3 Quick Ways to Permanently Stop Chrome from Opening Old Tabs

You are probably wondering why Chrome keeps opening old tabs, especially when you launch the browser.

While the problem is not major, it will force you to close the tabs manually before you can start working again. Some users experienced the reverse of this issue, i.e., Chrome automatically opens new tabs.

In this article, we’ll examine why Chrome keeps opening old tabs and how to stop the browser from doing that.

Why does Google Chrome keep opening old tabs?

Google Chrome keeps opening old tabs on startup, most likely, because of a setting called Continue Where You Left Off. It aims to preserve your last browsing session to enable you to start off from where you left, in the next session.

Also, certain extensions and other misconfigured settings in Chrome too can lead to the problem. Though in most cases, troubleshooting things shouldn’t take much time.

Let’s now find out how you can stop Chrome from opening old tabs.

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How do I stop Chrome from opening old tabs?

1. Disable the Continue Where You Left Off option

1. Paste the following path in Chrome’s address bar and hit Enter:chrome://settings/onStartup
2. Select the Open the New Tab page option.

You can also use the Open a specific page or set of pages option if you want Chrome to start a particular website, for instance, Google.

2. Disable Chrome from running in the background

1. Launch Chrome, paste the following path in the address bar, and hit Enter:chrome://settings/system
2. Toggle off the Continue running background apps when Google Chrome is closed switch.
3. Restart Chrome for the changes to come into effect.

If Chrome keeps reopening tabs from previous session, head to the last method.

3. Remove the Google Hangouts extension

1. Click on the ellipsis near the top-right, hover the cursor over More tools, and select Extensions from the menu.
2. Find the Google Hangouts extension, and click on the toggle to disable it.
3. Restart the browser and check the problem is resolved. In case it is, hit the Remove button for the Google Hangouts extension.
4. Again, click Remove in the confirmation prompt to confirm.

What was intended to be a feature turned out to be annoying for many users. From now on, Chrome wouldn’t keep opening old tabs, and you can enjoy the seamless experience Chrome was designed to deliver.

Also, find out how you can reopen a closed tab in Chrome and other browsers in case it was closed inadvertently.

If you have a query or know of methods not listed here, drop them in the comments section below.