Will restarting your Mac lose your tabs?

Usually no. Safari and Chrome can both reopen your last session after a restart, as long as the right setting is on and you quit the browser normally. What they do not do is put each browser window back on the monitor, Space and size it had before. That part is where a saved layout helps.

What does the restart checkbox do?

When you choose Restart from the Apple menu, macOS shows a dialog with a checkbox called Reopen windows when logging back in. Leave it on. After you log back in, macOS reopens the apps that were open, and apps that support it reopen their windows. It is best-effort: some apps skip it, and windows can come back on a different display.

How do you make Safari reopen your tabs?

• Set the startup option. In Safari, open Settings, then General, and set Safari opens with to All windows from last session. Safari then reopens every window and tab when it launches.
• Reopen them by hand. If Safari opened a blank window, choose History, then Reopen All Windows from Last Session.
• Why that menu item is greyed out. It usually means the last session was empty. Closing every window with the red button before quitting can leave nothing to reopen. Quit Safari with Command-Q instead, with your windows still open.

How do you make Chrome reopen your tabs?

• Set the startup option. In Chrome, open Settings, then On startup, and choose Continue where you left off.
• Get a closed window back. Press Command-Shift-T to reopen the last closed tab or window. Chrome also lists recently closed windows in the History menu.
• Chromium browsers such as Edge, Brave and Arc have similar startup settings. Check each one before you restart.

What do these settings not do?

Browser session restore brings back tabs. It does not remember which monitor each browser window was on, which Space it lived in, or how big it was, and it does nothing for your other apps. After a restart you can end up with every window piled on the main display. See Mac windows reset after restart for why that happens.

Restart, then one click: windows and tabs back. The 40 second demo shows a workspace saved from the SnapState menu bar and restored with one click: apps relaunch and windows go back to their saved displays, positions and sizes.

How does SnapState bring back tabs and windows together?

SnapState is a Mac menu bar app that saves a named workspace: every window with its display, position and size, the apps to relaunch, the Space each app was on, full screen windows, and all open tabs in Safari, Chrome, Edge, Brave, Arc and Chromium. You restore it from the menu bar, with a Control-Command-1 to 6 shortcut, or automatically on wake, when a monitor connects or disconnects, or when a matching display layout appears.

Before you restart, save your desk as a workspace. After you log in, pick it from the menu bar or press its shortcut. SnapState relaunches the apps, places every window on its saved display, Space and size, returns full screen windows to full screen, and reopens all open tabs in supported browsers. For tab-only help see restore a Chrome or Safari tab after restart, and for desktops see restore windows on multiple Spaces. The capture steps are in how to save a window layout on Mac.

What are the practical details?

SnapState 2.7.2 costs $9.99 once, with a license for up to three Macs and a 14-day refund. It needs macOS 15.7 or later and runs natively on Apple Silicon and Intel. It needs Accessibility permission to move windows, and Automation permission if you want browser tabs reopened. Workspace data stays on your Mac. Workspaces saved in older versions need one re-save to pick up Spaces and full screen. See SnapState.

What are the honest limits?

SnapState is not a tiling or snapping tool. It does not save browser tab groups, history or form data, Firefox is not supported, and it does not change the display arrangement, main display, menu bar or Dock. It restores app windows.

Frequently asked questions