Restore Last Session in IE, Safari, Firefox, Chrome, Opera

By Xah Lee. Date: . Last updated: .

This page tells you how to restore your last session (all opened pages (tabs/windows)) in all major browsers.

When a browser crashed, i must have all the my pages re-open! Because, the tabs i have open means to-read.

Many browsers automatically open last session when crashed. However, they are not very reliable. Sometimes you closed all tabs by mistake, but on relaunch, they are not restored because there is no crash. Sometimes you have more than one Window, and only tabs in one of the Window is restored.

Google Chrome

Google Chrome restores your previous pages on crash.

Make sure you turn it on. Click on the wench icon on top right to go to options, then in “Basics” tab, “On startup”, choose “Reopen the pages that were open last”.

Google Chrome restore session bar
Google Chrome restore bar, shown when your last session crashed.

To restore session on demand, install extension FreshStart at [[ https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/nmidkjogcjnnlfimjcedenagjfacpobb ] 2010-12-29] . Once installed, click the icon on the upper right to use it.

Firefox

Firefox, starting about version 3.x, will automatically open all tabs in your last session if it crashed. Go to your menu [Tools ▸ options], in the “General” tab, under “When firefox startsup”, choose “Show my windows and tabs from last time”. (See: [ https://wiki.mozilla.org/Session_Restore ])

However, sometimes if you exit Firefox (by clicking the ⌧ close box on the window), then when you launch Firefox, it may not restore your last session.

Here's add-on called “Session Manager” to solve this problem, at https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2324/

After you installed it, you can go to the menu [Tools ▸ session Manager] to open your last session anytime.

Internet Explorer 8 and 9

In Internet Explorer 8 and 9, to reopen last session, just go to menu [Tools ▸ Reopen Last Browsing Session].

Safari for Windows

Recently, Safari (5.0.3) on Windows added a new feature. Now you can open all tabs in your last session. It's under the menu [History ▸ Reopen All Windows From Last Session]. Finally. Safari is the last browser to have this feature.

Opera

Opera is also very nice. It automatically reopens your last session always. Make sure you have it on.

Go to menu [Tools ▸ Preference], “General” tab, in “Startup” field, choose “Continue from last time”.