Windows 10, the latest iteration of Microsoft's operating system, has a built-in feature called "Restore previous versions of Windows" that can help users recover files and settings that were accidentally deleted or lost due to system crashes or other issues. This guide focuses on using this feature to recover Google Chrome tabs that were closed days ago.
Prerequisites
Before we begin, ensure that you meet the following requirements:
- A Windows 10 system
- Google Chrome installed
- The "Restore previous versions of Windows" feature is enabled
To check if this feature is enabled, press the Windows key + R to open the Run dialog box, type "rstrui.exe," and press Enter. If the "Previous Versions of Windows" tab is visible, the feature is enabled. If not, you need to enable it by following the steps below:
Enabling "Restore previous versions of Windows"
1. Press the Windows key + X and select "System." 2. Click on "Advanced system settings" on the left-hand side. 3. Go to the "System Protection" tab. 4. Select the drive where Windows is installed and click "Configure." 5. Check the box next to "Turn on system protection."
Recovering Google Chrome Tabs
Now that we have ensured the necessary prerequisites, let's proceed with the steps to recover Google Chrome tabs.
Step 1: Restore Windows to a Previous Point
1. Press the Windows key + R to open the Run dialog box. 2. Type "rstrui.exe" and press Enter. 3. Select the drive where Windows is installed and click "Next." 4. Choose the restore point that was created before the Chrome tabs were closed and click "Next." 5. Click "Finish" to start the restoration process.
Step 2: Recover Google Chrome
Once the restoration process is complete, Google Chrome should be restored to its previous state. However, if the Chrome tabs are not visible, follow the steps below:
Method 1: Using the "Restore Tabs from Session" Feature
1. Open Google Chrome. 2. Click on the three dots in the upper-right corner of the browser window and select "More tools" and then "Restore tabs from the last session." 3. If the lost tabs are present, they will be listed here. Click "Restore" to open them.
Method 2: Using the "History" Feature
If the "Restore tabs from the last session" feature does not work, try the following steps:
// This is an example of how to use the Chrome.history API in JavaScript to recover the URLs of the closed tabs.
chrome.history.search({"startTime": "-1d"}, function(results) {
let urls = [];
results.map(function(result) {
if (result.url && !urls.includes(result.url)) {
urls.push(result.url);
}
});
console.log(urls);
});
This code snippet uses the Chrome.history API to search for URLs that were visited in the last day. You can modify the code to open the URLs in new tabs or save them to a file for later use.
In this guide, we learned how to use the "Restore previous versions of Windows" feature to recover Google Chrome tabs that were closed days ago. We also explored two methods to recover the tabs using the "Restore tabs from the last session" feature and the Chrome.history API.