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Automatic Chrome session backup with auto-snapshots

You close Chrome to restart after an update, and the 150 tabs you meant to save are gone — you never pressed save, because remembering to save is exactly the thing that fails right before a crash. Automatic Chrome session backup removes that step: instead of relying on you to capture the session, Tabwell takes a background auto-snapshot on a timer and on browser exit, so a recent copy of every window, tab, and group is already on disk when something goes wrong. It reads your open windows through the chrome.tabs and chrome.tabGroups MV3 APIs and writes each session to local IndexedDB — no account, no upload, nothing to click. The cadence is a tier difference, and Tabwell is honest about it: Free auto-snapshots every 60 minutes and keeps the latest 5 of those captures, a rolling crash-recovery window; Pro drops the interval to 5 minutes and lifts the cap to unlimited snapshots with full-text search. On both tiers an auto-snapshot also fires when Chrome closes, so the next launch can offer to restore whatever was open. This guide covers what the automatic layer captures, the exact cadence per tier, the on-exit safety net, and how to confirm and restore an auto-backup — for manual saves and off-machine JSON export, see the broader backup guide linked below.

What automatic session backup captures

An auto-snapshot is a full session record, not a flat URL list. On its timer Tabwell reads every open window through chrome.tabs and each tab's group assignment through chrome.tabGroups, then writes the title and URL of each tab plus the group name, color, and collapsed state to local IndexedDB via dexie. Nothing is uploaded — the only network call Tabwell makes is to Polar for license checks. Because the capture runs in the background, the session is backed up without a manual save, which is the whole point: the moment you most need a backup is the moment you forget to take one.

Auto-snapshot cadence, by tier

The interval is the one real difference between Free and Pro, so it is worth stating plainly:

  • Free — auto-snapshots every 60 minutes and keeps the latest 5. Older captures roll off as new ones arrive, so it is a short crash-recovery window, not a long archive.
  • Pro — auto-snapshots every 5 minutes and removes the 5-snapshot cap for unlimited history, plus full-text search across every saved tab.

The 5-minute interval is a Pro feature; on Free the automatic cadence is 60 minutes, not 5. If you need the session captured more often than once an hour, that is the line where Pro pays for itself.

The on-exit safety net

On top of the timer, Tabwell takes an auto-snapshot when Chrome closes — whether you quit deliberately or the browser dies in a crash or an update restart. That on-exit capture is what lets the next launch offer to restore whatever was open, so even if your last timed snapshot was 59 minutes ago on Free, the exit snapshot fills the gap. This is the crash-recovery layer most session managers leave you to trigger by hand.

Confirm and restore an automatic backup

  1. Install Tabwell from the Chrome Web Store and pin it to the toolbar.
  2. Open the side panel — the snapshot list shows your auto-snapshots with their capture time, so you can confirm the background backup is running.
  3. To recover, pick the snapshot you want and restore it; Tabwell recreates the windows and rebuilds each chrome.tabGroups group with its original name, color, and collapsed state.

For deliberately saved snapshots and a JSON export you can move off the machine, see the broader backup guide below — this page stays on the automatic layer rather than repeating the manual save and export steps.

What each tier includes

Every install starts with a 14-day Pro trial. After it, Free keeps the latest 5 snapshots with manual save, restore, JSON export, and the 60-minute auto-snapshot — a working safety net for single-machine recovery. Pro adds unlimited snapshots, 5-minute auto-snapshots, full-text search, and importers for OneTab, Session Buddy, and Tab Session Manager, at $3.99/month, $29/year, or $19 one-time for the first 1,000 Founders buyers, with a 30-day refund.

FAQ

How often does Tabwell back up my session automatically?

Tabwell takes a background auto-snapshot every 60 minutes on Free and every 5 minutes on Pro, so a recent copy of your session is always on disk. It also takes a snapshot when Chrome closes, which is what lets the next launch offer to restore whatever was open. None of this requires a manual save.

Does the free plan include automatic backup?

Yes. Free auto-snapshots every 60 minutes and keeps the latest 5 of those captures, rolling the oldest off as new ones arrive. That covers most single-machine crash recovery. For unlimited history and a tighter interval you move to Pro.

Can I get the 5-minute auto-snapshot interval on the free plan?

No. The 5-minute auto-snapshot interval is a Pro feature; on Free the automatic cadence is 60 minutes. Pro also lifts the latest-5 cap to unlimited snapshots and adds full-text search, for $3.99/month, $29/year, or $19 one-time as a Founders purchase. Every install begins with a 14-day Pro trial.

What happens to my tabs if Chrome crashes before the next auto-snapshot?

Tabwell also takes an auto-snapshot when Chrome closes, including on a crash or an update restart, so you are not left with only the last timed capture. The next launch can offer to restore whatever was open at exit. On Free that on-exit snapshot fills the gap between the 60-minute timer intervals.

Where are my automatic backups stored?

Auto-snapshots are stored locally in IndexedDB on your own device via the dexie library. Tab titles and URLs never leave the machine. The only network call Tabwell makes is to Polar for license verification, which carries no tab data.

Does automatic backup work on Chrome 114?

Yes. Chrome 114 is the minimum version Tabwell supports, because it relies on the chrome.sidePanel API introduced in that release. The timed auto-snapshot and the on-exit snapshot both work from that version on. Edge and other Chromium browsers may run it but are not officially supported, and Firefox and Safari are not supported.