How to back up your Chrome tabs

Two layers of a Chrome tab backup

A backup is only useful if it exists when you need it, so Tabwell runs two layers at once. The automatic layer captures your session on a schedule and keeps it on the same device, ready for a quick recovery after a crash or a bad close. The manual layer is a copy you create deliberately and can move off the machine — the one that survives a wiped profile or a dead laptop. The automatic layer reads your open windows through chrome.tabs and chrome.tabGroups and stores each session as a snapshot in local IndexedDB via dexie; nothing is uploaded, and the only network call Tabwell makes is to Polar for license checks.

The automatic layer: auto-snapshots

Tabwell takes an auto-snapshot on a fixed interval so a recent state of your tabs is always on disk without you doing anything. On Free that interval is 60 minutes; on Pro it drops to 5 minutes, so the most you can lose is the work since the last capture. Each snapshot records every window, each tab's title and URL, and each tab's group assignment with the group name, color, and collapsed state — a full session, not a flat URL list. Be clear about the limit: Free keeps the latest 5 auto-snapshots and rolls the oldest off as new ones arrive, so it is a short recovery window, not a long archive. Pro lifts that cap to unlimited snapshots. Tabwell also takes a snapshot on browser exit, so the next launch can offer to restore whatever was open when Chrome closed.

The manual layer: save and export to a file

The automatic layer lives on one device. For a copy that leaves the machine you save a snapshot by hand and export it:

1. Install Tabwell from the Chrome Web Store and pin it to the toolbar.
2. Open the side panel and click Save snapshot to capture the current windows, tabs, and groups.
3. Export your snapshots as a single JSON file and store it wherever you keep backups.

That JSON file is the copy that outlasts a reinstall or a new machine. The mechanics of writing it out and importing it on another computer are covered in the dedicated export guide linked below — this page stays on the broader backup strategy rather than repeating the export steps.

What each tier backs up

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