If you get into the habit of accidentally closing your browser tab, use your new favorite key combination.
Do you often accidentally close your browser tab? If so, you’re definitely not alone. I do it all the time – I’ll try to switch to another tab in Google Chrome and click on the “X”. Maybe I like clicking too much, or maybe I just know that Ctrl+Shift+T supports me. This keyboard shortcut is my secret weapon, and it has saved me more times than I care to admit.
What is Ctrl+Shift+T (or Cmd+Shift+T for Mac users)? I think it is one of the most important and useful keyboard shortcuts, right above Ctrl+Z. In fact, it performs a similar function: undoing errors. Specifically, the error of accidentally closing a browser tab or window. Ctrl+Shift+T is the easiest way to restore a browser tab that you don’t want X to exit.
Let’s see how to use it, and all the other ways to recover lost tags in any browser.
Four ways to reopen closed tabs in Google Chrome
Google Chrome gives you some options to restore tabs and windows after you close them, and it’s good to know how they work, depending on your needs. Please note, however, that when browsing in incognito mode, you do not have the option to restore closed tabs.
- Keyboard shortcut method
The fastest way to restore a single tab you accidentally closed is to use a keyboard shortcut. On a PC, use Ctrl+Shift+T. On a Mac, use Cmd+Shift+T. If you want to restore multiple tabs, or if you need a tab that you just closed, just hold down Ctrl+Shift+T and your tabs will reappear in the order they were closed. Bonus: If you accidentally close your entire browser window completely, just open a new Chrome window and the keyboard shortcut will immediately reopen everything. This is a great trick for when a system update forces you to close your browser or restart your computer completely.
- Browser history method
Your Chrome browser history also keeps track of the most recently closed tabs. It’s not as fast as a keyboard shortcut, but it’s useful if you closed a tab a long time ago and need to refer back to it.
There are several ways to access your browser history in Chrome. One way is to use another shortcut: Ctrl+H. Another is to click the hamburger menu in the upper-right corner of the browser and select History. a third option is to type “chrome://history” in the address bar and press Enter.
Whenever you reach the browser history, you can access all the sites and tabs you have viewed in reverse chronological order. Clicking on the result will reopen it for you. The browse hamburger menu also has a built-in list of “recently closed” tabs that you can choose to reopen.
- Tab search method
Ever notice the little down arrow in the Chrome tab bar? In Windows, it’s located next to the icons for minimizing, maximizing, and closing windows. (On a Mac, it’s in the upper right corner.) This icon is Chrome’s built-in tab search feature, which itself can be accessed with a simple keyboard shortcut: Ctrl+Shift+A. Tab search displays a list of all your currently open tabs, as well as another list of your recently closed tabs. You can scroll the list to reopen or switch to the desired tab, or use the search bar to find it by keyword. This is very convenient for those who always have dozens of tabs open.
- Taskbar method
If you have a Chrome window open – or if the application is fixed in your taskbar – right-click on the icon in the taskbar and you will see a short list of links: Most Visited and Recently Closed. From there, you can restore the tab by simply clicking on it. (Please note that these options do not appear on the Mac.)
Bonus: “Continue from where I left off” method
There is a Chrome setting that basically makes Ctrl+Shift+T the default setting. By turning this on, every time you open Chrome, the browser will automatically reopen the tab you opened in your last session. To turn it on, go to your Chrome settings (also via the hamburger menu), then go to On startup. select the option to continue from where you last broke.
What about other browsers, such as Firefox, Microsoft Edge and Opera?
The Ctrl+Shift+T keyboard shortcut can also be used in other browsers (as well as right-clicking on the tab bar and selecting Reopen closed tab). Most other methods of reopening tabs also work across browsers, although the menu tabs and options may be different. The experience is essentially the same on the Mac, except for the taskbar method.
For Firefox and Microsoft Edge, you can also find and reopen your accidentally closed tabs through your browser’s history; Firefox has a dedicated submenu under History called “Recently Closed Tabs. Microsoft Edge provides a tabbed history menu for all, recently closed, and tabs from other devices. In Opera, if you enable the sidebar – if History is one of the elements you choose to include in the sidebar – clicking the History icon in the sidebar will also pull up a list of recently closed tabs.
Other browsers also offer settings to automatically reopen the tabs from the previous session on startup. In Firefox, go to Settings > General and check the box under Startup labeled Open previous windows and tabs. In Microsoft Edge, go to Settings > Start, Home and New tabs “, then under “On Edge startup”, select “Open tabs from previous session”. In Opera: Settings > On startup, then check thetain tabs from previous session checkbox.