How to Transfer Chrome Tabs to a New Computer

You wipe the old laptop, unbox the new one, sign into Chrome — and your bookmarks are there, your passwords are there, but the 40 tabs you had open are gone. Chrome sync was never built to carry open tabs across a hardware switch, and the gap catches most people mid-migration.

What actually transfers when you sign in

Signing into Chrome with the same Google account on a new computer automatically brings over:

• Bookmarks — the full tree, folders and all.
• Saved passwords and autofill — logins, addresses, payment methods.
• Browsing history — recent sites, searchable from the omnibox.
• Extensions — most reinstall themselves automatically.
• Settings — theme, default search engine, most preferences.

What does not transfer automatically: the tabs that happen to be open right now. Chrome treats "currently open tabs" as live device state, not account data — so unless you do something deliberate before or during the switch, they simply stay on the old machine until you close it.

Option 1 — "Tabs from other devices" (works while both machines are on)

If your old computer is still signed in and connected, you can pull its open tabs across without any prep:

1. On the new computer, sign into Chrome with the same Google account.
2. Open History (or chrome://history) and look for "Tabs from other devices" in the left panel.
3. You'll see a list of devices, each with its currently open tabs. Click any tab title to open it on the new machine.

This works, but it's manual (one click per tab), and it stops working the moment you sign out of or close Chrome on the old computer — there's no bulk "open everything" button, and closed tabs never appear here at all.

Option 2 — Bookmark everything first, then sync (best for a clean, one-time move)

This is the most reliable path for "I'm retiring this computer and want every open tab on the new one":

1. On the old computer, press Ctrl+Shift+D (Cmd+Shift+D on Mac) with your tabs open — Chrome asks to bookmark all open tabs into one folder, named after the date by default.
2. Confirm you're signed into Chrome sync (Settings → You and Google) on the old machine, and give bookmarks a minute to sync to your account.
3. On the new computer, sign into the same account. Once bookmark sync finishes, find that folder in the bookmarks bar or manager.
4. Right-click the folder → Open all (N) bookmarks — every tab reopens at once, in the same order you saved them.

Because this rides on bookmark sync (not the live device mirror), it survives shutting down or wiping the old computer entirely. For the full mechanics of each step, see our guides on bookmarking all your tabs and opening a bookmark folder back as tabs.

Option 3 — Export a plain list (best when you don't want a permanent bookmark folder)

If you'd rather not clutter your bookmarks with a one-off "moving day" folder, export your open tabs as a plain text or CSV list of URLs before you retire the old machine, then open that list from the new one — a copy-paste job rather than a sync dependency. See How to Export Chrome Tabs as a List for the exact steps.

What about tab groups?

Named, colored tab groups you've explicitly saved can sync across signed-in Chrome installs on recent versions — but support has rolled out unevenly by version and platform, and it only applies to saved groups, not just open ones. Treat it as a bonus, not a guarantee: check the new computer's tab strip before you wipe or hand off the old one.

The fix that skips the migration entirely

Every option above is a one-time chore because Chrome's tab state lives on the device, not your account. Amazing Tabs fixes that at the source — tabs you save go to your account the moment you save them, so a new computer is never a migration:

• Save a tab or a whole window in one click, any time — not just on moving day.
• Sign in on the new computer and every saved tab, space, and collection is already there, searchable by title or URL.
• No bookmark folder, no export file, no "did that sync yet?" — it's the same account-backed copy on every machine.
• Free for up to 100 saved links, with Premium (cloud sync, unlimited saves, nightly backups) from $2.90/mo billed annually or $4.90/mo monthly, and a one-time $99 Lifetime plan for the first 200 founders.

Set up your new computer once, not tab by tab. Add Amazing Tabs to Chrome — free, no signup to install. Save your tabs before you switch machines, sign in on the new one, and they're already waiting.

Quick recap

• Signing in transfers bookmarks, passwords, and history automatically — not open tabs.
• "Tabs from other devices" (History menu) works for a live pull, one tab at a time, only while the old machine is still signed in.
• Bookmark all tabs first (Ctrl+Shift+D), let it sync, then "Open all" on the new computer for a reliable bulk move.
• Export as a list if you don't want a permanent bookmark folder.
• Tab groups sync inconsistently — verify before you wipe the old machine.
• The durable fix is saving tabs to an account from day one, so a new computer never requires a migration step at all.