Google Chrome can now cache closed pages for faster reopen

Modern browsers have many little tricks that make them feel snappier and faster. One of such tricks is caching pages, so a browser can open them almost instantaneously when the user goes back or forward. Google is now working on implementing a similar feature for another part of the browser: closed tabs.

If you accidentally close a web page in Google Chrome (this also applies to Microsoft Edge and other Chromium-based browsers), you can restore it using the Ctrl + Shift + T shortcut. Once you press the keys, Chrome reopens the closed page, and it loads as a regular tab. Google now wants to make that process much faster and make it feel as the browser opens the closed pages in an instant. To do so, developers implemented a new experimental flag called "Closed Tab Cache."

Enable Closed Tab Change in Google Chrome

The "Closed Tab Cache" flag is currently available in Google Chrome Canary only, version 94.0.4606.3. To enable that flag, do the following:

1. Update the browser to version 94.0.4606.3 or newer. You can check the Google Chrome version by opening the chrome://settings/help page.
2. Now go to chrome://flags in the address bar.
3. Find the "Closed Tab Cache" flag using the search field. Alternatively, use the chrome://flags/#closed-tab-cache direct URI.
4. Select "Enabled" from the drop-down menu.
5. Restart the browser.

Note that the feature is currently unstable and might cause some quite annoying issues with frequent crashes. Google explicitly says that the flag is "highly experimental and will lead to various breakages." Our testing showed that Chrome Canary crashes every time you close a tab with the "Closed Tab Cache" flag.

For now, the feature appears to be completely unstable, so we recommend waiting until Google ships a few more updates and makes "Closed Tab Cache" more usable.