What Is Session Buddy and What Is It Used For?

Updated

Session Buddy is a browser extension for managing tabs and bookmarks in one place. You use it to save a set of open tabs as a session and restore them later, see every open tab in a single dashboard, recover tabs after a crash or after they've dropped off the browser's recent-tabs list, and group bookmarks into topic-based collections. It's aimed at people who keep many tabs open across several windows and lose track of them. The site states no signup is required and that more than 1,000,000 users manage tabs and bookmarks with it.

Core uses

Save and restore tab sessions

The main function is capturing your current tabs with one click and bringing them back later exactly as you left them. You can save and restore a full session or pick only the tabs you need. Restoration is flexible: tabs can go back to their original windows, into a single window, or into the current window. Window positions, pinned tabs, and incognito states are preserved when a session is restored.

This is useful when you're switching between projects, shutting down for the day, or freeing memory without losing your place.

See and control all open tabs from one dashboard

Instead of hunting through scattered windows, Session Buddy shows all open tabs in a unified view with instant filtering to find any tab quickly. From there you can:

  • Open tabs from pasted text
  • Close related tabs with one click
  • Copy tabs as links, Markdown, CSV, or JSON for sharing
  • Hide pinned tabs, new tabs, or browser feature tabs to reduce noise

Recover lost or closed tabs

Session Buddy keeps a history you can travel back through to view and restore tabs as they were at a specific moment. That covers:

  • Recovering open tabs after a browser crash or system restart
  • Resurrecting closed tabs long after they've left the browser's "Recent tabs" list
  • Finding a specific site you were viewing at a particular time, such as last Friday afternoon

You can adjust the timeline with custom intervals and cleanup rules.

Organize bookmarks into collections

Collections group bookmarks by topic, project, timeline, or any workflow you choose. You can pin essential collections for quick access, add bookmarks from any text, paste tabs directly from the current session, and color-code collections for recognition. Duplicate bookmark detection helps keep things tidy.

Who it fits

If your situation is… Session Buddy is…
Many tabs across multiple windows, frequent project switching A good fit — sessions and the unified dashboard address this directly
Tabs lost to crashes or closed by accident A good fit — timeline restore goes beyond the browser's recent-tabs list
Bookmarks scattered with no structure A good fit — collections with pinning and duplicate detection
You want a lightweight tab suspender to cut memory use Not the focus — the site frames memory relief as a result of clearing tab clutter, not as tab suspension
You need cross-device sync of sessions Not stated in the available information — check the product's docs before relying on it

How to get started

  1. Install the extension from the Session Buddy site (the site lists Install and Docs sections).
  2. Open the dashboard to see all current tabs in one view.
  3. Save your current tabs as a session with a single click.
  4. Close the tabs you no longer need and confirm memory is freed.
  5. Restore the session later and check that window positions, pinned tabs, and incognito states come back as expected.
  6. Create a collection for an active project and add bookmarks or paste tabs into it.

Verification: after a restore, confirm the tab count and pinned tabs match what you saved. If a restore lands in the wrong window arrangement, check the restore target setting (original windows, single window, or current window).

Common sticking points

  • Restore target confusion: restoring into the current window versus original windows produces very different layouts. Decide before restoring.
  • Hidden tabs: filters that hide pinned, new, or browser feature tabs can make tabs seem missing. Turn filters off when auditing.
  • Timeline cleanup rules: aggressive custom intervals and cleanup rules can remove history you wanted to keep. Set them deliberately.
  • Incognito behavior: incognito states are described as restored, but extension behavior in incognito depends on browser permissions — verify on your setup.

Pricing and account requirements beyond "no signup required" are not specified in the available information, so confirm current terms on the site before adopting it for a team.