Brave deletes tab groups when you close the browser window, not when you close individual tabs

Brave's tab groups disappear because the browser treats them as temporary — they only exist while your window is open. The moment you close Brave completely, any tab groups you created vanish, even if you had other tabs set to reopen. This is the default behavior, and it catches people off guard because tab groups feel like they should be saved the way bookmarks are.

The confusion happens because closing a single tab or closing the whole browser window feel like different actions, but Brave sees them the same way: as the end of that group's usefulness. If you want tab groups to stick around between sessions, you need to change how Brave handles window closure.

Key Takeaways

  • Tab groups in Brave are temporary and disappear when you close the browser window, even if other tabs are set to reopen.
  • You can save a tab group by right-clicking it and selecting "Save tab group" before closing the window.
  • Turning on "Continue where you left off" in Settings does not save tab groups — it only reopens individual tabs.
  • Pinning tabs within a group keeps them visible across sessions, but the group structure itself still disappears.
  • The most reliable way to preserve a tab group long-term is to bookmark all tabs in the group to a folder instead.

How to save a tab group before closing Brave

Right-click on the tab group's name (the colored label at the top of the grouped tabs) and select "Save tab group" from the menu. This converts the group into a saved collection that stays in your sidebar under the "Saved" section, even after you close Brave entirely. The next time you open the browser, you can click the saved group to reopen all those tabs at once.

The saved group remains in your sidebar until you manually delete it. You can rename it, add or remove tabs from it, and reopen it as many times as you want. This is the closest thing Brave has to a permanent tab group feature.

Why "Continue where you left off" does not save tab groups

Brave's "Continue where you left off" setting (found in Settings > On startup) reopens the individual tabs you had open, but it does not recreate the groups they belonged to. The tabs come back in the same order, but they are no longer grouped together. This setting works on a per-tab basis, not a per-group basis.

If you want both the tabs and the grouping to return, you need to save the tab group explicitly before closing the window. "Continue where you left off" is useful for remembering what you were reading, but it is not a substitute for saving.

Pinning tabs keeps them visible but does not preserve the group

Pinning a tab (right-click the tab and select "Pin tab") keeps that tab visible in a smaller form at the left edge of your tab bar, and pinned tabs do reopen when you restart Brave. However, pinning does not preserve the tab group itself — the pinned tabs appear as individual pinned tabs, not as part of a group.

Pinning is useful if you have a few core tabs you always want available, like email or a project dashboard. But if you are trying to keep a whole group of related tabs together, pinning alone will not do it.

Using bookmarks as a more permanent alternative

If you find yourself saving the same tab groups repeatedly, consider bookmarking all the tabs in a group to a single folder instead. Right-click the tab group name and select "Bookmark all tabs" — this creates a new bookmark folder containing links to every tab in that group. The folder stays in your bookmarks permanently and takes up almost no space.

To reopen the group, click the bookmark folder and select "Open all bookmarks" from the dropdown menu. This reopens all the tabs in one action. Bookmark folders do not recreate the visual grouping in your tab bar, but they preserve the collection of sites and are much easier to manage long-term than repeatedly saving temporary groups.

What happens if you close a tab by accident

If you close a single tab within a group (not the whole group), that tab is gone but the group remains. You can undo the closure by pressing Ctrl+Shift+T (Windows) or Command+Shift+T (Mac) immediately after closing it. This keyboard shortcut reopens the last closed tab and puts it back in its original group.

If you close the entire tab group by clicking the X on the group label, the whole group disappears at once. You can undo this the same way — Ctrl+Shift+T or Command+Shift+T — but only if you do it right away. Once you close other tabs or windows, the undo history clears.

Why Brave designed tab groups this way

Tab groups in Brave are meant to be a temporary organizational tool for the current session, similar to how you might physically sort papers on a desk while working on a project. Once the project is done or the browser closes, the assumption is you no longer need that specific grouping. This keeps the browser lightweight and prevents your sidebar from filling up with hundreds of old groups.

Other browsers like Chrome and Firefox handle tab groups differently — Chrome saves them by default, while Firefox does not have native tab groups at all. Brave's approach is a middle ground: groups are easy to create and use during a session, but you have to take an extra step to keep them around.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I make tab groups save automatically in Brave?

No, there is no setting to auto-save tab groups. You must manually save each group by right-clicking it and selecting "Save tab group" before closing the window. This is a limitation of how Brave currently works, not a setting you can change.

If I save a tab group, can I edit it later?

Yes. Saved groups appear in your sidebar under "Saved" and you can right-click them to rename, add tabs, or remove tabs. Changes are saved immediately. You can also drag tabs into or out of a saved group.

What is the difference between a tab group and a bookmark folder?

A tab group is a temporary visual organization of open tabs in your current window. A bookmark folder is a permanent collection of links stored in your bookmarks. Tab groups disappear when you close the browser; bookmark folders stay until you delete them. Bookmark folders take up less space and are better for long-term collections.

Do saved tab groups sync across devices?

Saved tab groups do not sync to other devices where you use Brave. They stay only on the device where you created them. If you need the same collection of sites on multiple devices, use a bookmark folder instead — those sync if you have Brave Sync enabled.

Can I export a tab group to share with someone else?

The easiest way is to bookmark all tabs in the group, then export that bookmark folder. Go to Settings > Bookmarks > Manage bookmarks, right-click the folder, and select "Export bookmarks". This creates an HTML file you can share or import on another device.