Tab Deck

Inspiration

Tab Deck was born out of frustration with browser tab overload. Many users open dozens of tabs across multiple windows, lose track of important pages, waste memory, and struggle to switch contexts. Tab Deck was created as an all-in-one tab and tab group manager that helps you take control of your browsing, keep open tabs organized, and turn chaotic sessions into manageable workspaces, all within one simple extension panel. The goal was to build a tool that isn’t just another tab helper but a complete solution for effective browsing organization.

What it does

Tab Deck is a browser extension for Chrome and Edge that gives you centralized control of all your open tabs and tab groups. With a left-side panel, you can:

View all open tabs and windows at a glance
Organize or group tabs with drag-and-drop
Save tabs and groups into sessions for later access
Restore saved sessions or open them in a new window
Suspend tabs to free up memory
Remove duplicate tabs
Search tabs instantly with fuzzy search
Create visual bookmark cards
Sync tabs and sessions to the cloud
Share sessions via links
Integrate with Notion or Raycast for advanced workflows Tab Deck makes long browsing sessions easy to control while supporting recovery, backup, and sharing.

How I built it

Tab Deck is implemented as a Chrome extension using core browser APIs to mirror tab and group state inside an interactive sidebar. Rather than replacing the browser’s native UI, it mirrors the open tab list and enhances it with a dedicated panel for organization features. Over time, support was added for user accounts, cloud sync, and integrations with apps like Notion and Raycast, making it useful beyond simple local tab storage. You can manipulate sessions directly from drag-and-drop, use keyboard shortcuts (Command/K) for fuzzy searching, and save or share entire sessions via links.

Challenges I ran into

One challenge was data persistence and reliability. Browser tab data must be stored safely (IndexedDB locally by default), but browser updates or crashes can sometimes overwrite or lose data, so backup facilities were added (local JSON export and cloud sync) to mitigate that risk. Another challenge was balancing powerful organization features with simple UX, too many features can overwhelm users, so Tab Deck focused on intuitive drag-and-drop and contextual panels to keep everything accessible.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

Building a comprehensive tab and tab group manager that users can adopt without changing browsers
Supporting multi-window management and session restore with intuitive controls
Introducing integrations (Notion, Raycast) that extend session usability outside the browser
Providing sync and backup options to prevent data loss
Growing a user base with many active users managing hundreds of tabs more efficiently than before

What I learned

Developing Tab Deck reinforced that tabs aren’t just UI elements, they represent real work, context, and productivity flow. Users want tools that respect their workflow, sync across environments, and don’t trap them in silos. Good tooling is about saving time and mental load. Also, offering safe, transparent data handling builds trust, especially when users rely on an extension to store and restore extensive browsing sessions.