Malamutes and, of course, her wife and daughter.


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