I’ve run into a problem with Google Chrome on my Windows 11 laptop and could use some advice.
The Situation:
I had multiple Chrome windows open, with many pinned tabs. These tabs were mainly pinned to preserve their compact view and, more importantly, to retain the cached data/preview of their last state (purposely) before any changes. I left these tabs/windows idle for months — avoiding interaction, not even hovering over them in the tab strip, to prevent them from reloading or showing a preview.
The Issue:
Recently, I accidentally closed my laptop lid, which I typically avoid to prevent the PC from hibernating. I hadn’t done this for around 2–4 months, but three days ago, I did so accidentally again, and it resulted in the PC hibernating. Coincidentally (or perhaps as a result), the PC experienced a BSOD right after this. Unfortunately, it did hibernate.
When I logged back in, Chrome was completely closed — possibly crashed — since the fans were running loud right before hibernation. I also noticed one tab was unresponsive in the tab strip for a few seconds before I mistakenly shut the lid.
Upon reopening Chrome, I saw the "restore" option, but pressing it did nothing. The recent tabs in the "three dots > history" section were blank, and there were no preview thumbnails in my bookmarks or shortcuts.
What I Did:
Worried that I might have lost important data or corrupted something, I restarted my PC without reopening Chrome. However, I later realized after opening Chrome that the restore option had gone already.
Background Info:
My PC only restarts when forced by a BSOD (an issue I've had for a few months) or Windows Update. In these cases, I would restore all the Chrome windows and continue working in a fresh window. Also, my Chrome history doesn't show any record of the tabs from these restored sessions since I never used to interact with or refresh them.
My Question:
After a PC restart due to BSOD or a Windows Update, did the cached data/preview of these tabs automatically refresh when Chrome restored the windows, even though I never hovered over or interacted with them?
Any advice on how to recover my lost tabs or avoid this situation in the future would be greatly appreciated!
I had gone through the question on restoring a lost Chrome session before posting this, but my situation seems to differ in a few key ways:
- Pinned Tabs and Cached Data Preservation: My focus was on preserving the cached data and preview of the tabs in their last state by keeping them open and pinned for months without interaction (not hovering over them or reloading). This is a bit different from a typical session loss because my concern isn't just about restoring the tabs, but also whether the cached data/preview might refresh after a restart.
- Frequent BSODs: My system frequently encounters BSODs (VIDEO_MEMORY_MANAGEMENT_INTERNAL or VIDEO_SCHEDULER_INTERNAL_ERROR), likely because I have so many Chrome tabs/windows open. After these BSODs, I could restore the windows, but I suspect the tab previews/cached data may have been affected or refreshed during the process, even if I hadn’t interacted with the tabs. The linked question doesn’t address this specific issue of cached data preservation across multiple BSODs.
- History and Recent Tabs Missing: After the most recent hibernation issue, my Chrome history showed no records of the lost tabs or windows, and the usual restore option didn’t work. This wasn’t the case with previous BSODs, and I’m concerned something unique to this event caused a deeper problem, beyond a typical session loss. I hope this clarifies why my issue feels different.
I’m still looking for advice, particularly regarding Chrome’s caching behaviour and whether it’s possible to recover those pinned tabs in their last state.
