Try out this extension that beat Google to letting you store tab groups for later

An extension on the Chrome Web Store aptly named ‘Tab Groups Extension’ just beat Google to market with a feature it has in the works – letting you store tab groups for later recall. We know that the company is planning to let you collapse tab groups from view into your Reading List, but the feature is still unavailable as of writing this. For those that want to clear the clutter but retain their work for a different and more convenient time, this new extension – offered by guokai.dev – will do the trick for now.

Automatically group tabs, save tabs/groups, and provide shortcuts for tabs/groups.

This extension provides enhancements to “Tab Groups” feature in Chrome, and requires Chrome 89 or above to use it.

Extension Overview

We first heard of this extension when a reader, presumably the developer, commented on one of our other articles mentioning it as an option for those who would enjoy having the ability to save groups for later, well, early. It uses what are called ‘snapshots’ to save data in conjunction with Google’s tab groups feature, which is available in Chrome 89 and above.

Automatically creating groups for tabs via custom matching rules places this extension ahead of others like Tab Group Saver – another like it that does not yet have the ability to update changes to or auto-save groups dynamically. Admittedly, however, the latter is more aesthetically pleasing than the former. I’d love to see ‘Tab Groups Extension’ updated to match the more Googley appeal of Tab Group Saver, especially with its superior features.

Tab Groups Extension gives you extensive management tools – activate or close tabs and groups, add a new tab to an existing group, move them to other windows, modify group names, colors, and more. It also has a bunch of keyboard shortcuts for performing these tasks, as well as shortcuts for expanding and collapsing groups without clicking on them! Honestly, even when Google comes out with its own version of saving tab groups, you may want to pair it with an extension like this to give it some more functionality.

Frankly, I wasn’t aware that developers had already found a way to manipulate the tab groups feature that Chrome only recently introduced, but I’m glad they have. I know that extensions have a bad history and are usually a major paint point for Chrome users when their creators don’t respect the privacy and data of their audience, but with Google’s new Extension ‘seal of approval’, a lot of those issues may be starting to dissipate.

Guokai.dev does, in fact, abide by these new privacy practices, and has earned the approval badge from Google showing that they have agreed to not collect or use your data in a way that contradicts their privacy policy. It really does give me some peace of mind after the Great Suspender fiasco. Anyway, the developer did mention that they would appreciate if we checked out his extension, and this coverage is in no way paid for or influenced. I simply installed it and thought it was cool, so I wanted to share it with you all! Let me know in the comments if you’ll give it a shot or if you’re going to wait until Google allows you to collapse tab groups into your Reading List.

Tab Groups Extension on the Chrome Web Store