How to back up Chrome tabs to a file and restore them
Chrome keeps your tabs inside its own profile. To have a copy you can move to another computer or keep after the profile is gone, save the tabs to a file. Chrome can do that for free by hand. A session manager is worth adding only if you want it done for you, with windows and tab groups kept.
1. Use Chrome’s bookmarks
- Press Ctrl+Shift+D on Windows or Linux, or Command+Shift+D on a Mac. Chrome saves the window’s open tabs as bookmarks in a new folder; name it with the date. These are Chrome’s documented shortcuts. Repeat in each window you want to keep.
- Open the Bookmark Manager with Ctrl+Shift+O, or Command+Option+B on a Mac. From the menu at its top, choose Export bookmarks. Chrome saves them as an HTML file that any browser can import.
- To restore, import the file in Chrome under Bookmarks and lists → Import bookmarks and settings, or in another browser. Right-click the folder and choose Open all.
This is a snapshot of the moment you pressed the keys, and it keeps links, not your windows, pinned tabs or tab groups. If you sign in to Chrome with sync on, your bookmarks and tab groups also reach your other devices, but that copy lives in your Google Account rather than in a file you hold. Chrome’s own copy of your groups is covered in how to save Chrome tab groups.
2. Check the free session managers
You do not need to buy Berth to back up your tabs.
| Option | Useful for | Check before relying on it |
|---|---|---|
| Chrome’s bookmarks | A free file of links you can open in any browser | By hand each time; no windows, pins or groups |
| Session Buddy | Saving sessions in one click, automatic tab history, export in formats such as JSON, CSV, HTML and plain text | Its data stays inside the browser until you export it |
| Tab Session Manager | Automatic saves at intervals and on window close, named sessions, import and export, cloud sync | Its save interval and its tab group setting |
| Berth | An automatic JSON backup file in your Downloads folder, restored by preview | Turn on external backups and check a real saved file |
These descriptions come from each publisher’s store listing, checked on 8 November 2026. Both are free and capable; we do not claim to beat them on every feature. This guide is written by Berth’s developer.
3. Keep an automatic backup file with Berth
- Install Berth from the Chrome Web Store. It saves checkpoints of your normal windows as they change: tabs in order, pinned tabs and tab groups with their names and colours.
- Open External backups and choose Turn on external backups. Berth writes
berth-latest.jsonto aBerthfolder in your downloads, or the Downloads subfolder you set, and keeps at most one dated copy an hour. Chrome’s download settings can ask where to save or move the file; Berth shows where it went. - Choose Choose a backup to check and select the file from disk. Berth reports whether it is readable and matches the last completed write.
- Copy the folder to a drive or backup service you trust. A file on the same disk does not survive losing that disk. The JSON holds readable links and page titles.
Back up now writes the file at once, and Download a backup saves every checkpoint and workspace as a single file. To share or move just part of a session, open its preview, tick the tabs and choose Export.
Backups are written only while Chrome is running and the device is awake, normally within about 30 seconds of a change. Incognito windows and Chrome’s own pages are left out. A download marked complete has not necessarily been copied by any other backup or sync service.
4. Restore on this computer or another
- Install Berth, open it and choose Import backup. Select a Berth file or a Tab Session Manager JSON file.
- Open the imported session’s preview and tick the windows or tabs you need.
- Choose Restore selected. Berth opens new windows beside your current ones, with pins and groups rebuilt. Skip links already open avoids duplicates.
Without Berth, the recovery reader opens the file in any browser and lists its links; save it beforehand with Download recovery reader in External backups. Recovering from a backup has the full steps.
Berth restores links, their order, pins, windows and groups. It does not bring back unsent forms, unsaved document edits, cookies or logins, so you may need to sign in again.
What is free
Automatic backups, importing, exporting and restoring are free. Free keeps seven days of checkpoint history, 24 dated backup copies and three named workspaces you create. Berth Pro raises those limits for $12.99 once. Berth’s page has the terms, refunds and privacy policy.