Google Chrome may add this cool new tab-group feature — and it's a total lifesaver

Google Chrome
Google Chrome (Image credit: Google)

Google Chrome may roll out a new feature that will let users breathe a sigh of relief if they accidentally ousted a tab group. In the same way Chrome users can retrieve recently closed sites, the new tab-group perk lets users recover tab groups they mindlessly discarded.

This new feature was spotted by a Reddit user with the moniker Leopeva64-2. The Redditor said they discovered the new tab-group feature thanks to a new Canary flag (via Android Police).

A new tab-group feature may be on the horizon

Google introduced tab groups last May with the release of Chrome 83. Tab-happy users praised the addition; it helped them declutter and organize their chaotic browsing sessions. Now, the search engine giant may be planning on introducing a new feature: tab-group retrieval via the History menu.

Tab groups

Tab groups (Image credit: Reddit/Leopeva64-2)

How does it work? Well, let's say you go on a tab-group closing spree, and you accidentally close a group of tabs you wanted to keep. This tab group had about 10 websites lumped together, and you couldn't be bothered with rebuilding it — that would be too time-consuming. Worry not! This new tab-group perk allows you to go navigate to the History menu and retrieve your recently closed tabs groups.

If you don't want to restore the whole group, you can cherry-pick the tabs you want to recover by using the sub-menus.

tab groups

tab groups (Image credit: Reddit/Leopeva64-2)

You can access this feature on Chrome Canary by typing "chrome://flags" into the address bar and enabling the "Show app menu history sub-menusflag.

We have no idea whether this feature will roll out to the stable channel, but it'd save Chrome users the headache of reassembling tab groups they accidentally threw out.

Kimberly Gedeon

Kimberly Gedeon, holding a Master's degree in International Journalism, launched her career as a journalist for MadameNoire's business beat in 2013. She loved translating stuffy stories about the economy, personal finance and investing into digestible, easy-to-understand, entertaining stories for young women of color. During her time on the business beat, she discovered her passion for tech as she dove into articles about tech entrepreneurship, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and the latest tablets. After eight years of freelancing, dabbling in a myriad of beats, she's finally found a home at Laptop Mag that accepts her as the crypto-addicted, virtual reality-loving, investing-focused, tech-fascinated nerd she is. Woot!