How it works
Set it once. Stay focused every day.
A simple flow designed to reduce tab clutter without surprises.
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1
Choose your idle threshold
Set how many hours a tab can stay untouched before it becomes a close candidate.
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2
Protect what should never close
Pinned, active, audible, loading tabs, plus domain or tab exclusions are automatically respected.
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3
Recover tabs instantly when needed
Use built-in recovery history to reopen individual tabs or a full closed batch in one click.
Screenshot
Built for zero-friction control.
Clean popup settings that keep tab management fast and predictable.
Why it works
Better than manual cleanup.
- Stops tab creep before your browser becomes a graveyard of forgotten context
- Protects tabs that represent active work so cleanup never gets destructive
- Keeps everything private with local browser storage and no tracking pipeline
- Gives you confidence with first-close confirmation and recovery history
FAQ
Close Idle Tabs — common questions.
Common questions about tab cleanup, privacy, and recovery.
Will Close Idle Tabs close the tab I am reading?
No. Active tabs, pinned tabs, tabs playing audio, and tabs still loading are protected. Only long-idle background tabs become close candidates.
Where is my data stored?
Settings, exclusions, and recovery history live in local browser storage on your machine. The extension does not send tab data to PatakoLabs servers.
Can I recover tabs after they close?
Yes. Built-in recovery history lets you reopen individual tabs or an entire closed batch when you closed something by mistake.
How is this different from Edge's built-in sleeping tabs?
Sleeping tabs reduce memory use but leave clutter. Close Idle Tabs removes stale tabs entirely while respecting your allowlist and first-close confirmation.
Does it work on other browsers?
Today the extension targets Microsoft Edge. Chromium-based ports depend on demand and maintenance capacity.
Make Edge feel lighter in five minutes.
Install, set your threshold, and let stale tabs disappear in the background.
Open project on GitHub (opens in new tab)