How to close 50 tabs without losing anything

To close a pile of tabs without losing any, save them first, then close the window. The fastest built-in way is Ctrl+Shift+D (⌘+Shift+D on a Mac), which bookmarks your open tabs into a new folder in both Chrome and Firefox. Tab groups, session restore and tab-saver extensions also work, each with a catch. If most of the tabs are articles you mean to read, send them to a read-later list and keep only the ones worth reading.

Five ways to save your tabs, compared

Method	Where the tabs end up	Best for	The catch
Bookmark all tabs	A new bookmarks folder	A snapshot you may need again	Folders pile up and rarely get opened
Chrome tab groups	A saved group under Tab groups	A project you come back to	Chrome only, and the tabs stay a to-do list
Session restore	The same tabs, reopened next time	Picking up tomorrow where you stopped	You never actually close anything
Tab-saver extension	A list inside the extension	Freeing memory quickly	The list lives in one extension on one computer
Reading Rewind Sync open tabs	Tabs in your Reading Rewind library	A backlog of articles to sort and read	Desktop only, and it's a one-time send per click

Option 1: Bookmark all tabs into a folder

Both browsers can turn every open tab into bookmarks in one step.

In Chrome:

Press Ctrl+Shift+D on Windows and Linux, or ⌘+Shift+D on a Mac. Chrome's shortcut list describes it as "Save all open tabs as bookmarks in a new folder".
Name the folder and pick where to save it.
Close the tabs.

In Firefox:

Press Ctrl+Shift+D (⌘+Shift+D on a Mac). Or right-click any tab, choose Select All Tabs, then right-click again and choose Bookmark Tabs….
Name the new folder and choose where to store it.
Click Add Bookmarks.

These steps follow Mozilla's bookmarks guide. Firefox bookmarks the tabs in the current window, so repeat it in each window you have open.

The catch: a folder called "Tabs, March" is easy to make and easy to forget. Put the date and the topic in the folder name so you can find it later.

Option 2: Close a tab group in Chrome

Tab groups suit a set of tabs that belong together, such as research for one project.

Right-click a tab and choose Add tab to group > New group.
Right-click the group's coloured circle to give it a name. Add more tabs the same way, picking the group instead of New group.
When you're done for now, right-click the group and choose Close group.

According to Chrome Help, a closed group "isn't deleted and is saved in the bookmarks bar or in the menu" under Tab groups, and you can open it again. If you sync history and tabs with your Google Account, groups follow you to your other devices.

The catch: these steps are for Chrome. A closed group is still a to-do list, just a hidden one.

Option 3: Let session restore bring them back

If you only want the same tabs back the next time you open the browser, turn on session restore:

Chrome: More (⋮) > Settings > On startup > Continue where you left off (Chrome Help).
Firefox: menu > Settings > General, then under Startup select Open previous windows and tabs. You can also bring back your last session once from menu > History > Restore Previous Session (Mozilla Support).

Closed one tab too many? Ctrl+Shift+T (⌘+Shift+T on a Mac) reopens recently closed tabs in both browsers.

The catch: session restore keeps tabs open rather than letting you close them, and Firefox doesn't restore private windows. It's a safety net, not storage.

Option 4: Use a tab-saver extension

Tab-saver extensions close your tabs and keep them as a list you can reopen later. OneTab is a well-known example: its website says it converts your tabs into a list that you can "restore them one by one or all at once", and that the list stays on your device.

The catch: the list lives inside that extension, on that computer. Before you trust one with hundreds of links, check how it exports or backs up its list.

Option 5: Send the tabs to Reading Rewind and keep the articles worth reading

When most of your tabs are articles, the question isn't "how do I keep these tabs?" but "which of these will I read?". The Reading Rewind extension can send every open tab to your library in one click, so you can close them all and sort them later.

Create a free account and install the extension. Chrome is the recommended browser. The Firefox version is in beta: Firefox removes it on every restart, so you load it again and reconnect.
Right-click the Reading Rewind toolbar button and choose Open Reading Rewind panel.
Under Open tabs, click Sync open tabs. The extension sends the title and address of every open web page in the browser, once.
Close your tabs. They stay in Tabs in Reading Rewind. Closing a tab in the browser doesn't remove it from Reading Rewind.
Go through Tabs. Select a tab and Reading Rewind tries once to make a reader view of it, so you can skim the article right there. For each one worth reading, open the original and click the Reading Rewind toolbar button. It's saved to Read Later, your reading list, with a stored copy of the article text (images aren't stored) and an optional tag. Delete the tabs you don't need.

Clicking Sync open tabs again later doesn't create duplicates: tabs from the same browser update in place by address.

The catch: it's a one-time send, not a live mirror of your tabs, and it works in desktop Chrome and Firefox only. There's no mobile app.

Clean up the tabs you never got back to

A tab list only helps if it doesn't grow forever. In Reading Rewind, the Cleanup Center has a Stale Tabs queue: tabs that haven't been refreshed by a Sync open tabs click in over 7 days. Tick the ones you no longer need, or click Select All on Page, then click Delete Permanently. A tab that is still open the next time you sync counts as fresh again.

For a habit that keeps the list short, see how to build a read-later list you actually finish.

Which one should you use?

Back to the same tabs tomorrow: session restore.
One project, several sessions: a Chrome tab group or a bookmarks folder.
Freeing memory right now: a bookmarks folder or a tab-saver extension.
Thirty articles you meant to read: send them to a read-later list, save the good ones, and delete the rest.

FAQ

Does closing a tab remove it from Reading Rewind?

No. Sync open tabs only adds and updates tabs. Closed tabs stay in Tabs until you delete them, or until the Cleanup Center lists them as stale after 7 days.

Can I get back a tab I closed by accident?

Yes. Press Ctrl+Shift+T (⌘+Shift+T on a Mac) in Chrome or Firefox to reopen recently closed tabs in the order you closed them.

Does Reading Rewind keep a copy of the pages in my tabs?

Only for the tabs you open or save. A synced tab arrives as just its title and address. When you select it in Tabs, Reading Rewind tries once to make a reader view and stores the article text if that works. Saving the page with the toolbar button stores its text too and puts it in Read Later, so it stays readable even if the page later disappears. Read why articles disappear from the web.

Is Reading Rewind free?

Yes. It's free to use today, and you don't need a credit card.