Desk Clarity

Everyday document & browser help

Reopen a Closed Tab or Window in Chrome on a Computer

By ON Lab · Sources checked November 6, 2026

In desktop Chrome, press Ctrl + Shift + T on Windows or Linux, or Command + Shift + T on a Mac, to reopen a previously closed tab or window. If the page you need does not return, look for its address in History. These are recovery attempts, not a guarantee that every lost tab or unfinished entry can be restored.

Start with the recently closed page

Open Chrome and use the shortcut for your operating system. Google documents the shortcut for both closed tabs and windows. Its keyboard reference says previously closed tabs reopen in the order they were closed; you can try the shortcut again if the first result is another page.

Check the result before continuing: is it the site you needed, and is the document or account the expected one? As an editorial example, reopening a research article is a useful result even if the rest of an old browsing session has not returned. Treat finding the page and recovering work inside that page as separate checks.

If reopening does not find it, search History

  1. Open Chrome’s three-dot menu, then History → History.
  2. Search for a word from the site or page you remember.
  3. Open a relevant result and check its address and content.

Google says History normally lists visited pages from the past 90 days. It excludes deleted history, private Incognito visits and internal Chrome pages. This does not mean Chrome keeps every closed window recoverable for 90 days: a history entry is a route back to a visited address.

For example, if you remember reading a printer manual but not its exact URL, search the manufacturer’s name in History. If you find the manual, verify the model number after opening it. That comparison is our suggested acceptance check, not evidence that we recovered your session.

Use the startup setting for future quits

To ask Chrome to reopen the pages you were viewing when you quit, open Settings → On startup → Continue where you left off. Google documents this as startup behavior. Selecting it now is not proof that Chrome can reconstruct a session already lost.

Know what remains unresolved

If the shortcut and available History do not locate the page, this guide has not established a recovery route. Record the operating system, whether it was an Incognito window, and which step you tried before seeking further help. Do not treat a reopened address as evidence that an unsaved form was recovered. If the returned page asks you to repeat a submission, see our form resubmission checks before acting.

Scope: source-checked desktop Chrome procedures. We have not tested recovery from your crash, deleted history, or profile files, and do not promise complete session restoration.

Sources