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What is the Chrome continue where you left off feature? Quick Fix if it’s not working

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With more and more people spending more time on the internet, your choice of browser is also becoming increasingly important. Having the right features according to your specific use cases can make or break your browsing experience. 

Chrome is by far one of the most popular web browsers on the market at the moment and has just about every feature most people would require. In this article, we’re talking about Chrome’s “continue where you left off” features and giving you a few fixes if it isn’t working for you. 

Also read: Opera GX vs Chrome: Which one is better?


What is “Continue where you left off”?

While computer crashes aren’t that common these days, they still happen and often can cause loss of work especially if you haven’t saved your progress.

In most cases, if Chrome crashes or your PC turns off unexpectedly, Chrome will allow you to continue your work by simply clicking a button which restores the browser to its previous state before the crash, including opening any tabs you might have opened. 

This feature, however, isn’t perfect and there might be times when it may open more or fewer tabs than the ones actually open. Additionally, sometimes you might not even see the “continue where you left off” prompt. 


How to fix this?

If the feature isn’t working as expected for you, try using the following fixes. 

Check for updates

If the issue is in Chrome itself, chances are developers might release an update to fix the problem. Regardless, you should always make sure you’ve got the latest version of the browser installed to avoid running into problems that could otherwise be avoided. 

Head over to chrome://settings/help and make sure you’re on the latest update. If you’re not, update immediately and try again. 

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Clear your browser’s data

Corrupt files in your cache or otherwise can cause this error as well. Clear them out to see if you can get Chrome to work.

Step 1: Type in chrome://settings/clearBrowserData in your browser’s address bar and hit Enter.

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Step 2: Select the cache and cookies options and make sure the Time range is set to All time. Click on the Clear now button to clear out all the data. 

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Reset your browser

Resetting Chrome can fix all sorts of random bugs and glitches with the browser. 

Step 1: Head over to chrome://settings/reset. Click on Restore settings to their original defaults.

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Step 2: Chrome will show you a warning prompt. Click on Reset Settings, and your browser will reset to default settings. 

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You should see the prompt next time onwards. 


Re-enable the feature

You can try toggling the feature on or off if it isn’t working right for you. Head over to chrome://settings/onStartup and make sure the Continue where you left off option is enabled. 

Do keep in mind that changing this setting will impact the default startup behaviour of the browser. 


Allow Chrome to run in the background

Granted Chrome is a memory hog, but in order for this feature to run as it should, it requires Chrome to be able to run in the background. Here’s how. 

Step 1: Press Windows key + I to open Windows settings. Head over to Apps and click Apps & features. 

Step 2: Find Chrome in the list, click the three vertical dots next to it and click Modify. 

Step 3: Make sure to enable the Allow app to run in the background slider.


Disable extensions

Corrupt or malfunctioning extensions often cause a lot of problems, including this one. 

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Head over to chrome://extensions and try disabling all your extensions to check if the browser starts functioning as normal again; if it does, enable them one by one until you have all the essential extensions working again.


Reinstall Chrome

If nothing else works, try reinstalling Chrome to see if that resolves your problem. 

Step 1: Press Windows Key + X to open the Quick Access menu and click on Apps & Features.

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Step 2: Find Chrome in the list of apps and use the Uninstall button to remove the browser.

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Now you can redownload Chrome and try installing it again to check if that resolves the issue.

Also read: Chrome images disappear after loading: 9 Fixes

Yadullah Abidi

Yadullah Abidi

Yadullah is a Computer Science graduate who writes/edits/shoots/codes all things cybersecurity, gaming, and tech hardware. When he's not, he streams himself racing virtual cars. He's been writing and reporting on tech and cybersecurity with websites like Candid.Technology and MakeUseOf since 2018. You can contact him here: yadullahabidi@pm.me.

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