Explorer Tabs Manager — Restore Windows 11 File Explorer Tabs Automatically
✦ Windows 11 · Free & Open Source

Your File Explorer Tabs,
Always Restored.

Never lose your workspace again. Explorer Tabs Manager silently saves every tab in the background and restores them instantly when you reopen Explorer.

⬇ Get the Installer View Source →

Free & open source. One-click installer is a paid addon.

File Explorer
─
□
✕
📁 Projects
📁 Downloads
📁 Design
📁 Work
+
←
→
↑
C:\Users\You\Projects
📁
src
📁
assets
📄
README.md
⚙️
.csproj
📋
LICENSE

Tabs restored automatically after reopening Explorer

Windows 11 22H2+
System Tray
Auto-Saves Every 5s
MIT Licensed
Features

Built to stay out of your way

Every feature is designed to be invisible until you need it — no pop-ups, no prompts, no friction.

🔄
Auto-Save
Saves all open Explorer tabs every few seconds. Completely silent, zero interruptions to your workflow.
⚡
Instant Restore
All tabs reappear the moment you reopen File Explorer, exactly where you left them.
🎯
Tray-Only UI
Lives in the system tray. Right-click to save, restore, or open settings. Never in your way.
🛡️
No Clipboard Hacks
Uses Windows UI Automation (FlaUI) to open tabs natively — no keyboard tricks, no clipboard corruption.
⚙️
Configurable
Set your own save interval, toggle auto-restore, enable Start with Windows. A clean, simple settings panel.
💻
Windows 11 Native
Purpose-built for Windows 11's tab system (22H2+). No compatibility shims or workarounds needed.
How It Works

Simple by design

Three steps. No configuration wizard. No learning curve.

①
Run the app
Double-click the installer. A tray icon appears — that's it. No setup wizard, no configuration required.
②
Work normally
Open File Explorer with any folders and tabs you like. The app saves your session silently every 5 seconds.
③
Reopen Explorer
Close File Explorer and open it again. All your tabs are restored automatically within 3 seconds.
Preview

See it in action

A minimal settings panel and a tray menu — that's the entire UI.

Explorer Tabs Manager — Settings
─
□
✕
Auto-Save
Automatically save open tabs
5
sec
Auto-Restore
Restore tabs when Explorer is reopened
Tabs are saved periodically. Close all Explorer windows, reopen
Explorer, and all tabs are automatically restored.
General
Start with Windows
ℹ suzagear.com/tabs
RIGHT-CLICK TRAY ICON
💾 Save Tabs Now
🔄 Restore Tabs Now
⚙️ Settings
✕ Exit
Hover "Restore Tabs Now" to restore your session
Pricing

Open source. Pay for convenience.

The full source code is free forever. Pay only for the one-click installer if you'd rather not build it yourself.

Open Source
$0
  • ✓ Full source code on GitHub
  • ✓ Build & run yourself (dotnet run)
  • ✓ All features included
  • ✓ MIT License — use however you like
View on GitHub →
Recommended
$4.99
  • ✓ Everything in Free
  • ✓ One-click .exe installer
  • ✓ Auto-starts with Windows option
  • ✓ Clean uninstaller included
  • ✓ 5-minute setup, no dev tools needed
Buy on Gumroad ↗

One-time payment · Instant download

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Explorer Tabs Manager is a lightweight Windows 11 utility that runs in the system tray and automatically saves your open File Explorer tabs. When you close and reopen File Explorer, it restores all your tabs instantly — so you never lose your workspace.
With Explorer Tabs Manager running, simply close File Explorer and reopen it. The app detects when Explorer opens and automatically restores all saved tabs within a few seconds. You can also trigger a restore manually by right-clicking the tray icon and selecting "Restore Tabs Now".
No. File Explorer tabs were introduced in Windows 11 22H2 (Build 22621, September 2022). Explorer Tabs Manager requires Windows 11 22H2 or later.
Yes, completely safe. It does not inject code into explorer.exe or modify any system files. It uses the standard Windows UI Automation API (via FlaUI) and Shell.Application COM interface — the same APIs used by Microsoft's own tools and accessibility software.
The free version is the full source code available on GitHub — you build and run it yourself using .NET 8. The paid installer is a compiled .exe that sets everything up in one click with no developer tools required. Both versions have identical features.
Yes. Tabs are saved to disk every few seconds (configurable, default 5s). As long as the app has saved at least once since you last arranged your tabs, they'll be restored after a crash or restart — provided the app is set to run on startup.
No. The app runs as a separate process and only interacts with Explorer briefly during restore. Tab saving uses the Shell.Application COM interface which has no measurable impact on Explorer's performance.
Yes. The saved session is stored locally in %AppData%\ExplorerTabManager\. The free version can be built and run on any number of PCs. The paid installer is for personal use — one license covers your own machines.

Stop losing your workspace.

Takes 60 seconds to set up.

⬇ Get the Installer View Source →

Free & open source. One-click installer is a paid addon.

SUZA. All rights reserved.