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tab group cannot be saved

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previously saved tab groups all disappeared even if i didnt delete them please help as i multitask a lot, this function is very important thank you

previously saved tab groups all disappeared even if i didnt delete them please help as i multitask a lot, this function is very important thank you

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Sorry to hear about this problem. I assume you mean the built-in tab groups, not the ones created with add-ons.

When you choose "Save and close" for a tab group, it should be preserved in your session history file and be available when you restore the windows and tabs from your previous session.

Could you check whether either of these are available (not hidden or grayed out):

  • "3-bar" menu button > History > Restore Previous Session
  • (menu bar) History > Restore Previous Session

If they are missing or grayed, check either:

  • "3-bar" menu button > History > Recently Closed Windows
  • "Library" toolbar button > History > Recently Closed Windows
  • (menu bar) History > Recently Closed Windows

Anything from your previous session available?


If you can get your recent tabs back but not saved tab groups, you could try mining an older session history files to see whether you can recover the titles/URLs of those tabs. Here's how:

(1) To open your profile folder...

You can open your current Firefox settings (AKA Firefox profile) folder using either

  • "3-bar" menu button > Help > More Troubleshooting Information
  • (menu bar) Help > More Troubleshooting Information
  • type or paste about:support in the address bar and press Enter

In the first table on the page, find the Profile Folder row and click the "Open Folder" button. This should launch Windows' File Explorer listing the contents of your current profile folder.

(2) Copy out session history files

In your profile folder, double-click into the sessionstore-backups folder. Save all files here to a safe location such as your Documents folder.

(3) What files did you find?

The kinds of files you may find among your sessionstore files are:

  • recovery.jsonlz4: the windows and tabs in your currently live Firefox session (or, if Firefox crashed at the last shutdown and is still closed, your last session)
  • recovery.baklz4: a backup copy of recovery.jsonlz4
  • previous.jsonlz4: the windows and tabs in your last Firefox session
  • upgrade.jsonlz4-build_id: the windows and tabs in the Firefox session that was live at the time of your last update

Sometimes you can tell from the last modification time which one will have your missing tabs, but not always.

Mining File Contents

These compressed files are a pain to view, so I created a tool on my website to list out their contents. If you want to try that, you can drag and drop it onto the large box on the following page, then click the "Scrounge URLs" button:

https://www.jeffersonscher.com/ffu/scrounger.html

If you don't get a list within 15 seconds, that probably means the script is caught in a loop. You may need to close the tab to avoid a tab crash and then try again in a new tab.

The list should be in three sections: open windows, saved tab groups, closed windows. If you get a useful list, use the "Save List" button to archive it as a web page of clickable links for future reference.

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