If you’re a fan of tab groups in your browser and have recently started using Brave, you may have encountered a frustrating issue: your carefully curated tab groups mysteriously disappear, seemingly randomly or after restarting the browser. This can be particularly annoying for users who rely on tab organization to manage their workflow or research topics efficiently.
TL;DR
Brave Browser may delete tab groups due to how it currently handles session memory and tab state persistence. This is especially common when the browser crashes, closes unexpectedly, or when session settings are not configured properly. Additionally, certain browser flags and experimental features can impact the stability of tab groups. For more dependable behavior, tweaking settings or waiting for an official solution might be necessary.
Why Is Brave Deleting Tab Groups?
Several factors can lead to Brave Browser deleting your tab groups. Understanding the underlying causes can help in identifying workarounds until more stable support is integrated into the browser. Let’s take a deeper dive into the technical and functional aspects behind this issue.
1. Lack of Persistent Tab Group State
Unlike some browsers like Chrome, Brave currently has limited reliable support for saving tab group setups between sessions. This means if you close Brave manually—or worse, if it crashes unexpectedly—there’s no guarantee your tab groups will be restored.
Tab groups appear to function more like a temporary UI feature than a fully integrated persistence mechanism. Even if you use session restore features, the groupings may be lost, and tabs may reappear ungrouped.
2. Misconfigured Startup Settings
Another culprit can be found in Startup Settings. Brave offers a few options for how it behaves when launched:
- Open a New Tab Page
- Continue where you left off
- Open a specific set of pages
To preserve tab groups between sessions, it’s crucial that you’re using the “Continue where you left off” option. Otherwise, Brave will simply start fresh, dumping your previous tab group setup in the process.
3. Session Data Corruption or Loss
Browsers store session data to remember open tabs, active groups, and windows. However, if this data gets corrupted—due to a crash, hard shutdown, or force quit—the browser may not be able to recover the session properly.
Brave, being privacy-oriented, has additional mechanisms to shred or disable session recovery depending on the user’s privacy settings. This adds another layer of complexity when troubleshooting lost tab groups.
4. Experimental Features and Browser Flags
Brave is built on Chromium, the same underlying engine used by Chrome. This means it shares compatibility with many Chrome flags and experimental features. Some users enable flags like #tab-groups-save or #tab-groups-auto-create, which are not stable in Brave.
If you’ve modified these experimental flags, there’s a chance they’re causing Brave to behave unpredictably with respect to tab groups.
How to Prevent Brave from Deleting Tab Groups
Luckily, there are a few measures you can take on your own to mitigate this issue.
1. Configure Startup Behavior Properly
This is your most reliable option currently. Go to:
Settings > On Startup > Continue where you left off
This setting ensures Brave will try to reopen all tabs and windows exactly as they were, including tab group structure (though inconsistently).
2. Avoid Force-Quitting Brave
Make it a habit to close Brave using the built-in menu rather than using Task Manager or force quitting. A clean exit allows the session data to be saved properly, improving the chances that group data will be restored.
3. Periodically Save Sessions Manually (Using Extensions)
If you routinely work with a large number of tabs and need a robust backup, you might consider using a session manager extension. While Brave doesn’t offer one natively:
- Session Buddy – An extension that can save and restore tab sessions, although tracking support for tab groups can vary.
- Tabs Backup & Restore – Focuses specifically on saving tab URLs and grouping them upon restoration.
Note: Double-check privacy considerations when using third-party extensions, especially in a browser like Brave that prioritizes user privacy.
4. Use Brave’s Profile Feature
Creating different user profiles in Brave for different workflows can help isolate tab environments. If a profile crashes or session data is lost in one, the other remains unaffected. It’s a workaround, but can help if you’re working on multiple projects concurrently.
What Brave Is Doing About It
Brave developers are aware of the inconsistency of tab group behavior and have discussed it in several GitHub threads. Since Brave uses a customized Chromium build, some features come later or are intentionally disabled for performance or privacy reasons.
Tab Group support is still considered a “work in progress” in Brave. Features like #tab-groups-save from Chromium are not fully implemented in Brave’s stable or beta builds. While community support presses for improvement, there’s no official timeline yet for a reliable fix.
Developer and Community Workarounds
Advanced users have experimented with scripts and config edits to preserve tab groups manually. Some suggest backing up Brave’s Sessions and Tabs folders in AppData (on Windows) or Library (on macOS). However, this is not recommended for casual users due to the risk of file corruption.
What to Expect in the Future
The Brave team continues to balance user privacy with usability, which means changes are coming—but may take time. As user demand increases for features like persistent tab groups and better session handling, these may reach full integration in future updates.
Keeping Brave up to date is essential, as each release improves underlying Chrome features and patches bugs related to session retention and UI consistency.
Summary
While the Brave Browser offers powerful privacy advantages and a Chromium base, it falls short in preserving tab group structures reliably—especially after crashes or restarts. Current issues seem to stem from incomplete session management support, experimental flag mishandling, and inferred functionality not aligning with user expectations.
Until better native support arrives, your best bet is to:
- Use the “Continue where you left off” setting
- Avoid force-quitting the browser
- Consider session manager extensions
- Backup sessions manually (for advanced users)
Whether you’re a researcher, power user, or just someone who likes a tidy browser, a consistent tab group experience can make all the difference. With awareness, patience, and a few tweaks, Brave can still be a reliable tool in your digital toolbox.