Save and Restore Safari Tabs on Mac
Install from Mac App StoreWhat BelayTab Supports in Safari
- Save & restore sessions
- Automatic snapshots
- Version history
- Tab groupsSafari has no tab groups API for extensions. Tabs are saved without their groups.
- Recently closed windows on the Recovery screenSafari doesn’t support the sessions API. Snapshots are still on the Recovery screen.
- FaviconsSafari has no favicon API for extensions, so some site icons may be missing.
- SyncPaid plan.
What Safari Does on Its Own
- History → Reopen All Windows from Last Session, and History → Reopen Last Closed Window.
- Settings → General → Safari opens with: All windows from last session.
- Reopen the last closed tab with Cmd+Shift+T, or pick one from History → Recently Closed.
- Tab Groups: named sets of tabs that sync to your other Apple devices through iCloud.
- iCloud Tabs: tabs open on your iPhone, iPad and other Macs, shown in the tab overview and on the start page.
Where Safari’s Tools Fall Short
Reopen All Windows from Last Session only covers the last session, and it can be greyed out, for example after you close windows one by one with the red button instead of quitting with Cmd+Q.
Tab Groups keep only their current state, and iCloud Tabs shows what is open now. Neither keeps earlier versions or exports to a file.
How BelayTab Fits Into Safari
BelayTab for Safari comes from the Mac App Store. It saves windows as named sessions, snapshots them every 5 minutes and when a window closes, and keeps the last 20 versions of each session, with a 30-day trash.
Safari limits what extensions can see, so be clear on the trade-offs: tabs are saved without their Safari Tab Group, the Recovery screen shows BelayTab’s snapshots but not Safari’s recently closed list, and some site icons may be missing.
BelayTab for Safari runs on Mac. There is no iPhone or iPad version; with Sync, you can read your sessions at app.belaytab.com.
Safari Tab Shortcuts
| Action | Mac | Windows / Linux |
|---|---|---|
| Reopen the last closed tab or window | Cmd+Shift+T | Mac only |
| Show the tab overview | Cmd+Shift+\ | Mac only |
| Go to the next tab | Ctrl+Tab or Cmd+Shift+] | Mac only |
| Go to the previous tab | Ctrl+Shift+Tab or Cmd+Shift+[ | Mac only |
| Close the current tab | Cmd+W | Mac only |
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is “Reopen All Windows from Last Session” greyed out?
Safari only offers it when there is a previous session to restore, which usually means you quit with Cmd+Q. If you closed the windows one by one first, there is nothing to reopen; try History → Recently Closed instead.
Does BelayTab save Safari Tab Groups?
No. Safari doesn’t let extensions read tab groups, so BelayTab saves the tabs in each window without their group.
Can BelayTab show Safari’s recently closed windows?
No. Safari doesn’t support the sessions API that other browsers use for this. BelayTab’s own snapshots, taken every 5 minutes and when a window closes, are on the Recovery screen instead.
Does BelayTab work on iPhone?
Not as an extension. The Safari version runs on Mac. With Sync, you can open your sessions from any browser at app.belaytab.com.
Related
- FeaturesHow to Recover Tabs After a Crash, a Close or an UpdateHow to recover tabs in any browser right now, with shortcuts for each. Then how BelayTab snapshots, version history and trash stop you losing them again.
- BrowsersSave and Restore Chrome Tabs, With Automatic BackupsManage Chrome tabs: what Chrome’s own restore, Recent tabs and saved groups do, where they fall short, and how BelayTab keeps your sessions safe.
- BrowsersSave and Restore Edge Tabs, Beyond WorkspacesManage Microsoft Edge tabs: what Workspaces, sleeping tabs and session restore do, what replaced Collections, and how BelayTab adds backups.
- BrowsersSave and Restore Brave Tabs, With Version HistoryManage Brave tabs: what Brave’s session restore and Sync chain do, where they stop, and how BelayTab adds snapshots, history and exports.